Idealizing a Daoist Grotto-Heaven: The Luofu Mountains in Luofu Yesheng 羅浮野乘

Abstract

The region of the Luofu Mountains in Guangdong, China, has long been a Daoist sacred place for centuries. In the Daoist sacred geographic system “Dongtian Fudi” (Grotto-Heavens and Blissful Lands), the Luofu Mountains are ranked as the seventh “Major Grotto-Heaven”, standing as an influential site for the practice Daoist immortals. Due to a sense of local pride and responsibility, the Guangdong literatus Han Huang (active approx. 1600–1639) compiled an important gazetteer named Luofu yesheng (The Unofficial Gazetteer of the Luofu Mountains) in 1639, which is largely underexplored. By investigating the texts and images within Luofu yesheng and by comparing them with other gazetteers of the Luofu Mountains compiled during the Ming dynasty, this article discovers that Han Huang compiled such a gazetteer and demonstrated the religious sacredness of the Luofu Mountains to advocate for recognition of their status as a grotto-heaven and by imaginatively reconstructing their lost religious sites in Luofu yesheng’s texts and images.

1. Introduction

Located in Boluo 博羅 County, Huizhou 惠州, Guangdong 廣東 Province, China’s Luofu Mountains (Luofu shan 羅浮山) have stood as a Daoist sacred site for centuries. Ever since the Zhou dynasty (c. 1046–256 BCE), the region of the Luofu Mountains has been a holy site for religious practitioners; furthermore, since the Tang (618–907) and Song (960–1279) dynasties, the region of the Luofu Mountains has been seen as a natural, cultural, and religious landmark located in Guangdong.1 In the Daoist sacred geographic system of “Grotto-Heavens and Blissful Lands” (dongtian fudi 洞天福地), Luofu is ranked seventh of the “Ten Major Grotto Heavens” (Shida dongtian 十大洞天) and are referred to as the “Grotto-heaven of Vermillion Brightness Shining Truth” (Zhuming yaozhen tian 朱明耀真天).2

During the late Ming (1368–1644) and early Qing (1644–1911) dynasties, Han Huang 韓晃 (1600 juren 舉人), a native literatus of Boluo, took the literary name (hao 號) “Woodcutter of the Seventh Grotto-heaven” (Diqi Dongtian qiaoke 第七洞天樵客) and compiled an important gazetteer of the Luofu Mountains with landscape illustrations, Luofu yesheng 羅浮野乘 (The Unofficial History of the Luofu Mountains, henceforth Yesheng),3 which is the core research material of this article.4 To Han Huang, reading and collecting the literary works and historical accounts of the Luofu Mountains is “refreshing for the heart and soul” (xinhun xidi 心魂洗滌).5 As a native literatus in Boluo, Han Huang, as a matter of local pride and responsibility, affirmed and documented the status of Luofu as a sacred region that accomodated numerous eminent literati and Daoist immortals.6

The Luofu Mountains have long been characterized by local writing and image-making in terms of their Daoist sacredness, and Yesheng has played an important role in the transmission of the Luofu Mountains’ significance in both literary and artistic traditions in later times. The early Qing painter Shitao 石濤 (1642–1707), in the late stage of his life, painted an album of the Luofu Mountains after the images from Yesheng, such as the Yunmu Feng 雲母峰 and Shangjie Sanfeng 上界三峰, due to his lasting aspiration to visit Luofu (Hay 1989, p. 405). Also, in Luofu shan zhi huibian 羅浮山志會編 (Combined Gazetteer of the Luofu Mountains, henceforth Huibian), the most comprehensive gazetteer of the Luofu Mountains, Luofu yesheng is listed as one of the important references.7 Additionally, in the early Qing, when the literati Wu Zhenfang 吳震方 (1679 jinshi 進士) missed the chance to be in Luofu due to heavy rain, he viewed Yesheng as an alternative way to “travel” among the Luofu Mountains. Later literati’s references as such indicate that Luofu yesheng can be seen as important material for learning about the Luofu Mountains.8

By investigating and comparing the texts and images within Yesheng with other gazetteers of the Luofu Mountains compiled during the Ming dynasty, this article explores why and how Han Huang, a local literatus in Boluo County, compiled Yesheng and demonstrated Luofu’s sacredness. Building on previous gazetteers, Yesheng supplements the historiography of previous writings about Luofu and revives the religious sacredness of the Luofu Mountains during the Ming dynasty by recording information about Luofu at its prime in texts and images delineating religious sites. In other words, applying Mircea Eliade’s theory, this article explores how Han Huang managed to imaginatively keep Luofu as a sacred space which is differentiated from a “profane space” (Eliade 1987, p. 15).

This article attempts to discover how Han Huang understood and interpreted the Luofu Mountains through the lens of four aspects, which are, respectively, discussed in four sections. Section 2 of this article describes the contents of Yesheng and investigates its creation, elucidating how its author drew upon previous gazetteers on the Luofu Mountains in that process. Section 3 examines Luofu’s reputation as a grotto-heaven, a Daoist sacred place, and it considers how such reputation is demonstrated in Yesheng. Section 4 scrutinizes Han Huang’s introduction to Yesheng and explains how, according to Han Huang, Yesheng is a contribution to the writing on the Luofu Mountains. Finally, Section 5 argues that although it is a gazetteer of a well-recognized Daoist sacred site, Yesheng should be considered a product of China’s syncretism of different traditions of belief among Buddhism and Confucianism.9 By comparing related sections in Yesheng with other historical documents regarding specific religious sites in the Luofu Mountains, this section investigates how Yesheng presents idealized images of the Luofu Mountains by reconstructing religious sites that had already been destroyed before Han Huang’s lifetime.

2. The Formation of Luofu Yesheng

2.1. The Content

Han Huang passed the provincial civil service examination and was made juren in 1600.10 The government appointed him magistrate of Qingtian County in Zhejiang Province, where he served as an official of integrity until his retirement (Ibid.). After finishing his service, Han Huang returned to his hometown where the Luofu Mountains are situated, and he devoted his life to compiling Yesheng, which was first published in 1639.11 It is said that soon after he learned that the Qing took the throne, he died of a broken heart.12 Han Huang introduces the Luofu Mountains by elucidating six core aspects and showcasing records from different historical periods; as a personally compiled gazetteer, Yesheng focuses on the geographical and cultural features of separate topics and “transcends dynasties, whereas histories cover single dynasties” (Dennis 2015, p. 1). In Yesheng, the first juan 卷 (chapter) presents a four-page panorama (Figure 1) of the Luofu Mountains, which is followed by some general relevant historical and mythological information and poems by contemporaneous and previous literati.13 The second juan lists 24 natural sites scattered within the Luofu Mountains; each has a fentu 分圖 (individual image of specific sites), an introduction written by Han Huang, and several related poems written by literati in previous dynasties.14 The third juan elaborates on the natural sites in the second juan, introducing the human-made sites within each natural site by briefly describing the location and history and by cataloging more poems that illustrate the views within.15 The fourth juan familiarizes readers with the well-known Daoist immortals and Buddhist saints who had been cultivated in the Luofu Mountains since the Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE).16 The fifth juan introduces the local products and rare animals of the Luofu Mountains.17 Finally, the last juan presents related stories and strange events said to have occurred within the Luofu Mountains.18 Different from the first two, the third through sixth juans do not contain images and comprise only text.

2.2. Where Was Yesheng Engraved?

The designer and engraver of the images in Yesheng remain anonymous; however, on the right of the panorama, there is an answer—an inscription that reads “written and engraved on the twin peaks of Longgang” (Longgang queshang kexie 龍岡闕上刻寫), which might at least indicate the location of the engraver. A poem titled Moling 秣陵 (referring to modern-day Nanjing, in Jiangsu Province) by the famous Guangdong poet Qu Dajun 屈大均 (1630–1696), may reveal the location of Longgang:

“The bull’s head cracked open the sky towers, while the dragon’s spine embraces the earth palace. Among the spring grasses of the Six Dynasties, flowers wither away into ten thousand wells.”

