(Sichuan United Front People said United Front Affairs) Tang Chengqing, President of Sichuan Taoist Association: Qingcheng Mountain is not only a mountain

  China News Service, Chengdu, April 20 (Reporter Wang Peng) "Qingcheng Mountain is not only a mountain, but also the birthplace of our Taoism and the carrier of Taoist culture. These temples are cultural relics every brick and tile!" Recently, In the quiet Tianshi Cave of Mount Qingcheng, Tang Chengqing, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, president of the Sichuan Taoist Association, and head of Tianshi Cave in Mount Qingcheng, said in an exclusive interview with Chinanews that in recent years, he is most concerned about the protection of Taoist cultural relics in Mount Qingcheng.

  Tang Chengqing, 63, is the 24th generation Xuanyi disciple of the Quanzhen Longmen School of Taoism.

He became a monk in Mount Qingcheng at the age of 18. For more than 40 years, he has witnessed the development of Taoism in Sichuan and even in China.

Tang Chengqing is practicing Tai Chi on Mount Qingcheng.

Photo by Liu Zhongjun

  In 1977, Tang Chengqing became a monk in Mount Qingcheng, and his mentor was Peng Henian (Zongren), a famous high Taoist master of Qingcheng Dantai Bidong School of Quanzhen Longmen School.

At first, the young Tang Chengqing was just a buyer in Tianshi Cave, responsible for purchasing daily necessities at the foot of the mountain.

  In 1982, as a young Taoist disciple, Tang Chengqing got the opportunity to study at a Chinese Taoist knowledge training class.

In 1983, under the training of Master Fu Yuantian, the former president of the China Taoist Association, Tang Chengqing graduated successfully.

He admitted that it was under the guidance of the party's religious policy that he had all the "opportunities" that followed.

  During the decades of cultivating Taoism in Tianshi Cave, Tang Chengqing's most memorable event was the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake.

After the earthquake, as the vice chairman of the Dujiangyan CPPCC, he quickly went to the urban area to carry out earthquake relief work.

Tang Chengqing at the National Two Sessions.

Photo courtesy of the interviewee

  "It has been raining in Dujiangyan after the earthquake. My personal strength is very small. When I went to the hospital, I saw many wounded lying down and left umbrellas for them." Tang Chengqing recalled that two or three days after the earthquake, he just did some "little things".

On the fourth day after the earthquake, after hearing that there were even bigger aftershocks, he decided to rush back to Tianshi Cave.

  "At that time, the government asked everyone to go down the mountain, but I came back retrograde, because there are many cultural relics and palaces in Qingcheng Mountain, which need people to guard." Tang Chengqing vividly remembered the scene many years ago.

He let all the older Taoists go down the mountain, and left the younger generation on the mountain, relying on the two tents sent by the troops, a few people guarded the cultural relics and temples in the cold rain of Tianshi Cave for a few days and nights, "I thought to myself. It means coexisting and dying with the temple.”

  Why make this choice?

Tang Chengqing sighed softly, "This is one of the birthplaces of Taoism, with nearly 2,000 years of Taoist cultural accumulation. Just ask, who doesn't know Qingcheng is a secluded world..."

  As Tang Chengqing said, for thousands of years, Mount Qingcheng has always had a special status in China's landscape scrolls. In 2000, it was included in the World Heritage List together with Dujiangyan.

Qingcheng Mountain is one of the important birthplaces of Taoism. The Taoist temples in the whole mountain are centered on Tianshi Cave, including more than 10 buildings such as Jianfu Palace, Shangqing Palace, and Zushi Palace. Natural scenery complements each other.

  Because of this, Tang Chengqing has been paying attention to the cultural relics protection of Qingcheng Mountain for many years.

As a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, he submitted the "Proposal on Strengthening the Protection of Religious Cultural Relics" during the National People's Congress.

Tang Chengqing believes that cultural relics are non-renewable resources, and the religious community pays great attention to the protection of cultural relics, and people in the religious community should be more responsible for the protection of cultural relics in places of religious activity.

Tang Chengqing recites Taoist classics on Mount Qingcheng.

Photo by Liu Zhongjun

  Tang Chengqing suggested that the protection of cultural relics in religious activity sites should enjoy the same treatment as other cultural relics protection, and should be included in the overall planning of cultural relics protection, and appropriate financial support should be given to difficult religious activity sites; cultural relics departments should increase the publicity of the cultural relics protection law Strengthen the training of religious people, and guide the protection of cultural relics in the religious circle to become conscious.

  "In terms of the safety of cultural relics in temples and temples, it is recommended that relevant departments implement the safety of cultural relics, improve the safety of cultural relics in temples and temples through government purchase of services, improve the safety trainers and patrollers of cultural relics in temples, improve fire-fighting facilities, ensure unobstructed fire rescue channels, and strengthen temples and temples. Cultural relic protection." Tang Chengqing appealed.

  "Although Taoism is China's native religion, it needs to be sinicized." In Tang Chengqing's view, Taoist cultural relics need to be protected and Taoist culture needs to be passed on healthily, but at the same time, we must not forget the sinicization of Taoism. The key is Keeping pace with the times, "We can't close ourselves in Mount Qingcheng, and we must keep learning. The development of Taoism must also be combined and adapted to the core socialist values." (End)