Qiyunshan as a Replica of Wudangshan and the Religious Landscape of the Ming Empire

Abstract

AbstractMount Wudang (Wudangshan 武當山) is well known to have been the most holy mountain in the Ming. As the center of the Zhenwu 真武 (Perfect Warrior) cult, Wudangshan not only attracted millions of pilgrims, but also spread the Zhenwu cult to the entire empire, with many sites of the Zhenwu cult known as the “Little Wudang Mounts” (Xiao Wudang 小武當) and other regional branches (travel-palaces 行宮 etc.) modeling after Wudangshan. Among these regional Zhenwu branches, Mount Qiyun (Qiyunshan 齊雲山) was arguably the most important. This study explores the conscious effort of the Daoist clerical community to duplicate the Zhenwu cult of Wudangshan at Qiyunshan. I argue that the high point of Daoism at Qiyunshan was the Jiajing 嘉靖 emperor’s (r. 1522–1566) patronage. This imperial support not only served the emperor’s personal religious interest, it also provided political legitimacy to promote Jiajing’s lineage and remap the religious landscape of the empire. Due to geographical, regional, and cultural differences,...