牛首開天闕，龍岡抱地宮。六朝春草裡，萬井落花中。19

In Nanjing, the “bull’s head” and the “dragon’s spine” metaphorically refer to the Niutou Shan 牛頭山 (Bull’s Head Mountain) and Zhong shan 鐘山 (Bell Mountain), respectively, and the character que 闕 (tower), indicates the twin peaks that look like the twin towers flanking a royal palace (Zhou 2011, p. 1051). Nanjing was a center of book publishing during the late Ming dynasty, and its books were famous for their delicate engravings (Ōki 2014, p. 18). In fact,, the work of Han Huang’s brother, Han Sheng 韓晟, was done by engravers in Chizhou 池州 in modern Anhui 安徽 Province, which was in the same province as Nan Zhili 南直隸 (South Direct-Administered Municipality), a region filled with efficient and well-qualified engravers.20 In addition, as mentioned earlier, Han Huang served as an official in Qingtian in Zhejiang, a province that formed part of the wealthy, literate region named Jiangnan 江南 (South of the Yangtze River). Therefore, it is highly possible that the compilation of Yesheng was a result of Han Huang’s experience in both Boluo County, his hometown, and the Jiangnan region, and that the phrase “twin peaks of Longgang” refers to Nanjing, a widely reputable publishing center.

2.3. Reference to Previous Gazetteers

According to his preface, Han Huang compiled Yesheng out of the regret for the Luofu Mountains’ “not having a gazetteer for a long time” (Luofu jiu wu zhi 羅浮久無志).21 Before Han Huang began working on Yesheng, his elder brother, Han Yinzhong 韓寅仲, published Luofu fumo 羅浮副墨 (A Copy of the Anthology of the Luofu Mountains), which is no longer extant.22 As Han Huang stated, his brother’s work mostly comprised contemporary poems instead of histories of previous dynasties, which could not be passed on to later generations.23 As the “Woodcutter of the seventh Grotto-heaven”, a local literatus who indulged in the marvelous views of the Luofu Mountains during his retirement, Han Huang felt obliged to compile a new, readable gazetteer to document the mountains in their prime (Ibid.).

However, it is important to note that Han Huang’s statement denying the existence of recent gazetteers of the Luofu Mountains is not true. Yesheng was first published in 1639 (Ibid.), at least three gazetteers were compiled before Han Huang’s work during the Ming dynasty, but Yesheng is the first and only to proclaim itself “unofficial”.24 The three gazetteers were completed by Chen Lian 陳槤 (active approx. 1470), Huang Zuo 黃佐 (1490–1566), and Han Mingluan 韓鳴鸞 (1582 juren).25 As records and poems by the above-mentioned authors are included in Yesheng and some of the writers had been to or were residents of Boluo County, it is quite likely that Han Huang was aware of their works.26

Evidence proving that Han Huang referred to previous gazetteers can be found by comparing Yesheng and other gazetteers that were previously published. First, Han Huang’s panorama shows clear similarity with Huang Zuo’s Luofu shan zhi 羅浮山志 (Gazetteer of the Luofu Mountains, Figure 2), published in 1552. Both panoramas are divided into four pages. Although Yesheng depicts the mountainous structure in a more detailed manner than that of Huang Zuo’s panorama, the natural sites along the contour of the mountain follow the same sequence on each page of the panoramas, shaping the Luofu Mountains with the same composition. From the bottom right to the top left on the first and second pages, that work illustrates the Baihe Feng 白鶴峰 (White Crane Peak), Xiannü Feng 仙女峰 (Fairy Peak), Zhiyun Feng 致雲峰 (Cloud Path Peak), Xiaoqi Feng 小旗峰 (Small Flag Peak), and nearby sites, with the Feiyun Feng 飛雲峰 (Flying Cloud Peak) at the very top. On the third and fourth pages, the work presents sites such as the Shangjie Sanfeng (Three Peaks of the Upper Realm), Fushan 浮山 (Floating Peak), Penglai Feng 蓬萊峰 (Penglai Peak), Yunmu Feng (Mica Peak), and Xiao Luofu 小羅浮 (Minor Luofu), which are sequentially located between the Feiyun Feng and the foothills. Additionally, important human-made sites are all placed at the same positions. For example, the Chongxu Guan 沖虛觀 (Unfathomable Emptiness Abbey) is situated below the Zhuming Dong 朱明洞 (Vermilion Brightness Grotto), the Baoji Si 寶積寺 (Treasure Accumulation Temple) is presented between the Zhong Ge 中閣 (Middle Pavilion) and Shutang Keng 書堂坑 (Study Hall Cave), and the Shuzhu An 黍珠庵 (Millet Beads Hermitage) is located between the Zhuoxi Quan 卓錫泉 (Tin Poking Spring) and Yele Chi 夜樂池 (Night Joy Pond).27

Second, in Yesheng, the texts introducing famous sites in juan 2 are similar to the related information in Han Mingluan’s Luofu zhi lue 羅浮志略 (Concise Gazetteer of Luofu), published in 1607, by comparing the texts in both gazetteers (Figure 3). Both Han Mingluan and Han Huang were members of the notable Han family of Boluo County, from which came many well-known officials who worked in the Ministry of Revenue (hubu, 戶部), the Ministry of Rites (libu, 禮部), and the local governments (Hou 2016). In his gazetteer, Han Mingluan collected two poems by Han Huang.28 As relatives and literati with mutual respect, it is reasonable to assume Han Huang and Han Mingluan were familiar with each other’s work. In Yesheng, Han Huang’s familiarity with Mingluan’s gazetteer can also be proven by a textual comparison. Taking Yesheng’s texts in juan 2 as a group of examples and comparing them to Mingluan’s related texts introducing natural sites, it can be found that much of the Yesheng text has significant similarities with Han Mingluan’s text.29 In texts of the Yesheng group, some of the core concepts are iterated in the same way as in Han Mingluan’s work, for example, “the Quanyuan Mountain is at the connecting point between the Luo and Fu Mountains, and the Tieqiao Feng is a peak at the west of the Quanyuan Mountain” (羅浮二山連接處為泉源山，鐵橋則泉源山以西峰也), and “when the phoenix bathes [in the Yele Chi], the five-colored mist gathers” (鳳來浴其中時，聚五色雲氣).30 The Yesheng text that shares the greatest similarity with Han Mingluan’s can be found in the text about the Feiyun Feng. A notable part of the description is transcribed word by word in the same order, including the narration of stories such as those of the construction of the Anou Ta 阿耨塔 (Anuttara Pagoda), the development of the grottoes below Yujiu Feng 玉鷲峰 (Jade Eagle Peak), and the deification of Ge Hong 葛洪 (283–343) and his wife Baogu 鮑姑 (c. 309–363).31

3. The Grotto-Heaven

3.1. Luofu’s History as a Grotto-Heaven

Yesheng began to be circulated outside Guangdong after Li Yaogu 李遙穀 (dates of birth and death unknown) noted its demonstration of Luofu’s status as the seventh grotto-heaven. In 1701, Li Yaogu, the magistrate of Huizhou since 1695, was ordered to present a gazetteer of the Luofu Mountains to the Kangxi 康熙 Emperor (r. 1654–1722), for which Yesheng was collected and later officially published.32 In the preface written recommending Yesheng, Li recorded the following:

“[In the] winter of the xinsi year (1701), I was ordered by the emperor to visit heritage sites and collect gazetteers of Luofu.”

