Gazetteer of Jinggu Cave Daoist Text 金鼓洞志

Compiled by Zhu Wenzao.

Eight volumes in total, it was originally a part of Miscellanea of Wulin (Hangzhou), with a block-printed edition from the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty. It is included in the category of Topography of Palaces and Temples in Daoist Texts Outside the Canon.

Gazetteer of Jinggu Cave

Jinggu Cave is located in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, and is a famous immortal grotto in Taoism. The opening pages of the gazetteer collect imperial poems and prose about Jinggu Cave composed by emperors of successive dynasties. Volume One, Traces of Immortals, records two immortal relics treasured in Helin Taoist Abbey of Jinggu Cave—the "Portrait of Ancestor Lü" and the inscribed calligraphy "Wild Cranes Flying In", accompanied by a copy of the Portrait of Ancestor Lü and the authentic calligraphy of the four characters "Wild Cranes Flying In", and elaborates on the origin of these immortal relics. A map of scenic spots north of Qixia Ridge is also appended at the end of this volume. Volumes Two and Three, Mountains and Rivers, compile poems, prose and travel notes about Jinggu Cave from all dynasties, as well as scenic spots such as springs, stones, peaks and caves in the area. Volume Four, Abbeys and Halls, opens with a map of Helin Taoist Abbey, and details the historical evolution, property and rules of the abbey. Volume Five, Neighboring Nunnery and Temples, records several nearby temples and nunneries. According to old gazetteers, there were seventy-two hermitages in Qixia and more than twenty nunneries and temples north of the ridge, yet only three Buddhist monks resided there in the Qing Dynasty, tending a few mu of mountain property—evidencing that Buddhist temples once existed on this mountain. Volume Six, Ancestor of the Sect, states that the religious lineage of the abbey follows the teachings of True Lord Qiu, and elaborates on the entire process of True Lord Qiu's practice and preaching at the abbey, as well as brief biographies of his disciples who studied under him on the mountain. Volume Seven, Successors of the Dharma, narrates the brief biographies of the successive patriarchs of the Golden Drum Hall of the Supreme Hunyuan Longmen Sect, from the First Patriarch (the first to fourth patriarchs are unrecorded) to the Fourteenth Patriarch, Master Xu Fuchu, an alchemist. Volume Eight, External Records, documents the spiritual traces of Taoist practitioners who resided on the mountain for cultivation in all dynasties and the tombs of virtuous predecessors. Two colophons written by Zhao Laizhou, a Taoist priest of this mountain, and Zhang Fuchun, the resident Taoist priest, are attached at the end of the book.