Divine views from Golden Summit

By Erik Nilsson

Updated: 2009-11-12

Wudang's magnificent scenery, well-preserved relics and fascinating folklore make it both a place of pilgrimage and a popular tourist attraction.

This was because the maleficent uncle of the widely beloved Emperor Zhu Yunwen became the dynasty's third ruler when he usurped his staunchly Confucian nephew.

The common people railed against the new regime, so Zhu Di declared he had assumed the throne to answer a divine calling issued by Taoist gods and championed by Zhen Wu. In this way, he hoped to quell popular ire by legitimizing his ascendancy.

It worked. Taoism eclipsed Confucianism as the kingdom's predominant belief system, and Wudang became a hallowed icon of this new political and religious order.

Zhu Di was particularly sly in his cooption of Taoism to justify his authority. He gathered the country's top artists to paint portraits of Zhen Wu, but ordered nearly all of them to be executed for failing to depict the divinity to his satisfaction - that is, until one calculating painter rendered the god's image to resemble the emperor's, much to the ruler's glee.

The slick artisan finagled this by smuggling a lump of clay into the court when he met Zhu Di, with whom he couldn't hold eye contact, on punishment of death. He stealthily sculpted the sovereign's face based on his fleeting glimpses, so he could reference it later.

Zhu Di also ordered the construction of several sacred edifices on the mountaintop that had the same basic layout as the Imperial Palace in Beijing.

Thus came about the saying, "The Imperial Palace is the place for the emperor to live; Wudangshan is the place for the emperor to rule".

The crown jewel of the treasure trove of buildings on the summit is the Golden Palace, which is located atop the mountain's crest, where the Turnaround Palace had stood.

Construction began in 1416 and took 12 years. Because of the religious and political importance of this new emblem, Zhu Di ordered each part of the gold-plated bronze structure to be created by top craftsman in Beijing. These sections were then transported from the capital to the mountaintop, where they were assembled. Featuring a traditional double-roof and nine-bracket structure, the Golden Palace is 5.8-m-long, 4.2-m-wide and 5.54-m-tall.

It warehouses a statue of Zhen Wu, along with the figures of a cast of Taoist characters - the Golden Boy, the Jade Maiden, the Snake and Turtle Generals, and the fire god.

Mysteriously, it also contains a memorial flame that has not died in more than six centuries, even though the building has been tightly sealed up.

But for all of its consequence to Zhu Di and his predecessors, no emperor, including him, ever visited Wudang.

After Zhu Di's era, the location's eminence diminished until the Jiajing Period (1521-1567).

It was then that Ming Emperor Zhu Huocong, who had been trying in vain for years to beget a son, sent ministers to pray to Zhen Wu. After the officials beseeched the divinity to bless the ruler with a male heir, he sired many.

Today, believers still come to the Golden Summit to pray to Zhen Wu, bearing offerings of rice and oil. Should their requests come true, they are obligated to return to the mount to perform ceremonies demonstrating their gratitude.

Visitors can stay overnight at the summit's only hotel, Wudangshan Zhi Jing Hua. Rates run from 120 to 180 yuan ($17.6-26.4) a night, with the pricier lodging offering breathtaking vistas of the rocky knobs and wispy pines spangling the peak.

While it is said it took Zhen Wu 42 years of self-cultivation to become immortal, the Golden Summit bears testimony to the everlastingness of his legacy.