辛巳冬，奉旨採訪羅浮遺跡及山圖誌書。33

Li Yaogu’s presentation of Yesheng was part of a national publication project. During the Kangxi reign, the Qing court began compiling the Comprehensive Gazetteer of Great Qing 大清一統志 (Daqing yitong zhi) (Qiao and Li 2018, pp. 236–37). To enrich and update the historical information, the court ordered officials to present gazetteers of various regions among the empire; as a result, a large amount of local historical accounts and gazetteers were transmitted to the Qing court (Wang 2016, pp. 332–33). Li Yaogu was one such official who accepted the order to contribute to the court’s project.34 To fulfill the mission in 1701, Li presented Yesheng to the emperor in 1701, and it remained in circulation at the court from that point on.35

Li Yaogu explained in his preface the main reason for choosing to present Yesheng: the book’s demonstration of Luofu’s status as the seventh major grotto-heaven. As the official who presented the book to the emperor, Li Yaogu wrote a preface to explain parts of Yesheng.36 In his preface, Li lamented that some of the famous sites of Luofu had already been ruined, and he asserted that Yesheng may have been one of the only gazetteers that provided a full picture of Luofu.37 Li Yaogu expressed a sincere hope that the Kangxi Emperor would come to know more about Luofu, the seventh Grotto-heaven in Daoism, through Yesheng:

[I] should definitely propose a destination for your future inspection, as the Luofu Mountains are inviting the emperor’s attention in viewing [one of] the Grotto-heavens; therefore, [I] humbly pay my respect and deliver my proposal by presenting this Yesheng.

當寧獻幸，因羅浮一山，邀九重眷顧，俾得偏覽洞天福地，謹藉《野乘》，拜手上進。38

The Luofu Mountains have been described in holy tales since at least the Han dynasty (202 BCE–AD 220) and they have long had a reputation as the seventh grotto-heaven (Soymié 1956, pp. 25–26). Since the Jin dynasty (266–420), the list of the grotto-heavens contained thirty-six sites, among which the Luofu Mountains have been listed as the seventh, which can be proven by consulting Luofu shan fu 羅浮山賦 (Rhapsody on the Luofu Mountains) by Xie Lingyun 謝靈運 (385–433):

In all, there are thirty-six Grotto[-Heavens]:

This one at the Luofu Mountains is the seventh.

Light shines even in the dark night,

The Sun illuminates the depths of the world.

洞四有九，此惟其七。

潛夜引輝，幽境朗日。39

Luofu’s status as a widely recognized major grotto-heaven underwent a few more rounds of changes. Although Xie had already named Luofu the seventh grotto-heaven, this designation had not yet been widely adopted. The list of the thirty-six grotto-heavens may be an early form of later categorizations.40 During the early Tang dynasty, a well-known Daoist priest Sima Chengzhen 司馬承禎 (647–735) first divided and derived the thirty-six grotto-heavens mentioned in Xie’s rhapsody into ten major grotto-heavens and thirty-six minor grotto-heavens in his treatise Tiandi gongfu tu 天地宮府圖 (Chart of the Palaces and Bureaus of the [Grotto-]Heavens and the [Blissful] Lands), in which the Luofu was officially categorized as the seventh major grotto-heaven.41 Later, court Daoist Du Guangting 杜光庭 (850–933) again listed the major and minor grotto-heavens in his Dongtian fudi yuedu mingshan ji 洞天福地岳瀆名山記 (Record of Grotto-Heavens, Blessed Places, Ducts, Peaks, and Great Mountains), the most comprehensive work of the Daoist worldview at that point, which finally systematized the Daoist grotto-heaven cosmology (Verellen 1995, pp. 272, 275; 1998, pp. 214–15).

Identifying a grotto-heaven such as Luofu involves a demonstration of its sacredness. The grotto-heavens are, as Franciscus Verellen summarized, a “place of refuge from civilization” (Verellen 1995, p. 268). In the Daoist imaginary, the grotto-heavens are natural utopias where the immortals live or earthly paradises that are immune from any kind of catastrophe.42 Areas that become grotto-heavens provide a secluded environment filled with elixirs for immortals, as grotto-heavens are defined as the most ideal place for giving offerings to immortals. The Daoist liturgist Zhang Wanfu 張萬福 (active around 712) in the Tang dynasty describes such offerings as follows:

The Offering is the means by which we present our sincerity to Heaven and Earth and pray for blessings to the unseen gods…The most excellent way to establish the altar is to avail oneself of a grotto among the Great Mountains.

凡醮者，所以薦誠於天地，祈福於冥靈……凡設座，得名山洞穴是佳……43

Luofu’s grotto-heaven status represents a sacred sanctuary. The full title of Luofu in the Grotto-heaven system is “Zhuming Yaozhen”, the “Vermillion Brightness Shining Truth”, which specifically centers on the grotto Zhuming Dong, a secluded grotto located at the middle foot of Feiyun Feng, the main peak of the Luofu Mountains. In the works of Qing Dynasty writers Qu Dajun 屈大均 (1639–1696) and Shen Tingfang 沈廷芳 (1702–1772), the Zhuming Dong is located at the “acupoint” (shuxue 腧穴) of the Luofu Mountains and is considered the “root of the mountain”, a core site in the region of the Luofu Mountains, indicating that the geography of Zhuming Dong presents a secluded, ideal cave-like structure.44 In addition, according to Luofu Zhi written by Chen Lian, Zhuming Dong is “full of branches and thorns, so outsiders cannot enter” (Zhenmang buke ru 榛莽不可入), meaning that it is a natural, sacred barrier against the chaotic, mundane world, demonstrating Luofu’s sacredness by differentiating it from “profane” space, to borrow Eliade’s term.45

3.2. Demonstration of the Grotto-Heaven in Yesheng

Almost all previous Luofu gazetteers compiled in the Ming dynasty emphasized the significance of this grotto-heaven in a notable way. In Chen Lian’s work, the information about the grotto-heaven follows right after the general introduction to the geography of the Luofu, listing the area’s grotto-heaven reputation as the most important feature in the Luofu Mountains.46 In Huang Zuo’s Gazetteer, the grotto-heaven is described at the beginning of the introduction, showing Luofu’s sublime status in Daoism:

Luofu, the peak of Guangdong, is [a] Grotto-heaven and Blissful Land, [which is] notably recorded in Daoist scripts.

羅浮粵望也，洞天福地，名列道書。47

In Han Mingluan’s Luofu zhi lue, the author expresses how regretful he would be if he did not introduce the Grotto-heaven well, which also appears at the beginning of his introduction:

It is lucky to have the seventh Grotto-heaven at [only] fifty li away from my hometown. What wonder [could] I discover if I only admired [places] far away instead of [those] nearby?

第七洞天，幸在桑梓五十里。慕遠遺近，豈善探奇？48

Similar to what had been written in previous gazetteers, Yesheng also demonstrates the significance of a grotto-heaven. First, the literary works selected in Yesheng reveal a long history of Luofu being considered a grotto-heaven. Han Huang introduces the geographical features of Luofu by quoting the opinions of the Ming dynasty literati, highlighting that Luofu features both grotto-heaven and blissful land sites, suggesting that its surrounding landscape is a “world-class wonder” (Tianxia zhi qiguan 天下之奇觀).49 As the first chapter, which introduces its audience the general literary tradition of the Luofu Mountains, juan 1 pointedly demonstrates Luofu’s status as a grotto-heaven and as a sacred Daoist place. Many poems in juan 1 emphasize Luofu’s reputation as a grotto-heaven. The tradition of admiring Luofu as a grotto-heaven has existed since the Xie Lingyun in the Jin dynasty, as listed in the following chart (

Table 1. Poems Describing Luofu as a Grotto-Heaven Collected in Luofu Yesheng.

