Xishan Laojun Temple, Taoist temple in Saybagh District, China
Xishan Laojun Temple is a Taoist sanctuary in Urumqi with multiple buildings, including the Cai Sheng Hall, Yuhuang Hall, and Bell Tower, designed according to traditional Chinese architectural principles. The complex contains different areas for prayer, meditation, and the offering of incense, which play a role in the daily religious practices of visitors.
The temple was built in 1767 (Qianlong 32) by unnamed Taoist priests, said to stand where Qiu Chuji had his last retreat before ascending. In 1961 a coal survey team demolished the ruined main hall, and the Cultural Revolution left only the front hall, now the Lingguan Hall. Rebuilding began in November 2003; the first phase opened in 2006 and the whole complex, costing over 30 million yuan, was completed in September 2007.
Each trade once held its own festival here: coal miners, blacksmiths and stonemasons honoured Taishang Laojun, carpenters honoured Lu Ban, and gold-, silver- and copper-smiths honoured Oqifo, each group organising its own gathering. Around 1877 the tenth-month festival on the fifteenth day drew 600 to 700 people, and the fire-god festival in the second month brought three days of opera, a custom called "coal-miners' festival".
The temple stands at 122 Xishan Road in the Saybagh District, next to the headquarters of the 104th Regiment of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. The gate faces south and the halls follow a single north–south axis, so walking from the paifang arch to the Laojun Hall covers the whole layout in order. The grounds cover over 26,500 square metres, with 7,000 square metres built.
The temple's site is said to be where Qiu Chuji, the Daoist master of the Mongol court, held his last retreat before his ascent to immortality. The main Laojun Hall, 25 m high, holds a 7 m statue of Laozi flanked by eight Zhenren, with paintings of Laozi's eighty-one transformations on the west and north walls.
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