Wudang Mountains 武当山

Overview

Chinese Name: 武当山
English Name: Wudang Mountains;Mount Wudang;Wudangshan
Location: Hubei
Type: Ancient culture and art
Rating Level: AAAAA (5A)
Website: http://www.wudangwang.com.cn/

Brief Introduction

Wudang Mountains, a sacred place of Taoism in China, is located in Danjiangkou City 丹江口, Shiyan 十堰 , northwestern Hubei Province. It is bordered by Xiangyang 襄阳 to the east, Shiyan City to the west, Shennongjia to the south, and Danjiangkou Reservoir to the north, the source of the central line of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project.

Wudang Mountains is the birthplace of Taoist famous mountains and Wudang martial arts and is known as the world’s first immortal mountain. Wudang martial arts is an important genre of Chinese martial arts. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the Taoist priest Zhang Sanfeng张三丰 gathered his great achievements and founded the Wudang Sect. As of 2013, Wudang Mountain has 53 ancient buildings, with a construction area of 27,000 square meters, 9 architectural sites, covering an area of more than 200,000 square meters, and 5,035 cultural relics of various types preserved in the whole mountain.

In December 1994, the ancient architectural complex of the Wudang Mountains was selected for the World Heritage List, and in 2006, it was listed as a “National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit”. In 2007, Wudang Mountains, along with the Great Wall, Lijiang, Zhouzhuang, and other scenic spots, were selected as one of the “Top Ten Favorite Scenic Spots in China by Europeans”.

What are worth visiting and seeing？

Geographical environment

Wudang Mountains is located in Danjiangkou City, Shiyan City十堰, Hubei Province. It is bordered by the historic city of Xiangyang City襄阳, Hubei Province, to the east, Shiyan city in the west, the Shennongjia world natural heritage site in the south, and to the Danjiangkou reservoir 丹江口水库 at the source of the south-to-north water diversion in the north.

Wudang Mountain is surrounded by peaks, and Tianzhu Peak 天柱峰 is 1612 meters above sea level. The Wudang Mountains are surrounded by low hills and have a block-like protrusion in the center, mostly composed of phyllite, slate, and schist, with local granite. Rock formation joints develop and show signs of rising along old fault lines, forming fault cliff landforms with many cliff faces.

The temperature of the scenic spot is mild because the Wudang Mountains are used as a barrier by the Qinling Mountains秦岭 across the river, and there are undulating mountains in the east, which slow down the cold air running west along the Han River in the south, and there is Han River 汉水 regulation, so the winter near the water is warm and the summer is cool.

Main attractions

Taihegong 太和宫 is located on the south side of Tianzhu Peak, covering an area of 80,000 square meters, with more than 20 ancient buildings and a construction area of more than 1,600 square meters. The whole building is located on the top of the lone peak, the temple is surrounded by mountains and rocks, the structure is exquisite, it is the highest resort of Wudang Mountain, whether it is a Taoist priest or a pilgrim tourist, only by climbing the peak and entering the Taihegong is the real sense of Wudang Mountain.

In the tenth year of Ming Yongle (1412), Ming Chengzu Zhu Di 朱棣 ordered the construction of the Taihegong, and after its completion, Wudang Mountain was named “Dayue Taihe Mountain大岳太和山”, and the Dao Palace built on the top was named “Dayue Taihe Palace大岳太和宫”.

The Golden Hall金殿 is located on the Little Lotus Peak小莲峰 in front of Tianzhu Peak. Cast in the eleventh year of the Yuan Dynasty (1307), 3 meters high, 2.8 meters wide, and 2.4 meters deep, hanging mountain roof, all components are cast in pieces, mortise, and tenon conjunction, each casting has a text marking the installation part, the lattice fan skirt plate is cast “This hall was cast in the eleventh year of Yuan Dade元大德 in Wuchang Meeting Wanshi Workshop武昌梅亭万氏作坊”, which is the earliest surviving copper cast wood structure building in China.

The Forbidden City紫禁城 was built in the seventeenth year of Yongle (1419), surrounded by Tianzhu Peak, with a circumference of 345 meters, a wall base thickness of 2.4 meters, a wall thickness of 1.8 meters, and the highest part of the city wall of 10 meters, built with strips of stone, each stone weighing more than 500 kilograms, according to the model of Chinese paradise, there are four stone-carved imitation wooden structures in the east, south, west, and north to symbolize the Gate of Heaven. The stone carving building is built on the cliff wall, the design is ingenious, the construction is difficult, is the product of the combination of science and art in the Ming Dynasty.

Taizipo太子坡 is also known as the Fuzhenguan复贞观. Basically maintaining the scale of that year, it is a larger unit in the Wudang complex. The Fuzhen Temple was built in the 10th year of Ming Yongle (1412) and rebuilt in the 22nd year of the Qing Kangxi Dynasty (1683).