Taogong Cave is located in Daruoyan Scenic Area, at the foot of Daruoyan Mountain. The cave is 56 meters high, 76 meters wide and 79 meters deep. It is the largest stone chamber in southern Zhejiang. ‘The inside of the cave is dark or bright, changing with the clouds. When the clouds gather, it is dark. When the clouds disperse, it is bright.’ The cave is divided into upper and lower layers. On the lower layer, there is a three-room Guanyin Pavilion. In front of the pavilion is a lecture altar that can accommodate hundreds of people. Outside the cave, there is a front hall with nine pillars, bell and drum towers, wing rooms and monk kitchens. On the south side of the cave, a 56-step stone ladder leads to the upper layer ‘rooftop’. Behind the rooftop, there is a Hu Gong Hall, which enshrines the seated statue of Emperor Hu Gong. In front of it is a Wenchang Pavilion. Under the shrine on the right side of Hu Gong Hall is a pot-shaped ‘Chishui Well’, which is neither dry nor overflowing all year round. On the south side wall of the cave, there are two long strip-shaped caves, called Liumi Cave and Baixiang Cave. At night, illuminated by candles and lamps, the white stones on the cave wall are either like floating clouds or like scales. They have different shapes in the light and darkness, and different colors from near and far. On the cliff above the cave entrance, mountain water drips and falls into the pool like ‘a celestial maiden scattering flowers’. Taogong Cave is backed by mountains and faces water. In front of the cave, there is a huge rock about 20 meters high, called ‘Ascending to Immortality Rock’. 200 meters to the north of the cave, three cliffs can be seen standing like a barrier, named ‘Three Lions Sleeping Together’. At the top of the cliff, there is a ‘Guest-Welcoming Pine’. Near Taogong Cave, there are also scenic spots such as Liuluo Mountain, Baiyunling, Longtou Cave, Chaotian Turtle, and Chishui Pavilion. Taogong Cave is praised as ‘the twelfth blessed land in the world’ by Taoists. In the Three Kingdoms period, Taoist Wang Xuanzhen cultivated here. In the ninth year of Tianjian of Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties (510), Tao Hongjing, known as the ‘prime minister in the mountains’, secluded himself here and wrote the book Zhen Gao. Therefore, it is also called Zhen Gao Rock. The halls inside the cave were first built in the seventh year of Xiantong (866) of Emperor Yizong of the Tang Dynasty and were successively repaired in the Song, Ming and Qing Dynasties. Here, incense is flourishing. From early August to September 9th of the lunar calendar every year is the incense season.
Taogong Cave
Taogong Cave is located in Daruoyan Scenic Area, at the foot of Daruoyan Mountain. The cave is 56 me[...]
