Wanshou Palace:the Only Example of Zhenda Sect of Daoism of Jin and Yuan Dynasties in Shanxi Province

Wanshou Palace in Dongfeng Village, Gaoping, Shanxi province was built for the worship of a local deity, Ma Xian Gu. It is also known as Ma Xian Gu Temple. Over the past 700 years since the 12th year of the reign of the Mongol ruler Taizong(1240 AD), the temple had undergone substantial restoration. Through the study of the 19 stele inscriptions retained in the temple, this article outlines the historical development of Wanshou Palace and examines the changes in its religious functions, as well as the evolution of the Zhenda sect of Daoism. It reveals the relationship between the temple and the highly popular Zhenda sect during the Jin and Yuan periods, and points out that Wanshou Palace is by far the only extant temple of the Zhenda sect in Shanxi.