Qingyang Temple

The

Qingyang Temple

  (the Cyan Goat) is located at the southwestern countryside of Chengdu city, with some other great historical sites around it such as Wuhou Temple and the Thatched Cottage of Du Fu. According to some archeological discoveries, the Qingyang Temple was called "Qingyangsi" during the Zhou Dynasty (11 century BC to 221 AD) and "Qingyangguan" in the Three Kingdoms Period. In the Tang Dynasty the temple's name changed to "Xuanzhongguan", later people called it "Qingyanggong (the Cyan Goat Palace)" in the Song Dynasty, which is the name used nowadays.

The Qingyang Temple is one of the greatest Taoist holy places in China. A historical document recorded a legend that an immortal being from the heaven favored a child to the Cyan King, next the child became a goat in the Shu State. Since then, the Qingyang Temple has been a place for gathering of the immortal beings and people who want to attain spiritual enlightenments. In the Tang Dynasty, the Qingyang Temple was expanded to a big monastery as in the present day.

In 775 AD, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty evaded from the Anshi Uprising and lived inside the temple. In later times, the place was a safe haven for some emperors managed to escape from chaos in the north. During the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644), much of the great Tang architecture was damaged and destroyed, either by natural disasters or wars. The rebuilding of this heritage has been done during the years of Kangxi's reign (1667 - 1671) in the Qing Dynasty.