Title	Author	Content that Mentioned Grotto-Heaven
“Luofu fu” 羅浮賦 (Rhapsody on the Luofu Mountains)	Xie Lingyun 謝靈運 (385–433)	“In all there are thirty-six Grotto[-Heavens], this one at the Luofu Mountains is the seventh” (洞天有十，此唯其七).—1.4b–5a (481).
“Luofu tuzan” 羅浮圖贊 (Pictorial Hymn to Luofu)	Chen Yaozuo 陳堯佐 (963–1044)	“During the time of [Emperor] Yao, the great flood stopped striking at Mount Luo, so [the mountains] gained the name ‘Luofu’, also called the seventh Major Grotto-Heaven” (……堯時洪水浮至，依羅山而止，故有羅浮之號焉，又曰第七大洞天).—1.15a–b (486).
“Luofu shixu” 羅浮詩序 (Preface to Poems of Luofu)	Yu Jing 余靖 (1000–1064)	“There are ten Major Grotto-Heavens, and Luofu is ranked the seventh” (……有十大洞天，而羅浮藉在十大洞天之七).—1.15b–16b (486–487).
“Qingyun ji” 慶雲記 (Record of Qingyun)	Bai Yuchan 白玉蟾 (1134–1229)	“Luofu is one of the seven Major Grotto-Heavens, which is the residence of the Vermillion Brightness Shining Truth” (……羅浮山即十大洞天之一，朱明耀真之府也).—1.14a–15a (486).
“Zhizhang tuji” 指掌圖記 (Pictorial Gazetteer Among the Fingertips)	Zou Shizheng 鄒師正 (active approx. 1225)	“In all there are ten Major Grotto-Heavens… Only one in Luojing (Luoyang), and one in Huiyang (Huizhou)”(有十大洞天……與夫洛京一、惠陽一而已).—1.7b–11a (482–484).
“Dengshan ji” 登山記 (Record of Mountain Climbing)	Tang Gutai 唐古台 (active arond 1300)	“Luofu is the seventh Grotto-Heaven, the site where Ge Hong practiced alchemy” (羅浮第七洞天，乃稚川葛仙煉丹之所).—1.17a–b (487).
“Xiu Luofu zhu mingsheng shu” 修羅浮諸名勝疏	Han Rizuan 韓日纉 (1578–1636)	“Grotto-Heavens and Blissful Lands are districts of marvelous sites… Especially the Luofu Mountains, which carry the immortality and secularity simultaneously” (洞天福地，勝跡名區……況羅浮山者，遠著道笈，近托人寰).—1.21a–22a (489).
“Zeng Liang Mixian erjue” 贈梁彌仙二絕 (Two Poems for Liang Mixian)	Li Angying 李昂英 (1201–1257)	“Accompanied by Dongpo’s hat made of dragon bamboo, hermits arrive at the Grotto-Heaven” (葛陂龍竹東坡笠，合伴山人到洞天).—1.33b (495).
“Luofu ge ji Li Zhongxiu zhangshi” 羅浮歌寄李仲修長史 (Lyrics of Luofu for Magistrate Li Zhongxiu)	Sun Fen 孫蕡 (1334–1389)	“There are thirty-six Grotto-Heavens in the immortals’ world, among them the Luofu Mountains link with the vast ocean” (仙家三十六洞天，羅浮夐與滄海連).—1.34a–35a (496).
“Luofu pian zeng Liang Xiankong and Han Binzhong xiaolian” 羅浮篇贈梁先孔兼寄韓賓仲孝廉 (Luofu Lyrics for Liang Xiankong and Han Binzhong)	Zheng Xuechun 鄭學醇 (1567 juren)	“Steep rocks [of Luofu] stand on the land of Guangdong and touch the blue sky, [this place is] the seventh of the ten Major Grotto-Heavens”(巉巖岝粵摩蒼空，是為十大洞天之第七).—1.39a–40b (499).
“Luofu ershou qier” 羅浮二首·其二 (The Second of the Two Luofu Poems)	Deng Yunxiao 鄧雲霄 (1594 juren)	“Far away are mountains flanking the vermilion brightness Grotto-Heaven, right below the Doubiao stars are a bluish haze leaning on the towers” (朱明巖壑洞天遙，樓結青霞傍斗杓.)—1.41b (499).

):

Second, Han Huang’s own words showed his attention to Luofu’s grotto-heaven status. At the beginning of the introduction to juan 2, Han Huang demonstrated that the famous grotto-heavens such the Mao Shan 茅山 (Mao Mountain), the Linwu Shan 林屋山 (Linwu Mountains), and the Luofu Mountains were interconnected.50 This theory was, as clarified by Han Huang, quoted from the Maojun neizhuan 茅君內傳 (Revealed Biography of the Lord Mao), one of the earliest texts that recorded the concept of the thirty-six grotto-heavens (Raz 2010, p. 1431; Robinet 1984, vol. 2, pp. 389–98). Such a description was also well documented in the Daoist classic Zhen gao 真誥 (Declarations of the Perfected):

“From the cave heaven of Gouqu [extend] great paths, to the east reaching Linwu, to the north Mount Dai (in Shandong), to the west Mount Emei (in Sichuan), and to the south Luofu (in Guangdong). Between them are numerous intersecting paths.”

句曲洞天，東通林屋，北通岱宗，西通峨眉，南通羅浮，皆大道也，其間有小徑雜路， 阡陌抄會，非一處也。51

The conception of the grotto-heaven marks the sacredness of the Luofu Mountains. The interconnection among grotto-heavens was passed on to later Daoist classics, such as the scripture Shi taishang suling dongxuan dayou miaojing 釋太上素靈洞玄大有妙經 [Explanation of the Scripture of the Most High Unadorned Spirituality in the Pantheon from the Dayou], which suggested that a grotto can access all directions: “A grotto connects to the heavens and the earth; there is nowhere that a grotto cannot reach (洞者，洞天，洞地，無所不通也)”.52 As Li-tsui Flora Fu concluded, such an interconnected network formed an “interiorized world apart”, a world exclusively host to “exalted Perfected and divine immortals” (Fu 2009, p. 9). Such a construction of a conceptual world, in Eliade’s theory, is a reproduction of “the work of gods”, which is inferably the factor that makes a space sacred.53

4. Writing for the Luofu Mountains

4.1. Yesheng as a Supplementary Text

Despite his denial of the existence of previous Luofu gazetteers or his advocacy of Luofu as a Daoist sacred site, based on this article’s previous arguments on his reference to previous works, Han Huang had other reasons for compiling Yesheng. First, Han Huang’s statement indicating the lack of gazetteers on the Luofu Mountains does not truly mean that there were absolutely no Luofu gazetteers but that he was disappointed in the existing ones. Explaining the function of Yesheng, Han Huang emphasized that although the gazetteer had been completed in a rudimentary way, it still sufficiently depicted the Luofu Mountains’ scenery:

“[Although it is] roughly drafted, it still shows the scenery of Luofu sufficiently, [so I] named [it] The Unofficial History of the Luofu Mountains”.

粗具崖略，足備覽觀，題曰《羅浮野乘》。54

Then, Han Huang introduced his proposition to document the famous mountains. Although Yesheng was an “unofficial” gazetteer, he emphasized that writing about a famous mountain focuses on balancing information about specific sites and related literary works:

“The Woodcutter states: “famous Mountains cannot be known without [being recorded] in literature, so the [information about] famous sites and literature works should be equally demonstrated.”

樵客曰：“名山非文不傳，則勝概與詞章並重矣。”55

Hence, Han Huang showed his regret in seeing historical accounts written by his contemporaries that failed to obtain a balance between the famous sites of Luofu and related literary works. In contrast to the authors of existing Luofu gazetteers, Han Huang chose to focus on documenting both geographical features and the literary works compiled in earlier gazetteers instead of merely gathering large numbers of works as his contemporaries did:

“Old [Luofu] gazetteers collected arts and literature, focusing on the [achievements] of [related] figures. Currently, such works scatter into various [Luofu gazetteers] and focus on the mountains, which is merely piling up the works.”

