Wudang Shan, Wu Tang Shan, is located in Hubei province. While not considered one of the five sacred peaks, Wudang Shan has always been one of the most important centers of Taoism in China.  This ancient mountain was made famous in modern times in the West by the hit movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.  It not just one mountain, it is really a separate mountain range in northwestern Hubei. Of 1800 herbs listed in the Pen-tsao Kan-mu 400 of them are found on Wudang Shan. The climate is warm and humid and the thick forests on the mountain are shrouded in mist most of the year. Wudang Shan has served as a nature preserve for centuries and still contains many unusual plant species. The mountain is very quiet and has a deeply spiritual feeling.

Wudang Shan was said to be controlled by the five dragons who serve Zhenwu, the perfected warrior. He was originally known as Xuanwu (Dark Warrior). Zhenwu is the manifestation of the water element represented by rain and the color black. He was viewed as the ancient symbol of the north represented by a tortoise entwined with a snake. The other cardinal directions are represented by other animal symbols: the dragon of the east, the tiger of the west and the red bird of the south.

According to the Taoist Canon, “One of the important roles of Zhenwu in the celestial hierarchy was to protect against and defeat evil spirits. During a great battle against the demon kings of the north, they caused the energies (yin/water and yang/fire) of the trigrams Kan and Li to manifest as a giant tortoise and snake. Using his spiritual powers, Zhenwu subjugated the tortoise and the snake under his feet, symbolizing his mastery of the Kan and Li meditation.”

Zhenwu made a vow to take all of the wickedness of the world upon himself until there were no longer any ghosts or malevolent spirits, or any souls left suffering. He became the protector of those beset by evil spirits. Wudoumi [Five Pecks of Rice] Taoism was combined with worship of Zhen Wu on Wudang Shan. The site is still an active Zhengyi sect temple.

Dai Meng was a general who was sent to Wudang Shan by the Emperor Wu Di during the Xian Han to pay homage and to seek herbs of immortality. He was so touched by what he found there that he went back to the capitol, Chang’an, resigned his position and returned to live on the mountain and practice Taoist inner alchemy for the rest of his life. From this time on there were many reports of unusual men attaining immortality on the mountain. There were many more stories of supernatural beings [hsien] on this mountain than any other mountain in ancient Chinese history. The Taoist Canon reports numerous sightings of Zhenwu on Wudang Shan over the centuries.

Xuanwu was transformed into the Taoist deity known as the Perfected Warrior in the early part of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1126). Imperial recognition of this transformation occurred during the reign of Song Zhenzong (r.998-1022). His name was changed from Xuanwu to Zhenwu at this time. There was a miraculous appearance of a tortoise and a snake in 1017 and so Zhenzong built the first temple dedicated to Zhenwu in Bianliang, present day Kaifeng in Henan Province, the capitol of the Northern Song Dynasty.

The majority of the buildings on Wudang Shan were not destroyed at any time in its history; and Wudang Shan is unusual because so much of it is intact to this day. During the unrest at the end of the Yuan Dynasty some of the temples dedicated to Zhenwu were damaged. In 1412 Zhu di, the third Ming emperor, [the yongle reign- 1403-24 ] sponsored a series of restorations. This was when the Golden Palace Temple was built next to the existing temple dedicated to Zhenwu.

This central peak is said to be a “pillar of heaven” with 72 smaller peaks paying homage to it. The valleys have 33 different groups of temples, palaces, and pagodas with a total of 20,000 halls and rooms housing representations of Taoist deities. This complex of buildings at the top of Wudang Shan is called the Purple Forbidden City. It has a wall that surrounds the Golden Palace which is the famous temple with the caste gold roof in the “overlapping palace roof” style. The Ming builders used the best of Chinese architecture in this building and it is similar to the Taihe Palace in the Forbidden City in Beijing. This building houses the huge bronze and gold statue of Zhenwu.

It seems almost impossible to have erected these structures at the top of this steep peak that is 1600 feet high. We don’t fully understand how it was achieved despite the written records. What is known is that each huge piece was caste in bronze and gold using the lost wax method and then brought to the base of Wudang Shan via barge. The work force assembled numbered 200,000 men and somehow they got the huge caste pieces up to the top and put them together and sealed the joints with liquid gold.

After the restorations were complete the site was turned over to the Zhengyi sect of Taoism who established groups of 50 monks in each of the four major temples. During the Yongle reign, Wudang Shan was renamed Taihe Shan (mountain of supreme harmony) and took precedence over the Five Sacred Peaks.

All Ming emperors after the Yongle Period sent a sacrifice to Zhenwu on Wudang Shan before ascending to the throne. Zhenwu continued to be worshipped by the Manchu emperors of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), and he is still worshipped in China and Taiwan today.

The South Cliff Palace is a Yuan dynasty (1260-1368 CE) building [see picture] dedicated to Zhenwu and said to be modeled after his throne in heaven. It is built out of cyan stone held together with screws. The heaviest piece weighs 10,000 jin and seems impossible to have been brought to the sight. There are no historical records of how it was constructed or how they got the huge stones to the cliff face on the mountain. During the Yuan dynasty, after 1304, Zhenwu became known as Supreme Emperor of the Dark Heaven, Primal Sage, and Benevolent Majesty, and he became associated more closely with Wudang Shan and the Imperial family.

Each sacred peak ruled by a martial deity developed their own methods of combat and martial self-cultivation. In the Taoist tradition these were Ermei, Wudang, and Kunlun. The Wudang monastery became very famous for its system of sword fighting. The famous priest credited with inventing tai chi chuan, Chang, San Feng (Chang of the three peaks), stayed in the mountains around Wudang Shan for 23 years and combined martial arts and nei gung into a new system. His connection to the modern art of tai chi chuan is tenuous at best, but there can be little doubt as to the connection between Wudang methods of internal cultivation and each of the modern soft arts .In particular the joined hands operations practiced on Wudang Shan appear very similar to that practiced at Zhao Bao He.

Wudang is where the internal work of the Taoist recluses was combined with the martial arts. The basic principles of Wudang boxing were “strengthen the internal before the external” and “the hard is overcome by the soft.” Loose, natural movement and internal chi development characterize this boxing. See video (also, click here to see another related video of WudangShan Temples)

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