Shenyang Taiqing Palace is located at No. 16 Xisuncheng Street, Shenhe District, Shenyang City, Liaoning Province. It is one of the largest Taoist ten-direction jungles in Northeast China. It was founded in the second year of Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (AD 1663) by Guo Shouzhen, the eighth generation descendant of the Quanzhen Longmen School of Taoism.
Guo Shouzhen, whose courtesy name is Zhixu and whose Taoist name is Jingyangzi. When there was a severe drought in Shengjing (today's Shenyang), the imperial court invited Guo Shouzhen, who was practicing meditation in Babao Yunguang Cave in Tiesha Mountain, Benxi, to pray for rain. After his wish was fulfilled, he was asked to build three churches here. In the center of the hall is a Taoist statue of Laozi, flanked by Confucian Confucius and Buddhist Sakyamuni statues, which embodies the original doctrine of the unity of the three religions of the Quanzhen School of Taoism. Later, 14 of Guo Shouzhen's disciples went to Qianshan, Yiwulu Mountain and other places in the Northeast to preach, making Taoism spread in the Northeast. The last three churches were flooded and the temples collapsed. After Zhao Yichen, the high priest in the temple, tried his best to raise funds, they were renovated one after another and were renamed Taiqingguan.
Taiqing Palace faces south and has four courtyards. It adopts a quadrangle-style architectural layout, which has both a distinctive national architectural style and Taoist characteristics. There are eight palaces including Ling Palace, Guandi Palace, Laojun Palace, Jade Emperor Palace, Sanguan Palace, Lu Zu Palace, Guo Zu Palace and Qiu Zu Palace.
There is Lingguan Hall in the front yard, which was originally the mountain gate of Taiqing Palace. It was later changed to two floors, three rooms wide and covered with gray tiles. Wang Lingguan and Zhao Lingguan are worshiped in the hall. There is an original couplet in the Lingguan Hall: "It won't do any good if you burn incense if you have evil intentions, but if you keep your body upright and see that I don't worship, what's the harm?" On the east side of the courtyard is the Shifang Hall, and the north room of the Shifang Hall is now a doorway, serving as the east gate of the Taiqing Palace. On the west side of the courtyard is Yunshuitang.
Opposite the Lingguan Hall to the north is the Guandi Hall, which is located on a stone platform. It is three rooms wide and three rooms deep, with gray walls and gray tiles. The couplet on the doorpost reads: "Aim to live in the spring and Autumn period, be loyal to the world, and be loyal to the sun and the moon." The main seat in the wooden-carved warm pavilion in the hall is dedicated to Emperor Guan Sheng. Guan Ping holds the seal on the left, and Zhou Cang holds a sword on the right.
To the north of the second courtyard is the Laojun Hall, which is one of the main buildings of the Taiqing Palace. It is three rooms wide and two rooms deep, with gray walls and gray tiles. There is a gold plaque with "Laojun Hall" hanging on the door. There is a couplet on the outer corridor written in Taoist difficult characters: "The jade furnace is used to burn the medicine for longevity, and the right way is to practice the elixir for longevity." The couplet on the inner corridor is: "The Baierguan River welcomes the purple air, and the five thousand virtues There is a hanging flower-style wooden pavilion in the hall, in which a seated statue of Laozi is enshrined. On both sides are Wei Tuo and Wang Lingguan.
There is Lu Zulou on the east side of the third courtyard. The floor is three rooms wide and two The main hall is dedicated to Lu Dongbin, one of the Eight Immortals of Taoism, with Liu Zu on the left and Ji Zu on the right. According to legend, Ji Zu was a native of Tieling, Liaoning Province in the Ming Dynasty. He was talented, but was blocked by Yan Song and failed in the imperial examination. After being enlightened by Lu Zu, he became an immortal and became one of the eight immortals in Taoism.
There is Qiu Zu Tower on the west side of the courtyard, which is built in the same way as on the east side. The statue of Qiu Chuji is enshrined in the building.
In the middle of the north is the Yuhuang Pavilion, with two towers. It is three rooms wide and two rooms deep, with gray walls and gray tiles. The upper floor is decorated with ceilings and painted dragons and phoenixes. In the Nuan Pavilion is a seated statue of the Jade Emperor, with the Earth God on the left and Wang Lingguan on the right.