舊志集藝文為一書，以人重也。今則分附各種之內，大都以為名山重，鋪張盛而已。(Ibid.)

Han Huang chose to compile the gazetteer to supplement the contents of previous gazetteers, against which he could compare his own work.56 However, how did Han Huang supplement the works of his peers? The question leads to Han Huang’s second reason for compiling Yesheng, which was to reconstruct the scenery of Luofu at its prime as it had been severely damaged during his lifetime.

4.2. As a “Relief” for the “Shame”

Han Huang’s second reason to pursue his gazetteer was to redeem the Luofu’s loss. Despite the safety of the grotto-heaven being assured in the Daoist texts, the Luofu Mountains had gone through disastrous periods in their history. As recorded by Chen Botao 陳伯陶 (1855–1930), in which he supplemented the gazetteer written by his forefather Chen Lian, a severe destruction occurred exactly during the late Ming dynasty in which Han Huang lived: “In the late Ming, thieves aggressively gathered at the mountains’ foot, thoroughly burning and looting whatever was left (明末群盜嘯聚山下，焚掠靡遺)”.57 In his preface, Han Huang also recorded that the Luofu Mountains suffered from being looted by fierce brigands, which caused a great range of destruction. In Han Huang’s words, this disaster was an “shame” (xiu 羞) to Luofu.58 For such a shame, Han Huang expressed his regret for not being able to see the sites’ original views in person:

“Although my body decays, my spirit is incredibly active, [but] I can no longer find the views within the images for recumbent travels, as they are all gone.”

筋支雖衰，猶思騰踔，不能向臥遊圖討風景，沒沒也。59

With regard to the loss and embarrassment suffered by the Luofu Mountains, Han Huang sought to “relieve [the] shame” (jiechao) of such loss:

“Compiling this gazetteer is to relieve the shame of the famous mountains, [I am] just like the fisherman telling everyone about the Wuling Yuan without knowing anything but its peach blossom and flowing stream. [As for] the dynasty being the Qin or Jin, the villagers immortals or hermits, if the fisherman never knew, how can I know?”

是編聊為名山解嘲，比如捕魚者語人以武陵源，知有桃花流水而已。代之以為秦為晉，人之為仙為隱，漁人不知也，余又嗚呼知之！60

Here, Han Huang compared himself to a fisherman who visited Wuling Yuan in the famous treatise Record of the Peach Blossom Land (Taohua yuan ji 桃花源記) written by the Jin hermit Tao Yuanming 陶淵明 (365–427), implying that he would forget the changes in Luofu. In “Peach Blossom Land”, Tao Yuanming depicted a fisherman from Wuling 武陵 who encountered an earthly paradise after walking through a grotto.61 In that paradise, the fisherman found that the villagers were not at all aware of anything that had happened in China since their isolation centuries ago (Nelson 1986, p. 23). After being invited to stay, the fisherman asked the villagers if they knew anything about the current dynasty, and the answer was no:

“Of their own accord they told him of their forefathers who had, during the troublous times of the Chins (Qin), sought refuge in this place of absolute seclusion together with their families and neighbors. After having settled down here they never thought of going out again. They had been so cut off from the rest of the world that knowledge of the times would be a revelation to them. They had not heard of the Han Dynasty, not to mention the Wei and the Tsin (Jin).”

自云先世避秦時亂，率妻子邑人來此絕境，不復出焉；遂與外人間隔。問今是何世，乃不知有漢，無論魏晉。62

Before the fisherman returned to where he belonged, the villagers reminded him that his experience in their paradise was “not worth mentioning” to outsiders. The fisherman did not follow their instruction. He attempted to bring officials to that secluded village and finally found himself totally lost and unable to enter the village again.63

Han Huang’s final statement expresses the twofold attitude toward the Luofu Mountains like the fisherman in Tao’s treatise. On the one hand, Han Huang saw himself as the fisherman who had lost his way back to the utopian village. While he lived right below the Luofu Mountains, Han Huang, similar to the fisherman, did not know how to get back to Luofu as a utopian place, which was described by the late Mircea Eliade as a “‘pure region’ transcending the profane world.” (Eliade 1987, p. 41). Instead, what Han Huang selected to record in his gazetteer were the memories, personal or collective, of Luofu in its prime. During the time when Han Huang lived, private Confucian schools phenomenally increased in number, boosting innovative Confucian ideological discourse (Elman 1989, p. 387). However, such schools formed political parties, such as the Donglin dang 東林黨 (Eastern Woods Party), causing repeat attempts at suppression by the government and severe turmoil among society and intellectual circles during the last years of the Ming dynasty (Akin 2021, p. 166). As Max Weber concluded, “Confucianism was the status ethic of prebendaries, of men with literary educations who were characterized by a secular rationalism.”64 As a literatus official who was largely exposed to the Confucian ideologies, it is highly possible that Han Huang was also impacted by the instability and insecurity within society. Like the fisherman, Han Huang could also focus only on his memory of the “peach blossom and flowing stream,” insisting on derivatively depicting the sites of Luofu that had previously been intact and that could not be seen again, recalling the previous times of tranquility.

On the other hand, Han Huang also found himself in the position of the fisherman confused by the villagers’ perception of time. In Tao’s treatise, the villagers’ omission of the existence of the present dynasty indicated a “suspension of time and space” (Barnhart 1983, p. 16). By paying tribute to the imaginary of the peach blossom land, Han Huang demonstrated that Luofu should be the same kind of utopia or sacred site as the one in Tao Yuanming’s record, which is, to most worldly beings, highly inaccessible. Only by suggesting a suspension of time, as Tao’s villagers did, could Han Huang maintain the state of mind in which his focus was only on providing a complete picture of the landscape of Luofu without concerning himself with the dynastic changes that had been made to the sacred mountain. While destruction had breached the otherworldly barrier in Luofu, Han Huang chose to depict the rest of the Luofu sites to “relieve shame” to the place and to revive it as a grotto-heaven that resists disasters and thereby eventually present a complete picture of Luofu.

5. Reconstructing the Sites

5.1. Distribution of Luofu’s Religious Sites

Although he claimed to be a “woodcutter” of a Daoist grotto-heaven, Han Huang had a vision for the compilation of Yesheng, which should be considered a result of his belief in syncretism among Daoism and other mainstream traditions of belief, which are Buddhism and Confucianism. By bringing up other traditions in his book presumably dedicated to introducing a Daoist grotto-heaven, Han Huang put both Buddhism and Confucianism into the framework of the Daoist sacred geography, incorporating and sanctifying them into the protection provided by the grotto-heaven. Yesheng shows Luofu’s religious significance by emphasizing the grotto-heaven and presents the immaculateness of the grotto-heaven by visually and textually reconstructing religious sites that did not exist or were partly destroyed during Han Huang’s lifetime. In other words, his goal was to reconstruct sites of different traditions to show a grotto-heaven that was “inaccessible to outsiders”, as it had been described by Han Huang’s predecessor Chen Lian.65 Among the texts and images of the sites listed above, Yesheng highlights religious significance by reconstructing the religious sites in the gazetteers’ images, as Han Huang said, to “relieve” the “shame” of the destruction of the famous mountains.”66

Regarding Confucianism, Han Huang himself owns the identity of a Confucian scholar. As mentioned before, Han Huang passed the imperial examination and was made juren, the intermediate degree of this grand examination (Yü 2016, p. 192). In traditional Chinese societies, the imperial examination focused on “formalism and conformity to the state-set Confucian orthodoxy centering around the master Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130–1200)” (Lin 2022, p. 297). During the late Ming dynasty, only those who showed “superior understanding” of the Confucian canonical texts could pass the imperial exam, which reflects Han Huang’s familiarity with traditional Confucian thoughts (Lin 2022, p. 300).

