Maoshan, known as the “abode of immortals in Qin and Han dynasties, and home to prime ministers in Liang and Tang,” is a sacred site of Taoism located at the junction of Jurong City, Zhenjiang, and Jintan District, Changzhou, Jiangsu Province. It runs north to south with an area of over 50 square kilometers.
Maoshan is the birthplace of the Shangqing School of Taoism and is known by Taoists as the “Shangqing Zongtan.” It has the reputation of being the “Eighth Grotto Heaven and First Blessed Land.”
“Taoist health preservation, leisure vacation, ecological sightseeing,” Jintan Maoshan has successively rebuilt the Qianyuan Temple, Choushou Temple, Yuanyang Temple, and other millennium-old Taoist temples. At the same time, it has planned the entire 108 square kilometer Maoshan tourism area, highlighting the characteristics of Maoshan Taoism, mountain water (hot springs), tea culture, and the culture of educated youth.
Jintan Maoshan possesses the natural environment of the blessed land of Maoshan's grotto heaven, inheriting the Taoist cultural heritage of Maoshan for a thousand years, forming a unique and rich type of holiday resources. The combination of various resources such as mountains, water, forest, spring, salt, tea, medicine, fruit, palaces, temples, intangible cultural heritage provides Jintan Maoshan with superior support for holiday environments, and also provides high-quality natural and cultural resources for the development of holiday tourism products.
The Jintan Maoshan holiday resort takes Daoist health preservation as its main theme, relying on distinctive Maoshan Daoist doctors, tea ceremony, Daoist music, etc., to create a “Eightfold Daoist Health Preservation” Maoshan forest health care holiday product system, cultivating a Daoist health preservation cultural brand with unique characteristics.
Through the integration of “tourism+”, “ecology+”, “sports+”, and “culture+”, it provides a place for returning to nature, setting one's mind at ease, and enjoying a peaceful sleep for health care. Not only has it promoted local rural revitalization and the construction of beautiful villages, but it has also effectively solved employment for surplus rural labor, making the health care base tourism a significant contributor to the wealth of the people.
Maoshan has always been listed as the “First Blessed Land and Eighth Grotto Heaven” of Taoism. It is said that in the fifth year of the initial era of Emperor Yuan of Han (44 BC), three brothers of the Mao family from Xianyang, Shaanxi came to Maoshan to gather herbs and refine alchemy, benefiting the world and saving people, and were regarded as the patriarchs of Maoshan Taoism. Later, Tao Hongjing, a hermit of the Qi and Liang dynasties, combined Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism to establish the Maoshan School of Taoism.
Maoshan features “beautiful mountains, holy Daoism, and wondrous caves.” The only female Taoist temple in Jiangsu Province – Qianyuan Temple – is situated within it.
Qianyuan Temple of Jintan Maoshan is located on the southeast slope of Mount Maoshan in the city of Jintan, amidst the embrace of mountains and hidden by verdant bamboo groves. It is one of the “three palaces and five temples” of the Maoshan Taoist holy land. It was once the headquarters of the New Fourth Army and has a long history as an ancient Taoist cultivation site. It originated during the era of Emperor Qin Shi Huang (221 BC – 206 BC) when Li Ming Zhenren refined alchemy here, initially named the Alchemy Academy. It was restored and opened to the public in November 1993.
Yuanyang Temple of Jintan Maoshan is located above Mao Cave on the southern slope of Mount Daomaofeng, built in the Tang Dynasty, with a history of at least about 1270 years. It was the hermitage, cultivation, and enlightenment place of the 39th generation patriarch of the Shangqing School, Jia Yanxian (Jing Yuanfan). In the tenth volume of the “Zhenjiang Annals” compiled during the Zhishun period of the Yuan Dynasty: “Yuanyang Temple is above Mao Cave, established in the Tang Dynasty and later abandoned.” In the seventeenth volume of the “Maoshan Annals” compiled by Liu Dabin during the Yuan Dynasty: “Yuanyang Temple, an ancient temple name, seen in Gu Kuang's poem: I have toured this temple for ten years, stayed in this room for a thousand nights. Returning to read your poetry under the old window.”
Since the restoration and opening of Yuanyang Temple of Maoshan, it has actively carried out Taoist religious activities and various cultural activities, and has participated in charitable causes. In order to promote Taoist Tai Chi, Eight Section Brocade, and other health-preserving exercises, it has been designated as the “Wudang Tai Chi Maoshan Yuanyang Temple Heritage Base.”
In conclusion, let me tell you a legend of the “Golden Ox Cave.”
The Golden Ox Cave is a famous scenic spot in Jintan Maoshan, where gold was produced as early as the Han dynasty.
Legend has it that there was a hardworking couple living in a small shack not far from the cave. The husband worked the fields while the wife weaved, their family harmonious and their life quite pleasant. One day, while working in the fields, suddenly dark clouds gathered, thunder rumbled, lightning flashed, and a fierce storm broke out, pouring down torrential rain. He could not make it back home and took shelter under a steep embankment. The wind grew stronger, the rain heavier, and suddenly a flash flood occurred, washing away the embankment. In his anxiety, thinking of where to take shelter from the rain, he suddenly found a cave behind the collapsed embankment. To avoid the rain, he rushed into it. At that moment, he stumbled and looked down to find a small golden ox shining brightly. He was delighted beyond measure and, forgetting to take shelter from the rain, picked up the little golden ox and ran home.
At that moment, the wind stopped and the rain ceased. He ran home in one breath and told his wife every detail about finding the small golden ox. His wife said after hearing the story: “This little golden ox is probably a divine object; we should not take unexpected wealth, nor should we keep it at home. We should return it to its original place.” The young and honest husband listened to his wife's words and quickly returned the golden ox to the cave. Who would have thought that the moment the golden ox touched the ground, it spread its four hooves and galloped away, running from Dingjiao, Shanglan, Xiaolan, all the way to the East China Sea. Since then, the Golden Ox Cave in Maoshan no longer produces gold. (By Li Fengsen, some images provided by Jintan Maoshan)