Address: Taishan Temple, the Xuanhua Hill, Taixi Road, Taishan Subdistrict, Pukou District, Nanjing, Jiangsu

　　Taishan Temple, originally named "Dongyue Temple", was started to be built in early Ming Dynasty. At first, Huang Feihu, "God of Dongyue" or god of Taishan Mountain in Taoism was enshrined in the temple. Legend has it that, Huang was the official to King Yin Zhou. Later, he went to King Wu of the Zhou for shelter after being persecuted. He gained outstanding battle achievements and sacrificed his life in the crusade against King Zhou. So he was investitured by Jiangzi Ya as the "God of Dongyue", who is responsible for good or ill luck and disaster or happiness of the world. Huang has a daughter who is called Mother of Taishan Mountain, Bixia Yuanjun. She can bring a lot of happiness and benefits to man's world. So her statue was also worshiped in the Taishan Temple, later. Affected by Buddhism, the Taishan Temple gradually changed from a Taoism site to a place where figures of Buddha were worshipped mainly and figures of gods in Taoism were enshrined as subsidiary. The temple built in early Ming was destroyed during the flames of war between the Qing Army and the Taiping Army, in the Xian Feng Period of the Qing Dynasty. In the fifth year of Tongzhi (1855), monk Deyuan begged alms to rebuild the Taishan Temple, completing only the central and rear halls. In the fifth year of Guang Xu, Huang Shilin built 132 bluestone steps from the foot of the mountain to the entrance of the middle hall. In the 25th year of the Republic of China, Taishan Temple was rebuilt. In 1952, the peasants down the mountain smashed and burnt all statues in the temple, leaving nothing. Later, the top of the Xuanhua Moutain where Taishan Temple used to be was a barrack till the middle of 1980s. In 1986, Shi Nongyue of Nanjing Jiming Temple came here and presided over the rehabilitation of the architectures in the style of Ming and Qing Dynasties, including a simple gate of 5m tall, storefronts next to the gate and a section of wall along the Taixi Road. Buddhist activities were officially resumed. Since 1999, the Taishan Temple has removed the old buildings and built new ones. Despite of the twists of Taishan Temple, Taishan temple fair has always been prosperous. Fete in Taishan Temple is March 28th of every lunar year, which is the birthday of Huang Feihu. At the traditional fair, folks from towns and townships nearby gather here, go to the temple and offer incense to Buddha, exchange agricultural and sideline products and watch artistic-cultural performances. Huge crowds of people swarm into the Taishan Temple and Dongmen substrict. And when people carry the statue of God of Dongyue and Mother of Taishan Mountain to parade down the street, performers of dragon dance, lion dance, flower ships and stilt all follow. All the way you can hear firecrackers, deafening sounds of gongs and drums and cheers from the folks, making the high tide of the fair. During the "cultural revolution", the fair was still held on yearly basis but Buddha worship was forbidden. In recent years, the government manages the fair more strictly for the purpose of safety, so it is hard to regain the historical grand occasion of the fair.

Source: Pukou District Bureau of Cultural Affairs