Chapter 31 Section 10 Preserving the Yuanfu Wanning Palace of the "Four Treasures of Zhenshan" in Maoshan

Maoshan, located in today's Jurong County, Jiangsu Province, is called the eighth largest cave by Taoism.According to legend, this place was once the center of Taoism in Jiangsu and Zhejiang and the birthplace of Maoshan School.Famous Taoist priests such as Yang Xi, Xu Mi [mi Mi], Xu Huang [Hui Hui] and Ge Hong in the Jin Dynasty, Tao Hongjing in the Liang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty, Wu Jun in the Tang Dynasty, and Liu Hunkang in the Song Dynasty all practiced here successively.During the Tang and Song Dynasties, there were as many as 257 Maoshan palaces and nunneries all over the peak.At the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were still three palaces and five temples, and the Yuanfu Wanning Palace under Jijin Peak was one of them.

Yuanfu Wanning Palace, referred to as "Yin Palace" or "Yuanfu Palace", was first built in Tang Dynasty and flourished in Song Dynasty.Because Taoist Liu Hunkang cured the Queen's heartache, Song Zhezong issued an edict to expand the palace, named Yuanfu Wanning Palace, and gave eight treasures at the same time.Among them, the first four treasures are Yuyin, Zhigui, Hayan and Zhenxinfu.The jade seal is engraved with "the seal of the Nine Old Immortals" in Yangwen in seal script; the luster of Zhigui is clear, and some of the patterns are vivid and lifelike, like bats about to fly, and some are full of changes, like overlapping mountains and vast waves; There is no need to put cinnabar, just lick the pen with breath, and there will be danzhu to moisten the pen. If you put it in a pool, the two swimming fish engraved patterns inside will immediately swim like live fish, which is very cute; The emperor said "edict" in Yin script in seal script.These four treasures were regarded as the "Four Treasures of Zhenshan" in Maoshan by later generations, and they have been preserved to this day.The pilgrims of all ages even regarded it as a god, and if they can stamp a seal of the palace, the pilgrims will be satisfied.The last four treasures are a volume of "Poems of Liao Wang", a jade sword, 12 scrolls of "Secret Records of the Great Cave of the Shangqing", and 12 scrolls of "Simplicities of the Great Cave of the Shangqing". They are all very precious, but unfortunately they have long been lost.

In the Ming Dynasty, Yuanfu Wanning Palace was rebuilt, and Huayang Cave was equipped with a principal and a deputy Lingguan, making it a Taoist resort in the south of the Yangtze River.Yuanfu Wanning Palace originally had 13 Taoist temples, which were destroyed by war during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and then burned by Japanese invaders. Now only Lingguan Hall, Taiyuan Hall and a courtyard remain.