The Eight Immortals Palace, known as the Eight Immortals Temple in ancient times, is located in Changlefang, Dongguan, Xi'an City. It is the site of the Xingqing Palace of the Tang Dynasty. According to legend, this place was the "Chang'an Wine Shop" in the Tang Dynasty. Lu Dongbin drank here and became enlightened by Zhong Liquan. There is also a legend that during the Song Dynasty, faint sounds of thunder were often heard underground here, so the Thunder Temple was built to suppress it. At the end of the Song Dynasty, Zheng Sheng was resting in the Thunder Temple. He suddenly met the Eight Immortals feasting here, and the legend of the "Eight Immortals" spread. During the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, the Quanzhen Sect flourished, and a large number of construction projects were built here, which was named "Eight Immortals Temple". By the Ming Dynasty, the Eight Immortals Temple had become a famous Taoist temple.
In the early years of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, the famous Taoist priest Ren Tianran renovated the temple and expanded the east courtyard. At that time, Ren Tianran opened an altar and released precepts in the Eight Immortals Nunnery, and turned the Eight Immortals Nunnery into the Ten Directions Forest of Quanzhen Taoism. In the 11th year of Jiaqing (1806), Dong Qingqi, a beggar Taoist from Zhengzhou, Henan Province (known as "Barefoot Dong Zhenren" because he traveled around the world barefoot all year round), became the abbot of the Eight Immortals Nunnery and raised funds to repair the palace and add the West Cross Courtyard. Since then, Han Heyi, Liu Helun, Zhu Jiaoxian and other high-ranking Taoists have stopped here, and they have all made great achievements. During the Gengzi Rebellion in the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu (1900), Empress Dowager Cixi fled to Xi'an with Emperor Guangxu. During her stay in Xi'an, Cixi often visited the Eight Immortals Temple and burned incense and worshiped the gods to relieve her depression and fear. The green peonies in the central and western gardens of the nunnery were so pleasing to her eyes that she specially painted a peony nave and gave it to the Eight Immortals Nunnery. The abbot at that time, Li Zongyang, was especially favored by Cixi. He was named "The Real Man with Jade Crown and Purple Robe" and was awarded the plaque "Jade Qing Zhi Dao". He was also rewarded with a thousand taels of silver to build additional temples. After Cixi returned to Luan, she decreed that the Eight Immortals Nunnery be named the "Wanshou Eight Immortals Palace in Dongguan, Xi'an". From then on, the Eight Immortals Nunnery was upgraded to the Eight Immortals Palace.
After the founding of New China, the People's Government allocated special funds to repair this temple in 1958. During the "Cultural Revolution", the palace was destroyed. *** After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Eight Immortals Palace was restored, giving this Taoist resort a new look.
The newly restored Baxian Palace faces north and south, with a total construction area of ??more than 8,200 square meters. It basically maintains the layout of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The palace is divided into an atrium and east and west courtyards. The atrium part from front to back is the big screen wall, archway, shopping mall, mountain gate, Lingguan Hall, Eight Immortals Hall, and Doumu Hall. The buildings in the east courtyard are Luzu Hall, Yaowang Hall, Taibai Hall, Kitchen Courtyard and Living Courtyard. The buildings in the west courtyard are Qiuzu Hall, Jianyuanliao, Yunyin Hall, and the Municipal Taoist Association Office. The atrium part is separated from the east and west courtyards by stele corridors and wing rooms. The entire building complex has a rigorous layout, orderly order, and dignity.
The main hall of the Eight Immortals Palace is the Eight Immortals Palace. On the door of the palace, there is a plaque inscribed by Emperor Guangxu entitled "The Legend of the Immortal Treasure". In the hall, Emperor Donghua sits in the center, and the Eight Immortals sit on both sides.
The Eight Immortals Palace has been designated by the State Council as one of the key palaces in the country. Contact and transportation
Address: Dongguan, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province
Transportation: You can get there by taking the city bus in Xi'an
Contact number: 86 -29-3237725, 2480994 Qing Xitai, editor-in-chief: "Chinese Taoism" (Shanghai: Knowledge Press, 1994), Volume 4, pp. 278-279. Gu Jun and Zhu Yaoting: "A Scenic Spot for Longevity - Ancient Taoist Temple in Fairy Mountain" (Shaanxi: Liaoning Normal University Press, 1996). Sun Gaoyuan: "The Taoist Palace is in its heyday, and its old appearance shows new splendor - A record of the Eight Immortals Palace in Xi'an after restoration", published in "Chinese Taoism", Issue 4, 1992, pp. 51-53.