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Taiqing Temple (simplified Chinese: 太清宫; traditional Chinese: 太清宮; pinyin: Tàiqīnɡ Gōnɡ) is located on Laoshan Mountain in Qingdao of China. Taiqing Temple is the largest and the oldest Taoist temple among the remaining Taoist temples on Laoshan Mountain. Taiqing Temple is located at the bottom of Baozhu Mountain at the southernmost end of Laoshan Mountain. Taiqing Temple was rebuilt several times in the history. Taiqing Temple has three compounds. The source says that Taiqing Temple is the paradise of Taoist practice so Taiqing Temple is known as “The Second Jungle of Quanzhen Taoism”. Taiqing Temple has many notable Taoist priests; see Notable Monks.

History
Taiqing Temple was first built in the Han dynasty. In the Song dynasty, Emperor set aside a huge amount of money to expand Taiqing Temple. Taiqing Temple flourished several times in the Ming dynasty. In the Ming dynasty, Zhangxian Tower was in the eastern of Taiqing Temple. The Bashui River was in the western of Taiqing Temple. The south side of Taiqing Temple was near the sea. The Fenshui River was in the north of Taiqing Temple. With the support of the court and the protection of the government, Taiqing Temple gradually became the largest temple on Laoshan Mountain. In 1622, Taiqing Temple was rebuilt. Taiqing Temple was formally divided into Sanqing Hall, Sanguan Hall and Sanhuang Hall. All three halls had walls. Taiqing Temple had basically formed its present scale. In 2001, many structures including Clock and Drum Tower, Yuanchen Pavilion, Yuanjun Pavilion, Hunyuan Hall, Wenchang Hall and Caishen Hall were built in Taiqing Temple.

Layout
Taiqing Temple consists of three compounds now. There are Yuanjun Pavilion, Yuanchen Pavilion, and Clock and Drum Tower in the front yard. In the middle yard, there are Sanguan Hall, Sanqing Hall, Sanhuang Hall and five side halls. In the backyard, there is a main hall and two side halls. Taiqing Temple has more than 100 Taoist statues.

Sanguan Hall
Sanguan Hall worships three statues in charging of heaven, earth and water. In the courtyard, there is a camellia tree moved by Zhang Sanfeng from the island in the Ming dynasty. Under the tree, there is an engraved tablet with two characters: “Jiangxue” (绛雪). The source says that many flowers fade in the cold winter season every year. Only the camellia tree has many red flowers. The whole camellia tree seems to be covered with red snow. The camellia tree covered with red flowers can be called a wonder.

Sanqing Hall
Sanqing Hall contains statues which people pray of Taiqing’s “Moral Heavenly Respect”, Yuqing’s “Yuanshi Heavenly Respect” and Shangqing’s “Lingbao Heavenly Respect”. There is an old elm tree on the east side of the door. The source says that the elm tree was planted in the Tang dynasty according to the legend so people call the old elm tree “Tang Elm Tree”. The source says that the shape of the trunk and the branches is like a dragon with its head high in the air so people also call the old elm tree “Dragon Head Elm Tree”. Under the western steps, there is a “Holy Spring” which is the top of the famous springs of Laoshan Mountain. As for the spring, the drought will not dry and the flood will not overflow for a long time. And the texture of the spring is clear and sweet. Therefore, the spring is called “Holy Spring” according to the source.

Sanhuang Hall
Sanhuang Hall contains Emperor Xuanyuan, Emperor Shennong and Emperor Fuxi, as well as ten famous ancient medicine deities. There are two inscriptions on the stone wall outside the hall. In the courtyard, it is a forest of ancient trees. One of them is a cypress tree about 25 meters tall which has a history of more than 2100 years.

Notable monks

 * Li Zongxian-the senior Taoist priest at present
 * Yin Zhiping-the senior Taoist priest who was in the Yuan dynasty and a disciple of Qiu Chuji
 * Qiu Chuji-the senior Taoist priest for twenty-four years
 * Geng Yilan-the senior Taoist priest in the Ming dynasty
 * Liu Ruozhuo-the senior Taoist priest who came to Taiqing Temple in the Tang dynasty
 * Li Zhexuan-the senior Taoist priest who came to Taiqing Temple in the Tang dynasty
 * Wang Changyue-the senior Taoist priest in the Qing dynasty
 * Zhang Sanfeng-the senior Taoist priest who was in the Song dynasty and came to Taiqing Temple several times
 * Zhang Lianfu-the senior Taoist priest in the Han dynasty
 * Kuang Changxiu-the senior Taoist priest in the Qing dynasty