Luofu’s Buddhist significance is not to be neglected. In China, both Daoist and Buddhist monks chose eremitic cultivation in mountains in order to stay away from the mundane world (Paracka 2012, p. 87). As two religions that have long co-existed with and learned from each other, the sacred geographic systems of both religions may be developed from the same exact origin (Feng 2018, p. 144). As Han Huang recorded, since the Liang (502–557) dynasty when the Luofu Mountains were already recognized as a Daoist sacred place, there were already Indian Buddhist monks cultivating and contemplating in Luofu.67 The later Buddhist monks in the Tang, Song, and Ming continued to build Buddhist sites, leaving behind notable traces of Buddhist heritage.68 Especially in the late Ming dynasty, the monk Zongbao 宗寶 (dates of birth and death unknown) became the abbot of the main temple of the Huashou Tai 華首台 (Patriarch Terrace), placing Luofu at the center of the Caodong 曹洞 (Cao Grotto) Sect of Chan 禪 Buddhism in Guangdong, which later became the most influential Buddhist sect among the entire region of Lingnan.69 It is possible that Han Huang was an acquaintance of Shengren 剩人 (1612–1660), a Buddhist master practicing in the Huashou Tai. Shengren was the son of Han Rizuan 韓日纘 (1578–1636), a leading figure in the Han family and a contemporary to Han Huang.70 As relatives, Han Huang’s descendants participated in the compilation of Shengren’s anthology, reflecting the close relationships within the Han family, and suggesting Han Huang’s own exposure to Buddhist belief.71

In general, in addition to the essence of Luofu being a Daoist grotto-heaven, Han Huang demonstrated its sacredness not only to Daoism but also to Buddhism and Confucianism, as he also listed a considerable number of Daoist, Buddhist, and Confucian features. The visual presentation of sacred sites can be seen in the fentu section in juan 2. Fifteen of twenty-four prints of natural sites in Yesheng depict the forms, names, and locations of architecture that represent the three major traditions, including Daoist abbeys, Buddhist temples, and Confucian academies. With the information introduced and noted in texts and images in Yesheng, the chart (

Table 2. Poems Describing Luofu as a Grotto-Heaven Collected in Luofu Yesheng.

Natural Sites	Daoist Architecture	Buddhist Architecture	Confucian Architecture
Feiyun Feng 飛雲峰 (Flying Cloud Peak)—2.2a (500)	Xianri An 見日庵 (Emerging Sun Hermitage)	Lingyun Ta 凌雲塔 (Cloud-Piercing Pagoda)
Yunü Feng 玉女峰 (Jade Maiden Peak)—2.12a (505)	Yunwai Guan 雲外觀 (Abbey Beyond the Cloud)
Qingxia Dong 青霞洞 (Bluish Haze Cave)—2.16a (507)	Qingxia Lou 青霞樓 (Bluish Haze Tower), Baihe Guan 白鶴觀 (White Crane Monastery)		Dushu tai 讀書臺 (Learning Terrace)
Penglai Feng 蓬萊峰 (Penglai Peak)—2.18a (508)	Penglai Ge 蓬萊閣 (Penglai Pavilion)
Zhuming Dong 朱明洞 (Vermilion Brightness Cave)—2.24a (511)	Chongxu Guan 沖虛觀 (Unfathomable Emptiness Monastery), Gexian Ci 葛仙祠 (Immortal Ge’s Shrine)
Guanyuan Dong 觀源洞 (Origin-Observance Cave)—2.26a (512)	Wang Yeren Lu 王野人廬 (Hermit Wang’s Hut)
Shuangji Feng 雙髻峰 (Twin Buns Peak)—2.28a (513)		Donglin Si 東林寺 (East Forest Temple)
Youju Dong 幽居洞 (Seclusion Cave)—2.30a (514)	Xiaoyao An 逍遙庵 (Xiaoyao Hermitage), Baiyun An 白雲庵 (White Cloud Hermitage), Shizi An 獅子庵 (Lion Hermitage)
Magu Feng 麻姑峰 (Magu Peak)—2.33a (516)	Xiangu Ci 仙姑祠 (Fairy Nun Shrine)
Zhuoxi Quan 卓錫泉 (Tin Poking Spring)—2.35a (517)		Yanxiang Si 延祥寺 (Lasting Auspiciousness Temple), Baoji Si 寶積寺 (Treasure Accumulation Temple)	Yushu ge 御書閣 (Imperial Book Pavilion)
Shi Dong 石洞 (Stone Cave)—2.37a (518)	Guangmo An 廣莫庵 (Vast Wilderness Hermitage), Xihuan Daoyuan 西華道院 (Xihua Daoist Abbey), Tao an 逃庵 (Ascetic Hermitage), Mingfu Guan 明福觀 (Bright Fortune Abbey)
Guqing Feng 孤青峰 (Solitary Azure Peak)—2.39a (519)		Tianhua An 天華庵 (Tianhua Hermitage), Huashou tai 華首台 (Patriarch Terrace)
Huanglong Dong 黃龍洞 (Yellow Dragon Cave)—2.41a (520)		Ciji An 慈濟庵 (Compassionate Offerings Hermitage), Longhua Si 龍華寺 (Dragon Flower Temple), Huanglong Jingshe 黃龍精舍 (Yellow Dragon Vihara)	Sixian ci 四賢祠 (Four Worthies Shrine)； Yuzhang Shuyuan 豫章書院 (Academy of Yuzhang)
Shuilian Dong 水簾洞 (Water Curtain Cave)—2.43a (521)	Shuzhu An 黍珠庵 (Millet Beads Hermitage), Xuanyuan An 軒轅庵 (Xuanyuan Hermitage)		Zhang Liu Shuyuan 張留書院 (Academy of Zhang and Liu)
Shilou Feng 石樓峰 (Stone Tower Peak)—2.46a (522)		Nanlou Si 南樓寺 (South Tower Temple)

) below lists all the religious architecture marked within the prints of the natural sites, which are 27 in total, following the sequence of juan 2:

Among the abovementioned 31 buildings, 18 are Daoist, while 9 are Buddhist, and 4 Confucian. While the Luofu Mountains have long been considered a sacred Daoist site, Buddhist and Confucian sites are still worth noting, as both Buddhism and Confucianism played an important role in forming the sacredness of Luofu.72 Many of the buildings listed above are also marked in the Yesheng panorama (Figure 4). In comparison, such a list of religious sites is much shorter in Han Mingluan’s gazetteer. Compared with Yesheng, in which 15 out of 24 images of natural sites contain religious buildings, Han Mingluan’s images mark only 6 out of 29 natural sites that contain religious buildings. Among the 12 religious buildings marked in Han Mingluan’s images, only 8 are Daoist, 2 are Buddhist, and 2 Confucian. The chart (

Table 3. Religious Architecture Depicted in Illustrations of Han Mingluan’s Luofu zhilue.

