Wei Bao Mountain and Taoist Temples

Today we travelled to Wei Bao Shan (Wei Bao Mountain), considered one of the major Taoist mountains in China. The drive took a couple of hours and we travelled on a newly built highway through the mountains. This region is home of the Yi people, who wear a distinctive green costume. They sometimes walk their horse down the middle of the new highway.

We stopped in Wei Shan village for lunch. Afterwards, we walked though the center of the old town. This place was remote enough that many of the city’s older structures survived the destruction of the 1960s. On the town square a group of Yi people were playing their ethnic songs and dancing. This region sees little foreign tourism. The people on the square dancing were simply enjoying themselves, not performing for tourists. They did invite the ladies in our group to join them in a dance. Afterwards the old man leading the group proposed to marry one of them!

Wei Bao Shan has a number of temples dedicated to both Buddhism and Taoism. At one time it was a major Taoist training center, but now only a few priests remain in the temples. Our first stop was the ancestral temple of the Yi people. The temple had been recently expanded and renovated. During the renovation, the murals depicting the history of the Yi people were reproduced. The Japanese had looted them during WWII.

We also stopped at one of older Taoist temples on the mountain. This temple was closed as it was undergoing renovation. As fate would have it, we found an open side door. I was reminded of the saying “There are 3600 paths to Tao and 72 more side doors.” Nan Huai Chin said, ‘A side door is still a door.” So we went inside.

Although the temple was small and undergoing renovation, we had the temple to ourselves. The caretaker, an elderly woman, was delighted to have visitors. She summoned the only Taoist priest at this temple to greet our group. They gave us water from their “Dragon Well” which was reputed to have healing properties. We performed a healing circle meditation and a little Tai Chi and Kung Fu.