The White Cloud Taoist Temple (simplified Chinese:白云观; traditional Chinese: 白雲觀; pinying: Bái Yún Guàn; literally “the Temple of the White Cloud”) is located outside Xibianmen City Gate. It was built in the Tang Dynasty and it was then called Tianchang Taoist Temple.
According to record, Tangxuanzong, an emperor of the Tang Dynasty ordered the construction of this temple for worshipping Lao Zi, the founder of Taoism. There is still a white jade sitting statue of La Zi in the temple, it is said to be from the Tang Dynasty. In the year 1160, the temple was burned down. Severn years later, the emperor ordered a reconstruction which was completed in March 1174. A second fire incident occurred in 1202 and the only thing that had survived was the stone statue of Lao Zi. The reconstruction began the next year, and its name was changed into “the Tai Chi Palace”. In 1215 during the Jin Dynasty, as the country was weak and the capital was moved
elsewhere, the palace gradually fell into decay.
At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, Genghis Khan granted Qiu Chuji to live in the Tai Chi Palace. Qiu ordered the temple to be renewed. It was three years before the temple took on a new look. In the last years of the Yuan Dynasty, persistent war caused the deterioration of the temple. After two major repairs in the Ming and Qing dynasty, the temple became what it is today.
The White Cloud Taoist Temple Attractions:
The Yuanchen Temple
Mythical Stories of the White Cloud Taoist Temple:
The Story of Medicine King
The Hall of Medicine King was built in honor of a great doctor and also a great Taoist in Chinese history—Sun Simiao.
Although he made marvelous achievements in his lifetime, his life actually began with miserable experiences. Sun was not a lucky kid, he was born with a very weak constitution. His family tried everything they could, and spent all their money to cure his diseases. After he beat all those difficult miscellaneous diseases, he made up his mind to be a doctor.
Through years of learning and training, he grew up to be really outstanding in his field. Thanks to his efforts, innumerable lives were saved and various fatal illness became curable. Folk legend said that he once went to a village, and saw a family crying over a coffin desperately. They told him that the mistress of the family had died while giving birth to her first baby. Sun asked the husband to open to coffin, and use a silver needle to prick her temple. Half an hour later, the mistress came to life. Considering his contribution to traditional Chinese medicine science, Sun does live up to the name “Medicine King”.
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