Page 413 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

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374 THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TAOISM A-L

Dongxiao gong

Palace of the Cavernous Empyreans (Mount Dadi)

This Taoist religious center is the main sacred focus of Mount Dadi (Dadi
shan * ii~~ LU ) southwest of Hangzhou (Zhejiang), and the thirty-fourth minor
Grotto-Heaven (see *dongtian and fudi). While Han Wudi (r. 141-87 BCE) re-
putedly recognized its holiness and ordered a shrine built near the grotto in
I08 BCE, it first became a Taoist center with the building of the Abbey of the
Pillar of Heaven (Tianzhu guan J( H ill) in 683, and *Wu Yun (?-778) joined
other devout Tang literati in visiting it. In I012, Song Zhenzong (r. 997-I022)
renamed a bigger temple complex the Palace of the Cavernous Empyreans,
which remained a site for Taoist rites done for the Song state until destroyed
in II21 in the rebellion of Fang La !f Il!tt.
The re established Southern Song court prompted a rebuilding of the center,
which was completed by II55. The center became a key Taoist sanctuary
south of the Yangzi until the Song ended, despite several fires over the next
century and a half. Many retired high officials got sinecures at this temple,
and besides retaining control over the lands of Dadi shan, it also had control
over lands on the Nine-Chain Hills (Jiusuo shan :tL i~ ill ), and the Hills of the
Pillar of Heaven (Tianzhu shan J( Hill). Writings survive from Lu You Ili
jJfl. (1125-12IO; SB 691-704) and *Bai Yuchan (II94-1229?) among many others.
After 1284, further extensive repairs and rebuilding efforts occurred at the
site and included shrines to local heroes such as *Ge Xuan (trad. 164-244) as
well as local spirits such as the Dragon King (Longwang ~~~E) and the widely
renowned *Zhang Daoling, XU Mai ~q:~ (300-348; see under *Yang Xi), and
*Ye Fashan (631-720).
The three juan Ming text, Dadi dongtian ji * ii~ {IPJ 'J2. tc (Records of the Dadi
Grotto-Heaven; CT 782), stemmed from the efforts of the Yuan scholar and
resident Deng Mu ~I\t:\( (1247-1306), but it abbreviates the Dongxiao tuzhi {IPJ
'pt f@j~; (Illustrated Monograph of [the Palace of] the Cavernous Empyreans;
6 juan) and the poetic work of Meng Zongbao ;& 7% jf Cfl. 1302), the Dongxiao
shiji {IPJ 1-t ~o!f ~ (Poetical Anthology of [the Palace of] the Cavernous Empy-
reans). All were done under the guidance of the Dongxiao gong abbot, Shen
Duofu it $ tM (fl. 1290-1306), who wanted the site's sacred history to survive
what they saw as the disaster of Mongol rule. Meng finished Deng's work after
his death and both became part of the Zhibuzu zhai congshu Ail ~ if: lllt If (the
gazetteer in collection 16, 1792, and the anthology in collection II, 1786). The