Baopu Daoguan

From Wiki China org cn

On the north bank of West Lake in Hangzhou, there is the Geling Ridge, named after Ge Hong, the famous Daoist of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420) who cultivated himself there.

It is said that Ge Hong quit his official post and began to travel. When arriving at Lin’an (now Hangzhou), he saw a hill rich in red jade and thought it must be a good place for self cultivation. So he bought the land and set up a stove there to refine elixirs. He collected herbs to cure people’s diseases free of charge, and put his elixirs in the wells so that people who drank the water which would expel their disease. He later cleared a path leading to the outside world for people to use. For all the good deeds he had done, people built the Immortal Ge Ancestral Temple to commemorate him. But a fire in the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) destroyed the temple. It was rebuilt during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and renamed Agate Mountain House. In the Qing Dynasty, it was renovated and renamed Baopu Daoiguan because Ge’s Daoist name was Baopuzi (抱朴子, the Master Who Embraces Simplicity). “Embracing simplicity” means keeping away from temptation and being pure and simple in nature.

Baopu Daoist Temple is now the headquarters of Hangzhou’s Daoist Association and it is one of China’s most important Daoist temples.