7:30 – 18:00

Admission Ticket: 25 RMB Tour Guide Service: 30 RMB

Telephone: 0359-2022380 Address: Yongle Town, Ruicheng County, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province

All year round

0359-2085615

Local Transport: From Ruicheng Bus Station, take a motorcycle taxi for 2 yuan or a regular taxi for 3 yuan. The scenic spot is less than 3 kilometres away, and the ride takes about 10 minutes.

Yongle Palace in Ruicheng, Shanxi, is a Taoist temple originally named the Grand Pure Yang Longevity Palace. According to Taoist scriptures and inscriptions inside the palace, the original site was 20 kilometres west of Ruicheng in Yongle Town, the birthplace of Lü Dongbin, one of the Eight Immortals of Taoism. After Lü Dongbin passed away, local villagers turned his former residence into the Lord Lü Shrine. Towards the end of the Jin Dynasty, tales of Lü Dongbin spread widely, attracting more worshippers. The shrine was expanded into a Taoist temple, only to be burnt down in 1231, the third year of Emperor Taizong’s reign of the Mongol Empire.

The existing Yongle Palace was constructed in the Yuan Dynasty. At that time, Qiu Chuji, leader of the Quanzhen School, enjoyed high imperial favour. Since the school honoured Lü Dongbin as its patriarch, the imperial court upgraded the temple to a palace. Pan Dechong, the Taoist supervisor of the eastern and southern Hedong Circuit, was appointed to oversee the construction. The main buildings were finished in 1262 after 15 years of work, while the murals were not completed until 1358. The whole project spanned more than 110 years, almost running parallel to the lifespan of the Yuan Dynasty. Minor repairs were carried out in the Ming and Qing dynasties, yet the Yuan-era layout and features remained largely intact.

After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the original site fell within the inundation zone of the Sanmenxia Water Conservancy Project. Starting in 1959, workers spent seven years carefully relocating and reconstructing the entire architectural complex together with all murals at the new location.

The palace comprises five main buildings. Except for the main gate built in the Qing Dynasty, the rest date back to the Yuan Dynasty: the Dragon-Tiger Hall, the Three Pure Ones Hall, the Pure Yang Hall and the Chongyang Hall. All four halls are decorated with exquisite murals covering a total area of 960 square metres. With rich themes and superb brushwork, these murals represent masterpieces in China’s painting history.

The principal building is the Three Pure Ones Hall, also known as the Infinite Hall, originally enshrining statues of the Three Pure Ones. In Taoist cosmology, the Three Pure Ones refer to the three supreme deities dwelling in the highest celestial realms: Yuanshi Tianzun of the Jade Purity, Lingbao Tianzun of the Upper Purity, and Taishang Laojun of the Supreme Purity. There is also a Taoist legend stating that the Three Pure Ones were incarnations born from a single vital energy.

The Three Pure Ones Hall is magnificent, standing on a lofty stone foundation. The front eaves are fitted with latticed doors, and there are no windows on the four walls. Interior columns were reduced to create an exceptionally spacious hall. Murals cover all four walls and the niches, standing 4.26 metres high and stretching 94.68 metres long, covering 403.3 square metres in total. The artwork wraps around the hall like a giant colourful silk ribbon. Painted by Ma Junxiang and his son from Luoyang in 1325 (the second year of the Taiding reign of the Yuan Dynasty), the whole mural forms a single continuous scroll titled Procession of Immortals Paying Homage to the Primordial Deity.

At the centre stand eight principal gods dressed as emperors and empresses, surrounded by more than 290 guardian deities, including monarchs, immortals, spiritual masters, celestial soldiers, warriors, star gods, golden boys and jade maidens. They are arranged in four long rows. The main statues are over three metres tall, and the attendants measure more than two metres. Each figure has a distinct expression: some gaze ahead, some converse, some sink into thought, and others listen intently. Hundreds of massive divine figures are unified in one composition — orderly without rigidity, intricate without clutter. The painter created harmonious unity through subtle shifts of posture and eye contact among similarly robed figures. The brush lines are precise, concise and fluid, with some strokes stretching several metres long. Varied line techniques vividly depict individual personalities on uniformly solemn divine faces, especially in the expressive eyes and facial muscles.

The colour palette is bright and restrained, adopting the heavy colour filling technique dominated by azurite blue and malachite green. Props and backgrounds feature strong decorative effects. A great deal of raised powder and gilding was applied to the robes and canopies, producing rich, gorgeous tones and a clear distinction between primary and secondary subjects. With grand momentum and lifelike figures, Procession of Immortals Paying Homage to the Primordial Deity perfectly demonstrates the supreme skill of traditional Chinese line drawing.

The Pure Yang Hall is also called the Huncheng Hall or Patriarch Lü Hall, named after Lü Dongbin’s Taoist title, Master Pure Yang. Just like the Three Pure Ones Hall, it boasts elaborately carved ceiling caissons and a vast interior. The four walls and partition screens are covered with 54 murals arranged in comic-strip style, telling the complete life story of Lü Dongbin from birth to immortality. The series is collectively titled Manifestations and Wandering of Emperor Pure Yang. Scenes are naturally separated by landscapes, clouds, trees and rocks. The paintings vividly record Yuan Dynasty social life, featuring pavilions, taverns, teahouses and villas, as well as nobles, merchants, commoners, farmers, beggars and scholars in varied costumes, along with daily utensils. On the reverse side of the partition wall is the scene of Zhongli Quan converting Lü Dongbin. The open landscape features mountains and rivers. The two sit sideways facing each other: Zhongli Quan talks enthusiastically while Lü Dongbin bows his head in deep contemplation. This set of murals was finished in 1358 by Zhang Daoli, a pupil of Zhu Haogu.

The Chongyang Hall is also known as the Seven True Ones Hall. It enshrines Wang Chongyang, founder of the Quanzhen School, together with his seven disciples, later called the Northern Seven True Ones. Each of them founded an independent branch of Quanzhen Taoism:

The murals here are also arranged in sequential comic strips. The 49 panels illustrate Wang Chongyang’s life and how he converted the seven disciples into immortals, with an inscription on each painting. The back of the partition wall depicts immortals paying homage to the Three Pure Ones. The supreme deities occupy the upper part, while numerous attendants stand below with folded hands. Maids with plump faces and fluttering robes stand on both sides, presenting high artistic value.

The Dragon-Tiger Hall, also named the Infinite Gate, served as the original main entrance of Yongle Palace. Its murals depict two door gods: Shentu and Yulei. According to ancient legends, on Mount Dushuo in the East China Sea grew a giant peach tree stretching three thousand li. A ghost gate on its northeastern branch served as the passage for all ghosts, guarded by Shentu and Yulei. They bound evil spirits with reed ropes and fed them to tigers. For this reason, people would paint the two gods and hang reed ropes on doorways at the end of each year to ward off ghosts.

The hall also features paintings of divine generals, celestial clerks, the Town God and the Earth God. The Town God evolved from two ancient agricultural deities: the moat (huang) and the city wall (cheng). The earliest record of a Town God shrine dates back to the Three Kingdoms period in Wuhu. By the Tang and Song dynasties, Town God worship had spread nationwide, and the deity became the guardian of cities within the Taoist pantheon. These divine statues are painted with fierce staring eyes, full of imposing vigour.