Qingcheng Shan holy Taoist mountain, an early home to Taoism and its teachings dating back in time to about 100AD, and I was going to visit it. For a student and believer in Taoism it was going to be something of a revelation and catalyst to my first China visit in May 2010. What I found after the public bus ride from Chengdu was a naturally serene and tranquil setting, adjoining the vast and extremely fertile Chengdu Plain and the UNESCO World heritage listed Dujiangyan Irrigation Project which still services around one million acres of irrigation.
Qingcheng Shan Taoist temples set amongst towering cypress pine, plum, and ginkgo trees, vivid escarpments and ridges and cascading streams. An area naturally endowed with reliable rainfall, fertile soils and ambient climate. Probably temperate in nature and conducive to sustained lush vegetation growth, the mountain known as green place .
I was immediately impressed with its sense of tranquility and I penned onto my trusty notepad three words, Abundance, Sustenance and Harmony. These are Taoist words and represent a place at one with nature and that of balance and stability. Although a major earthquake in 2008 virtually destroyed many of the mountain s ancient structures.
I visited the mountain on some form of pilgrimage because I wanted to see firsthand what ancient Taoists saw in their landscape about one thousand years before. They too would have accepted nature s willingness to enclose around them and sustain them in its simpleness. Those Taoists not wanting to impose themselves on the landscape but stay within its bounds and these form true Taoist beliefs and that of acceptance.
No wonder they aspired to respect nature in this place for it provided what they needed without too much effort or need to change.
I walked up many steps and thinking as I returned from visiting a perched lake, like some modern day people and Western logic, wrote on the notepad I think they were lazy people . This is disrespectful because I m making a broad assumption to people who started to inhabit these mountains two thousand years before. Maybe the forest was writing those words and I felt the Taoists accepted and tolerated rather than seek and foster change which would have taken effort and expenditure of different energies to the ones they choose to follow. If the season was abundant, they flourished; if not so they suffered as the animals and plants of the landscapes and tolerated it. I thought the Mountain possessed a special energy and could give what the Taoists wanted. Nature was there to do their bidding and them recipient.
The Taoists to me maybe not wanting to touch transform or take. I d call them extremists in our world. I again wrote some words which said simply middle way . And maybe the notion of a middle way was born in the need to survive within natural bounds but transfer something of it to something more sustainable e.g. cultivation of rice and fruit trees.
I noticed great symbolism in the trees, their trunks and shapes and the mountain slopes and movement of water flowing through it. The Qi (Chi energy) flowing from the mountain peaks and slopes to the plains and the water from the mountains providing life and in Qi or life force as much as the air we breathe. The Feng Shui of the mountain relies on the mountain folding into gentle slopes becoming that of the Chengdu plain. The Qi of the mountain present in its clean oxygen charged air and the freshness and purity of water flowing from the springs within.
I thought my three words were apt (abundance, sustenance and harmony) and expressed the notions of Taoist thought for such a place.
If you visit this place, it s a place of steps and more steps so bring your walking shoes, plenty of time and if possible take the cable car to a viewing platform. You may also notice the Yin and Yang of the area remains in balance through the shapes and colours of all things. The mountains Qi falling onto you as you become embalmed within the confines of the space and present in the health and vibrancy of the landscapes and movement of living things (including the trees) within it. It to me is also a place to test my eight elements of light, shadow, shapes, colours, sounds, smell, movement and temperature and notice their presence and balancing in their individual Yin and Yang. You ll also become aware they balance with each other to form a cohesive unit and that of harmony.
I took a test for myself and went onto the internet to find something of Taoist thought and philosophy and surprised to note these ancient people saw the landscapes similarly to me, a visitor to their mountain two thousand years later. I for one, awed to have stepped steps and pathways trodden by others who believed in the notion of togetherness with nature, simpleness to life and tolerance to what is on offer.
Author Resource:-
I hope you enjoyed reading my article as much as I enjoyed writing it. For more related topics and complete eBook Publications, please visit my website http://FengShuiGarden.com.au - a Modern and Unique Concept to Feng Shui in the Garden and Harmonious Chi (Qi) Within Our Lives Regards, Ross Lamond
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