Page 652 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

610 THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TAOISM A-L

prayers and petitions to the Dao, ancestral offerings, funerary services, and
immortality practices (e.g., no. 12).

LiviaKOHN
W Mather 1979; Qing Xitai 1994, 2: 122-23; Yang Liansheng 1956

* Kou Qianzhi; jie [precepts]

Laoshan

Jf J.J (or: #- J.J, ~ J.J)
Mount Lao (Shandong)

Mount Lao, also known as Mount Laosheng (Laosheng shan * § llJ ), is the tall-
est peak in the eastern coastal region of Shandong, east of present-day Qingdao
W H'b. An ancient site for hermits and *fangshi (practitioners of esoteric arts),
the mountain was visited by emperors who ascended it to gaze at *Penglai,
the mythical island of the immortals, in their quest for immortality.
Qin Shi huangdi (r. 221-210 BCE), in particular, climbed the mountain after
performing the feng tJ and shan f£il ceremonies to Heaven and Earth on
Mount Tai (*Taishan) and Mount Liangfu (Liangfu shan * Y:. ill), both in
Shandong. Remaining there for three months, he was visited by numerous
fangshi, among them *Xu Fu who requested permission to seek the islands of
the immortals. The expedition is said to have set out from here. Han Wudi (r.
141-87 BCE) and Han Guangwu di (r. 25-57 CE) also climbed the mountain in
ritual circumstances.
Many of the methods in the *Lingbao wufu xu are said to have originated
on Mount Laosheng, reflecting the association of the coastal tradition with
the early Taoism of the south. In particular, this was the purported site of
revelation of the Five Lingbao talismans (see under *Lingbao wufu xu). Tang
Xuanzong (r. 712-56) dispatched the Taoists Wang MinE ~ and Li Xiazhou
'$ ill Ft] to compound elixirs on the mountain which he renamed Supporter
of the Tang (Fu Tang shan till Jilt lU).
The most famous temple on the mountain is the Taiqing gong -;t 1F'f '§
(Palace of Great Clarity). The initial construction took place during the Han
when a certain Zhang Lianfu '* ~ X of Ruizhou fff,j JH (Jiangxi) abandoned
his official post and retired to Mount Lao to cultivate the Dao. He built a reed
structure, named Sanguan miao c-=:: 13 l\1Jj (Shrine of the Three Offices), where
he revered the Great Emperor of the Three Offices (Sanguan dadi ==: '§ -J.:. ffi).
Li Zhexuan '$ {if K refurbished the temple in 904, renaming it Sanhuang miao