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 Heilongtan (Black Dragon Pool) is a famous Taoist
center in the Wulao Peaks of the Longquan Mountains to the north
of Kunming. It is so named because legend says that there was a
black dragon living in the pool.
Black Dragon Palace has three courtyards which
served as the place where
local officials came to pay tribute to the Black Dragon and ask
for rain.
Other famous relics are the ancestral hall of the Han Dynasty, the
plum
tree of the Tang Dynasty, the cypress of the Song Dynasty and the
camellia
of the Ming Dynasty.
Heilongtan is actually composed of two pools, one deep and
clear, the
other shallow and muddy. The water in the clear pool comes from
underground, and looks dark as the pool is very deep. Where the two pools
join is
a bridge. Although the water of both pools meet here, fish in one
pool
would never move to the other.
The Longquan Taoist Temple, also named Zijixuandu, is hidden in
the
depth of the woods on the mountain top. It is a sacred Taoist
center in
Yunnan, and people come from far and wide to worship here. It
consists
of three halls, the Beiji, Yuhuang and Sanqing. The halls and
mansions
are well preserved. With Tang Dynasty plum tree, Song Dynasty
cypress,
and a camellia tree of the Ming Dynasty, it is one of the finest
examples
of temples in Yunnan.
The two plum trees from the Tang Dynasty are
red and double petalled. It is said they were
planted by the monk Dao 'an from the Longquan
Mountains in the Kaiyuan and Tianbao periods (713-756)during the
Tang Dynasty. The main trunk of the plum trees withered in
1923.But after more than a thousand years, through wind, rain,
snow and frost, the trees still blossom and spread their pleasant
fragrance. Besides the plum trees are two cypresses planted during the Song Dynasty. They stand in
front of
the Zushi Hall and the Yuhuang Hall, tall and green, like giant
umbrellas.
The larger requires five adults to join hands to encircle its
trunk. It is
said it was planted during the Song Dynasty(960-1279),and has
lived for
about 1,000 years. A carved stone tablet stands beside the
cypresses. It
is one of the most valuable antiques at the Taoist temple.
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