Natural Sites	Daoist Architecture	Buddhist Architecture	Confucian Architecture
Feiyun Feng—1.43a	Xianri An	Lingyun Ta
Shi Dong—1.83a	Xihuan Daoyuan, Mingfu Guan, Tao An
Zhuming Dong—1.91a	Chongxu Guan
Youju Dong—1.94a	Baiyun An, Xiaoyao An
Huanglong Dong—1.106a	Shizi An		Sixian Ci, Yuzhang Shuyuan
Shilou—2.5b–6a		Nanlou Si

) below provides shows some relevant details:

In addition to the fentu, Han Huang’s panorama indicates his attention on religious architecture too, depicting the topography where the three traditions, Daoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism, co-existed harmoniously. According to the panorama, while the Daoist buildings are scattered across both the left and right parts of the panorama, Han Huang placed the Buddhist sites mainly on the left. This panorama reveals information on how the distribution of religious sites was designed. In investigating the distribution of these religious buildings, it is important to first refer to the geographical situation of the Luofu Mountains and panoramas in previous gazetteers. As mentioned at the beginning of this article, the Luofu Mountains consist of two peaks: Luo Mountain and Fu Mountain. The sites mentioned in the above list are separately located across the two mountains. On Luo Mountain, the main sites are around the Zhuming Dong, where Chongxu Guan lies, while on Fu Mountain, Buddhist sites such as Yanxiang Si and Baoji Si are the most visited (R. Li 2021, pp. 254–255). In the panorama in Huang Zuo’s gazetteer (Figure 5), the Fu and Luo Mountains are located on the left and right parts of the composition, respectively.73 As imitated by Han Huang, the Huang Zuo panorama also locates Buddhist sites on the left, while the Daoist buildings are scattered across the entire composition. As for the Confucian sites, the Zhang Liu Shuyuan and Yuzhang Shuyuan located around the Huanglong Dong are both placed at the very far left of the panorama. Following the distribution of these sites, by marking the Luo and Fu Mountains on the top of each side of Luofu, Huang Zuo’s panorama seems to indicate that the left two pages mainly contain the sites on Fu Mountain, while the right two mainly contain the sites on Luo Mountain. In reviewing the Han Huang panorama, it is evident that although the peak indicating the Luo Mountain has been wiped out, it still follows the basic distribution of the panorama in Huang Zuo’s gazetteer, depicting sites on both Luo and Fu Mountains. As a result, while Han Huang scattered Daoist sites across all of Luofu, he distributed the Buddhist sites mainly in the region of Fu Mountain.

5.2. Visual Reconstruction of Religious Sites

5.2.1. The Xianri An

The Xianri An is the first example showing Han Huang’s reconstruction of destroyed sites. In the first fentu in Yesheng (Figure 6), directly below the Feiyun Feng and to the left of the Buddhist pagoda Lingyun Ta, the Xianri An is erected on the top of a mountainous terrace.74 As described by the Song Daoist priest Zou Shizheng, the hermitage was named Xianri An, as visitors could see the sun rising during the night from there.75 However, during Zou’s time in the Song dynasty, the Xianri An had already been destroyed and hidden deep in the forest (Ibid.). Built in the Song dynasty by Zhao Xuelu 趙雪廬 (dates of birth and death unknown), the Xianri An was principally hosted by Zhao’s contemporary, the Daoist priest Wang Ningsu 王寧素 (dates of birth and death unknown).76 However, the Xianri An was destroyed immediately after Wang Ningsu passed away.77 The destroyed Xianri An remained is disrepair until at least the early Qing, when Pan Lei 潘耒 (1646–1708) traveled among the Luofu Mountains.78 In Han Mingluan’s gazetteer (Figure 7), although the Xianri An is also recorded as a site showing the other worldly view of the night-sun, the author described it as a “ruin.”79 Its ruined state is also shown in the fentu in Han Mingluan’s gazetteer: behind the pagoda, only the name of the Xianri An is marked, leaving an empty area below the monumental Luo Mountain. In contrast, the Xianri An in Yesheng remains intact and undamaged. From the image, the structure of the Xianri An is identifiable: outside is a gate and surrounding flora, while inside is a lower and upper area with two-story temples.

5.2.2. The Zhuming Dong and Chongxu Guan

The image of the Zhuming Dong can be taken as another example. Depicted in the image (Figure 8) are sites such as the Gexian Ci, Yiyi tan 遺衣壇 (Terrace of Leftover Clothes), Dan Zao 丹竈 (Elixir Hearth), Yiguan Zhong 衣冠冢 (Tomb of the Attires), Xiyao Chi 洗藥池 (Pond for Medicine-Washing), and the leading site Chongxu Guan, a sacred site of the Lingbao 靈寶 (Numinous Treasure) sect of Daoism before the Qing dynasty.80 Legend has it that the Chongxu Guan was first named Duxu Guan 都虛觀 (Metropolitan Emptiness Abbey) or Xuanxu Guan 玄虛觀 (Mysterious Emptiness Abbey) and built by the elixir master Ge Hong during the Jin dynasty; in 1087, the abbey was finally renamed Chongxu Guan.81 Few historical accounts regarding the reconstruction of the Chongxu Guan during the Ming dynasty survive today (C.-T. Lai 2007, p. 80). However, supplementarily, based on knowledge from previous gazetteers, the late Qing literatus Chen Botao summarized the situation of the Chongxu Guan in the Ming:

“The Chongxu Guan was at its prime during the Longqing and Wanli reigns and was gradually in decline during the Tianqi and Chongzhen reigns… In the late Ming, thieves aggressively gathered at the mountain’s foot, burning and looting everything. The abbey was destroyed, and only the central hall survived.”

自永樂至隆萬間，觀為最盛。啟禎時，漸圮……明末群盜嘯聚山下，焚略糜遺，觀被毀，惟中殿存。82

After the Tianqi 天啟 (1621–1627) and Chongzhen 崇禎 (1628–1644) reigns, the situation of the abbey continued to decline. The abbey was not renovated until 1687, the twenty-sixth year of the Kangxi reign (C.-T. Lai 2007, p. 79). At that point, the Guangdong poet Chen Gongyin 陳恭尹 (1631–1700) wrote about the dilapidation of the Chongxu Guan in his poem Su Chongxu Guan 《宿沖虛觀》 (Overnight Stay at the Chongxu Guan):

“Now the carved beams are the termites’ house, while the Daoists can live only in huts built with weeds. I drank [with] and spoke [to the Daoists] under the plum, and such a Blissful Land is now as inaccessible as our mundane world.”

幾穴雕樑巢白蟻，一家衰草住黃冠。山尊對語梅花下，福地而今路亦難。

(Liu and Zhou 1980, p. 201)

Han Huang visually reconstructed the Chongxu Guan by imitating a previous image. According to Chen Botao, during the Wanli 萬曆 reign (1573–1620), the Chongxu Guan was intact and famous.83 In Han Mingluan’s gazetteer, the Chongxu Guan (Figure 9) was individually pictured on two pages, as it was one of the grand sites.84 In this image, crossing the Bailian Chi 白蓮池 (White Lotus Pond) by walking down the Huixian Qiao 會仙橋 (Immortal Gathering Bridge), the viewer comes to the gate of the abbey, on which is displayed a plaque with the inscription, “Grotto-Heaven of Vermillion Brightness” (Zhuming dongtian 朱明洞天). Through the gate, the Yujian Ting 御簡亭 (Imperial Writing Pavilion) stands in front of the main hall, the hearth on the left, the terrace on the right. Finally, at the innermost part, there stands the Penglai Ge, located directly at the foot of the peak, which stands behind it (Ibid.). As Han Mingluan said, this was a time when all tourists “stopped to appreciate the abbey”.85 In contrast, during the Chongzhen reign, when Han Huang lived, the Chongxu Guan had already been ruined after being looted by the brigands, and only the main hall had survived. However, except for Han Huang’s picture showing the terrace instead of the Penglai Ge, which may have been destroyed by then, and the Gexian Ci replacing the hearth, which was relocated to the left of the image, the bridge, the pavilion, and the halls flanking the main hall are still depicted as intact as they are in Mingluan’s print.

