The White Cloud Temple is in southwestern Beijing, directly behind the
Broadcasting Building. It was called the Temple of Heavenly Eternity during the
Tang Dynasty and the Temple of the Great Ultimate during the Jin Dynasty. It is
the largest Daoist architectural complex in Beijing and was the headquarters for
the Dragon Gate sect. Although historical records indicate that there were
Daoist temples in Beijing during the Tang Dynasty, it was not until the early
Yuan Dynasty that they came to be built on a large scale. The Yuan Emperor Shizu
(Kublai Khan), whose reign lasted from 1260 to 1293, appointed a Daoist priest
from Shandong province to the position of'National Teacher,'which nominally put
him in charge of all Chinese Doaist affairs. This priest's name was Qiu Chuji,
but he was commonly known as the Sage of Eternal Spring (Changchun Zhenren).
While Qiu Chuji was in Beijing, he resided in the Temple of the Great Ultimate,
which he expanded and renamed the Temple of Eternal Spring (Changchungong). From
then on, it became the center of Daoism in northern China. It was not until the
Zhengtong era (1436-1449) of the Ming Dynasty that its current name was
adopted.
The extant temple was rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty and exemplifies the
Daoist architecture of the period. The complex is composed of multiple
courtyards set out on a central axis. From front to back the structures are as
follows: a memorial archway, the main gate, a pool, a bridge, the Hall of
Officials of the Heavenly Censor ate (corresponding to the Buddhist Hall of
Heavenly Kings), the Hall of the Jade Emperor and the Hall of Religious Law
(corresponding to the rear hall of a Buddhist temple).
In the center of the rear courtyard is the Hall of the Patriarch Qiu,
devoted to the worship of Qiu Chuji, and behind this, the Hall of the Four
Heavenly Emperors, the second story of which is the Hall of Three Purities
(corresponding to the Sutra Repository of Buddhist temples and housing the
Daoist Tripitaka). Here one can see the similarity between Daoist and Buddhist
temple architectures, though the decorative details and paintings make use of
specifically Daoist motifs such as lingzhi fungus, specifically Daoist immortals
and cranes, and the Eight Diagrams.
The temple contains a stela with calligraphy by Emperor Qianlong recording
in detail the history the history of the temple and the life of Qiu Chuji.
In the 8th century, the Tian Chang Temple was built in Beijing to house a
statue of Lao Tzu. Although it burned down in 1202, the statue was saved . In
1224, Genghis Khan ordered the reconstruction of the temple. It came to be known
as the White Cloud Temple. Today it is one of China's oldest and largest Taoist
temples, housing the office of Taoist Association of China.
In Chinese, Taoist temples are not actually called temples, but Guan. Guan
means something like to look at or observe. This is a reflection of the Taoist
belief that understanding the Tao comes from a direct observation of nature,
rather than scholastic theological studies.