Mount Luofu
Encyclopedia
Mount Luofu is a sacred mountain in China—though not one of the Sacred Mountains of China
Sacred Mountains of China
The Sacred Mountains of China are divided into two groups, one associated with Taoism and the other with Buddhism. The group associated with Taoism is known as the Five Great Mountains , whereas the group associated with Buddhism is referred to as the Four Sacred Mountains of Buddhism .The sacred...

—situated on the north bank of the Dongjiang in the northwest of Bóluó (博羅) County in the prefecture of Huizhou
Huizhou
Huizhou , historically known as Waichow, is a city located in central Guangdong province of the People's Republic of China. Part of the Pearl River Delta, Huizhou borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the west, Shaoguan to the north, Heyuan to the northeast, Shanwei to the east, Shenzhen...

 in Guangdong Province that covers 250 kilometers.

Among the many temples on Mt. Luofu is Wa Sau Toi
Wa Sau Toi
Huashoutai or commonly known in its Cantonese name Wa Sau Toi was a Buddhist monastery on the sacred mountain Luofushan. It was destroyed in early 20th century.It is located in Boluo County, Huizhou, Guangdong, China.- History :...

, which is linked to both the Dragon
Dragon Kung Fu
The movements of the Southern Dragon style of Shaolin Boxing are based on the mythical Chinese dragon. The Dragon style is an imitative-style that was developed based on the imagined characteristics of the mythical Chinese dragon....

 and Bak Mei
Bak Mei
Bak Mei is said to have been one of the legendary Five Elders — survivors of the destruction of the Shaolin Temple by the Qing Dynasty imperial regime — who, according to some accounts, betrayed Shaolin to the imperial government...

 styles of Kung Fu
Chinese martial arts
Chinese martial arts, also referred to by the Mandarin Chinese term wushu and popularly as kung fu , are a number of fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common traits, identified as "families" , "sects" or...

.

The Mok Gar
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 Mo Ta Shi as an inheritance of the Southern Shaolin Fist in Guangdong province in China....

 master Lin Yin-Tang studied meditation
Meditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....

 and traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine refers to a broad range of medicine practices sharing common theoretical concepts which have been developed in China and are based on a tradition of more than 2,000 years, including various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage , exercise , and dietary therapy...

 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 Daoist Ge Hong
Ge Hong
Ge Hong , courtesy name Zhichuan , was a minor southern official during the Jìn Dynasty of China, best known for his interest in Daoism, alchemy, and techniques of longevity...

 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 Emperor Guangxu, the abbot of the temple, Chen Jiaoyou, wrote Evolution of the Daoism of 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 (temple), 18 si (temple) and 22 an (temple) 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 Daoist 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 Dao and attained immortality. 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
    Pan Zhang & Wang Zhongxian
    The story of Pan Zhang & Wang Zhongxian comes from the state of Chu during the Zhou Dynasty of China and is first recorded in a Song Dynasty collection of tales called Anthology Of Tales From Records Of The Taiping Era ....

  • Sacred Mountains of China
    Sacred Mountains of China
    The Sacred Mountains of China are divided into two groups, one associated with Taoism and the other with Buddhism. The group associated with Taoism is known as the Five Great Mountains , whereas the group associated with Buddhism is referred to as the Four Sacred Mountains of Buddhism .The sacred...

  • Taoism
    Taoism
    Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...

  • Ge Hong
    Ge Hong
    Ge Hong , courtesy name Zhichuan , was a minor southern official during the Jìn Dynasty of China, best known for his interest in Daoism, alchemy, and techniques of longevity...

  • Wa Sau Toi
    Wa Sau Toi
    Huashoutai or commonly known in its Cantonese name Wa Sau Toi was a Buddhist monastery on the sacred mountain Luofushan. It was destroyed in early 20th century.It is located in Boluo County, Huizhou, Guangdong, China.- History :...


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