5.2.3. The Penglai Ge

The Penglai Ge may also reveal Han Huang’s past-tense focus on the Luofu Mountains. As recorded by Song Guangye 宋廣業 (1649–1720) and a later comprehensive gazetteer of Guangdong, the Penglai Ge, the place where Daoist Zhu Lingzhi 朱靈芝 gained enlightenment and became immortal, was first built near the Penglai Feng. However, the Penglai Ge was destroyed and subsequently moved to the Chongxu Guan.86 Over thirty years before Han Huang, the image of the Chongxu Guan in Han Mingluan’s gazetteer had already included the Penglai Ge, which may indicate that the Penglai Ge had already been moved to the Chongxu Guan.87 However, in Yesheng, the Penglai Ge is depicted still within the image of the Penglai Feng, and the information on destruction is not mentioned at all; instead, Han Huang describes the geography based on the original location of the Penglai Ge.

5.2.4. The Yanxiang Si and Baoji Si

The same visual restoration also exists in Yesheng’s image of Buddhist temples. Additionally, Chen Botao’s work documents temples such as the Yanxiang Si (Lasting Auspiciousness Temple) and the Baoji Si, which were both destroyed during the Hongwu 洪武 reign (1368–1398).88 In fact, the destruction time may have been much earlier. As Wu Qian 吳騫 (1691 jinshi) documented, the Yanxiang Si may have already been destroyed during the late Tang dynasty.89 In the early notes of Qing literati figure Pan Lei (1646–1708), Yanxiang Si was recorded as a ruined site, where only the “base of Yanxiang Si” (Yanxiang Si ji) remained.90 In Han Mingluan’s gazetteer, Yanxiang Si and Baoji Si are not marked in all images in either the panorama (Figure 10) or the fentu. Both Yanxiang Si and Baoji Si can be noted in Huang Zuo’s panorama (Figure 11) but in a form that indicates only the locations and names. However, Han Huang attempted to represent the temples visually. In his words, Han Huang introduced the locations of “today” as if all the sites were still there.91 In Han Huang’s panorama, both Yanxiang Si and Baoji Si are pictured as existing temples (Figure 12). As documented in Yesheng, the temples were located around the region of Zhuoxi Quan (Figure 13), as shown in Yesheng’s fentu.92 In this image, the temples are, along with their associated pavilion and academy, pictured as undamaged sites. At the foot of the stairs to the terrace where the Baoji Si is situated, three figures walk from the Xizhang Tan (Tin Cane Pond), picturing a peaceful, undisturbed site where the scene was still intact, just as described by Han Huang.

5.2.5. The Nanlou Si

Another Buddhist temple, the Nanlou Si (South Tower Temple), is another example of Han Huang’s reconstruction of Buddhist sites. Documents recording the Nanlou Si, which was located south of the Shilou Feng 石樓峰 (Stone Tower Peak), can be traced back to the Tang dynasty, and noted a type of orange that grew around the temple and was often offered as a tribute to Emperor Xuanzong (r. 713–741).93 Unfortunately, similar to the Yanxiang Si, the Nanlou Si was also ruined during the Hongwu reign.94 Han Huang was clearly aware of the early history of the Nanlou Si, as according to Yesheng’s juan 3, the Nanlou Si was first built during the Liang dynasty, ruined and rebuilt during the late Tang dynasty, and relocated during the Yuan dynasty.95 However, Han Huang did not mention the Nanlou Si’s destruction during the early Ming dynasty. Instead, in Yesheng’s fentu, the Nanlou Si (Figure 14) is still standing below the stone towers, and Han Huang’s text does not mention the destruction of this temple either.96 In contrast, the part of the Shilou Feng in Han Mingluan’s gazetteer marked that the Nanlou Si comprised only a remaining ruin site.97 In addition, although the name of Nanlou Si is marked in the image of the Shilou Feng at the exact location as the image in Yesheng, the shape of the temple is missing, leaving a void behind the trees below the Shilou Feng (Figure 15).98

5.2.6. The Sixian Ci

The Sixian Ci is an example showing Han Huang’s conceptual reconstruction of a Confucian site. Built by Zhan Ruoshui 湛若水 (1466–1560), one of the most influential Confucian scholars of the Ming dynasty, the Sixian Ci was constructed on the ruins of the ancient Tianhua Gong 天華宮 (Celestial Flora Palace), in memory of Zhou Dunyi 周敦頤 (1017–1073), Luo Congyan 羅從彥 (1072–1135), Su Shi 蘇軾 (1037–1101), and Chen Xianzhang 陳獻章 (1428–1500), four great Confucian gentries from earlier times.99 After he started living in Luofu in 1540, Zhan Ruoshui wrote the treatise Dian Tianhua Sixian Ci wen 奠天華四賢祠文 (Treatise on the Foundation of Four Worthies Shrine of the Celestial Flora) marking that the construction of the Sixian Ci was first begun in early 1543 (Y. Li 2009, pp. 266, 280). As recorded by Song Guangye, the Sixian Ci was also a site in ruins.100 As Song Guangye stated regretfully, it is unfortunate that the Sixian Ci could not be adequately restored, as among many notable Daoist and Buddhist temples, the Sixian Ci was the only grand site of Confucianism (Ibid.).

In Yesheng’s fentu of the Huanglong Dong (Figure 16), among the Ciji An, Longhua Si, and Yuzhang Shuyuan, the Sixian Ci remains an undamaged complex consisting of two single-story shrines. Placing the Sixian Ci with such sites shows Han Huang’s subjective redesign. In fact, the Longhua Si nearby was moved and re-assigned as a part of another Buddhist temple, the Yanqing Si 延慶寺 (Everlasting Celebration Temple) in 1392, the 25th year of the Hongwu reign, which is 151 years before the Sixian Ci was built.101 By anachronistically displaying the historical sites, Han Huang deliberately pictured a landscape where Buddhist and Confucian sites synchronically thrived.

6. Conclusions

This article investigates the compilation of the book by late Ming dynasty literati member Han Huang, Luofu yesheng, through the lens of five aspects. Compared with earlier gazetteers of the Luofu Mountains, although Han claimed that his work was “unofficial”, Yesheng is still a concise yet inclusive gazetteer of Luofu that, like all previous gazetteers, demonstrates the sacredness of the region due to its status as a major grotto-heaven and its significance as a great religious site in Guangdong.

In conclusion, by recalling and paying tribute to previous times, Han Huang achieved his goal of idealizing the Luofu Mountains in his editing of literary and woodblock print works. As brought up at the beginning of this article, Han Huang, based on the information he obtained from previous gazetteers, truly “supplemented” the writing and depiction of the Luofu Mountains. Outlining the primary content of Yesheng and comparing the number of examples across topics such as sites, literary works, and anecdotes, this article discovers Han Huang’s purpose in editing Yesheng: to supplement the lack of information in previous gazetteers. After scrutinizing the previous related historical records and comparing the information on the sites recorded therein to the texts and images in Yesheng, it can be concluded that by restoring the ruined sites to obtain a complete picture of the Luofu in its heyday, Han Huang achieved his goal of supplementing previous Luofu gazetteers from the Ming dynasty.

As one who thought himself obliged to present the Luofu Mountains in perfect condition, Han Huang expressed his ideal of the complete Luofu and in a work that distinguished him from his contemporaries. Consequently, Han Huang chose to interpret the Luofu as a grotto-heaven that had not suffered from destruction. In addition, besides Luofu’s significance to Daoism, Han Huang displayed the syncretism of religions within the Luofu region by paying attention to Buddhist and Confucian sites. By imaginatively reconstructing sites that were then in ruins, Han Huang’s ideal display of the undestroyed Luofu Mountains manifested his general concern over the intactness of an environment where the three major religions harmoniously co-existed. In Han Huang’s mind, the sacred space created by the grotto-heaven may be an ideal protection for all the sacred sites of the religions that thrived in Luofu against the profanity of the turmoil outside.