Autumn Notes at Beijing's Baiyun Temple: The World's Greatest Taoist Monastery, Heading Alone to the White Clouds

Number of days: 1 day
With whom：a person

Baiyun Temple

It's been a while since I last visited Baiyun Temple. The last time I was there, I used a Nikon camera (and some film: Fujifilm; anyway, I still have a few cameras from that era that I can't bear to throw away, even though I've completely forgotten how to manually set them). This time when I went to Baiyun Temple, I decided to buy a thousand-yuan phone instead, which is not bad either.

Baiyun Temple

It was an autumn day when I went there. I thought that there wouldn’t be so many tourists during this special period, but it was beyond my expectation. There were quite a few tourists, and most of them were very pious, burning incense and praying in front of the various halls. Of the few Taoist temples I've visited, the believers and tourists here seem to be among the most orderly: everyone lines up in order to burn incense, and there's never any crowding.

Baiyun Temple

The layout of Baiyun Temple is divided into the central road, the east road, and the west road. Entering the Baiyun Temple's mountain gate, the central route leads to the Lingguan Hall, Jade Emperor Hall, Lao Lu Hall, Qiuzu Hall, Four Imperial Halls, Jietai, and Yunji Mountain House. The western route includes the Lüzu Hall, Eight Immortals Hall, Yuanjun Hall, Wenchang Hall, Yuanchen Hall, and Little Penglai. The eastern route includes the Sanxing Hall, Cihang Hall, Zhenwu Hall, Leizu Hall, Yunhua Xianguan, and the Taoist Academy. Most visitors and believers concentrate on the central route, while the east and west routes are less crowded. Baiyun Temple Lingguan Hall Baiyun Temple Baiyun Temple Qiuzu Temple Baiyun Temple Qiuzu Temple Baiyun Temple Qiuzu Temple Baiyun Temple Sanxing Hall Baiyun Temple Cihang Hall Baiyun Temple The further you go into Zhenwu Hall, the fewer people there are (the world is like this: at the beginning, you are very interested in sightseeing, but as time goes by, you start to just rush around). The Jietai and Yunji Mountain House in the deepest part of Baiyun Temple are even less visited: I first walked from the mountain gate to Yunji Mountain House, and then slowly visited from the inside out.

A corner of Baiyun Temple

From the outside, Yunji Mountain House is built on a high platform. It is surrounded by antique corridors and has an ancient atmosphere, but it is not open to the public. To the south of the house is the Jietai (Jietai), which is not large. When I visited, a Taoist priest in white robes was practicing with spears and sticks! To the east of the house is the locked north gate of Baiyun Temple, and to the west is a garden called "Little Penglai" and a two-story wooden building called "Tuiju Building." The name is quite meaningful: retreating to a place, it feels like returning to the white clouds alone.

Baiyun Temple

Baiyun Temple Yunji Mountain House

Baiyun Temple Yunhua Xianguan

Baiyun Temple Jietai

Baiyun Temple Tuiju Building

Baiyun Temple was first built in the Tang Dynasty and was named "Tianchang Temple." Most of the buildings seen today are "works" from the Qing Dynasty. Speaking of Baiyun Temple, we have to mention Qiu Chuji, also known as Qiu Zu or Qiu Zhenren. He was a Quanzhen Taoist priest during the Southern Song or Jin Dynasty. He even met Genghis Khan, the legendary conqueror. Later, he was ordered by the emperor to govern Daoism in Dadu and preside over Baiyun Temple. A corner of Baiyun Temple

Taoism is a traditional religion of the Chinese people. Many of the Buddhist teachings we see today have been integrated with Taoist ideas. Therefore, we sometimes feel a sense of familiarity with some Taoist terms and concepts. This may be traced back to the fusion of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism over a thousand years ago! Baiyun Temple has information specifically about Daoism: the founding ancestor Huangdi, the founder of Daoism Laozi, and the founder of the religion Zhang Daoling. Daoism was founded by integrating Taoist techniques with the art of immortality. I remember going to Qingcheng Mountain in Sichuan before, where there are all kinds of stories and legends about Zhang Daoling: maybe traveling is sometimes like learning, you need to integrate and understand...

A corner of Baiyun Temple

Baiyun Temple Sanqing Pavilion

Baiyun Temple

Baiyun Temple Baiyun Temple Taoist Medical Center Baiyun Temple Taoist Medical Hall: Special

The Taoist College affiliated with Baiyun Temple is not open to the public. I won't go into detail about the other buildings and temples within the temple here, but overall, it's well worth the price of admission and the time it takes. Baiyun Temple Luogong Pagoda Baiyun Temple Luogong Pagoda Baiyun Temple A corner of Baiyun Temple A corner of Baiyun Temple

Baiyun Temple is one of the three main ancestral temples of the Quanzhen Sect of Taoism, known as "the world's premier Taoist monastery." Both the China Taoist Association and the China Taoist College are located here. There's a long-held Chinese saying that "great seclusion in the city," and Baiyun Temple, hidden within the urban fabric of Beijing, seems to be a prime example. When I left Baiyun Temple, I saw the characters "Eternal Spring" on the screen wall in front of the mountain gate. I thought, since Tao follows nature, it must be eternal spring and will never fade!