Mount Luofu () is a sacred Taoist mountain situated on the north bank of the
Dongjiang in the northwest of
Boluo County,
Huizhou
Huizhou ( zh, c= ) is a city in central-east Guangdong Province, China, forty-three miles north of Hong Kong. Huizhou borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the west, Shenzhen and Dongguan to the southwest, Shaoguan to the north, Hey ...
in
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...
Province, China. It covers 250 kilometers.
Among the many temples on Mt. Luofu is
Wa Sau Toi, which is linked to both the
Dragon and
Bak Mei
Bak Mei () is said to have been one of the legendary Five Elders — survivors of the destruction of the Shaolin Monastery by the Qing dynasty (1644–1912) — who, according to some accounts, betrayed Shaolin to the imperial g ...
styles of
Kung Fu
Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to commo ...
.
The
Mok Gar
Mok Gar () is one of the five major family styles of Southern Chinese martial arts. It was developed by a Shaolin monk named Monk Mok Ta Shi () as an inheritance of the Southern Shaolin Fist in Guangdong province in China.
It gained fame thre ...
master Lin Yin-Tang studied
meditation
Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...
and
traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medicine, alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logica ...
at the Temple of Emptiness on Mt. Luofu.
Choy Fook, one of the teachers of
Choy Lee Fut founder Chan Heung, is said to have been a monk on Mt. Luofu.
In the Eastern Jin dynasty, the renowned
Taoist
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Ta ...
practitioner
Ge Hong
Ge Hong (; b. 283 – d. 343 or 364), courtesy name Zhichuan (稚川), was a Chinese linguist, Taoist practitioner, philosopher, physician, politician, and writer during the Eastern Jin dynasty. He was the author of '' Essays on Chinese Charact ...
once refined elixirs here. During Ge Hong's stay on Mt. Luofu, four huts were built, and subsequently enlarged into temples, namely the southern Temple of Great Emptiness (which was changed into the Temple of Emptiness afterwards), the western Temple of the Yellow Dragon, the eastern Temple of the Nine Heavens, and the northern Temple of Junkets.
In the Qing dynasty, a branch of the
Dragon Gate Sect propagated its teachings at the Temple of Junkets. During the reign of the
Guangxu Emperor
The Guangxu Emperor (14 August 1871 – 14 November 1908), personal name Zaitian, was the tenth Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the ninth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign lasted from 1875 to 1908, but in practice he ruled, w ...
, the abbot of the temple, Chen Jiaoyou, wrote Evolution of the Taoism of
Master Changchun's Lineage, an important work on the history of transmission and inheritance of the Dragon Gate Sect.
It was said that there were nine guan (Taoist temples), 18 si (Buddhist monasteries) and 22 an (nunneries) on Mt. Luofu, but after the Ming and Qing dynasties, many of them collapsed and only five guan and five si remain nowadays. The five remaining Taoist temples are the Temple of Emptiness, the Temple of Junkets, the Temple of the Nine Heavens, the Temple of the White Crane, and the Temple of the Yellow Dragon. The Temple of Emptiness is one of the national key temples acknowledged by the State Council.
There are many relics of Ge Hong on Mt. Luofu, such as the "Well of Longevity" from which he obtained water, the alchemical kitchen for refining elixirs, and the pond for washing elixirs. The Grotto of Vermillion Brightness on the mountain is said to be the place where Ge Hong cultivated
Tao and attained
immortality
Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some modern species may possess biological immortality.
Some scientists, futurists, and philosophers have theorized about the immortality of the human body, with some suggesting that human immort ...
. It is situated in the forest in the deep valley below Mt. Luofu, where everything is in deep stillness, except for gurgling streams.
Besides, there is a "Boots-Losing House", which is said to be the place where Ge Hong and his teacher Bo Jing used to discuss scriptures. One day, after talking until daybreak, two swallows flew toward them. However, they turned out to be a pair of boots instead of swallows, after being entangled. There is a stone tablet above the house. It is about five-chi long, half-chi wide and one-chi high. It lies against a huge stone like a bed and is completely in the shade.
See also
*
Pan Zhang & Wang Zhongxian
*
Sacred Mountains of China
The Sacred Mountains of China are divided into several groups. The ''Five Great Mountains'' () refers to five of the most renowned mountains in Chinese history, and they were the subjects of imperial pilgrimage by emperors throughout ages. They ...
*
Taoism
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Ta ...
*
Ge Hong
Ge Hong (; b. 283 – d. 343 or 364), courtesy name Zhichuan (稚川), was a Chinese linguist, Taoist practitioner, philosopher, physician, politician, and writer during the Eastern Jin dynasty. He was the author of '' Essays on Chinese Charact ...
*
Wa Sau Toi
Notes
# Temple of Emptiness ()
# Dragon Gate Sect ()
External links
Mt. Luofu at The Daoist Encyclopedia
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Luofu
Loufu
Huizhou
Tourist attractions in Guangdong