My Own Universe: March 2012

Wahuang Palace is located on the Tangwangjiao Mountain, a branch of the Taihang Mountains, with a range of scenic and forested mountains in the west of Handan. Built in the Northern Qi Dynasty, it is the largest temple in China to commemorate the ancient Creator-goddess.

Well known as "Nainai Ding", Wahuang Palace is located in Tangwangjiao Mountain in northwestern Shexian County and about 68 miles to the west of Handan City. First built in Northern Qi Dynasty, it was constructed in remembrance of Nuwa, a goddess in Chinese mythology. The main Wahuang Palace is situated on the right side of the mountain. It is four storey high and measures 75 feet tall.

The whole structure was built along the contour of the mountain. There are 135 houses, three grottoes and six cliff sutra inscriptions of the Northern Qi Dynasty and 75 inscribed stone tablets of successive dynasties. At present, it covers an area of 760,000 square meters, and includes the Chaoyuan Palace, the Tingcan Palace, the Guangsheng Palace and the Memorial Archway, etc.

The Wahuang Palace is built on the steep mountainside, the Wahuang Pavilion, the Dressing Building, the Hexangular Pavilion, the Yingshuang Building, the Bell-Drum Tower, the Wooden Memorial Archway, the Pond House and the Palace Gate are arranged on a platform of the mountain. The eight iron chains secure Qingxu Pavilion, Zaohua Pavilion and Butian Pavilion to the cliffs from the bottom to the top. The elegance of the construction demonstrates the ingenuity and high level of Chinese ancient architecture.

The Wahuang Palace is the earliest and largest ancient building used to enshrine Goddess Nuwa of ancient times, and it was constructed in the 6thcentury. In the initial period, the Wahuang Palace was small, consisting of only three stone rooms and some statues of Gods and Baddhas. It was continuously expanded and constructed during the following dynasties.

Daluo Palace is a large-scale, thirteen-story Taoist architectural complex on Mianshan Mountain in Jiexiu City of the central Shanxi Province. It boasts to be the highest immortal realm of Daoism and the biggest Daoist temple in China.

Daluo Palace, since ancient times, has many wonderful tales. It was said that the Daluo Palace was the fairyland which Jie Zitui had seen in Jin Kingdom during the Spring and Autumn Period. Another tale is that the daughter of Emperor Tang Gaozu had practiced Taoism in the palace.

Chinese Taoism thinks the heaven immortals lived has 36 levels. The highest level is Daluo Heaven. The name, Daluo Palace, means the palace built in the Daluo Heaven. Daluo Palace hangs over on the cliff of Lion Hill. It is 100 meters high and has 13 floors. Because of wars, Daluo Palace had experienced several times damages and reconstructions. In February 2nd, 1942, the Japanese army set fire on the palace. It was totally destroyed. The palace now we see was rebuilt in recent years. The construction area of main buildings is 10,000 square meters. The total construction area of the palace is 30,000 square meters. The palace ably mixed up the Ming, Qing architectural styles with modern technology as a whole. The Daluo Palace is very gorgeous and elegant. Someone titled it as ‘the No.1 Taoist Temple’.