珍  Pearl  珠

In the late period of Eastern Han Dynasty of China, Zhang Daoling introduced Taoist Culture into the Southern Mountain (Mountain Hengshan), thereafter Taoism developed continually in the Southern Mountain area. Taoism committed it self to practicing inner alchemy, namely today's Qigong; while the refining of inner elixir is the external alchemy, namely drug, which is the ancient chemistry. The Taoist thought and culture have a significant influence on people. The prosperity of temples began from this time. They influenced emperors, generals and ministers, needless to say the innumerable votaries among the common folks. The Taoist temples of Southern Mountain includes Qizhen Temple, Southern Mountain Temple in the early Jin Dynasty, and later many dynasties established temples in the Southern Mountain, among which the number established in the Tang Dynasty is the most, reaching 28. Red walls and green tiles, flourishing green trees, famous mountain and small buildings, all these formed the excellent scenery. Consequently, the Taoist culture infiltrates to each field and literators communicated with Taoists, which formed a significant characteristic of the Taoist culture of the Southern Mountain. Many Taoists with high culture cultivation and profound metaphysics all wrote books and established theories. For example, Records of Mountain Hengshan is the first monograph about the Southern Mountain written by Xu Lingqi of the Liu-Song Dynasty of the Southern Dynasties of China. Thereafter, a series of books about the mountain appeared, including Small records of Southern Mountain written by Taoist Li Chongzhao of the late Tang Dynasty, scenery collection of the Southern Mountain written by Chen Tianfu of the Song Dynasty, trivialness records written by Li Changgeng of the Ming Dynasty. All of these writings have a important role for the researches of the history and culture of Southern Mountain.