Fengxian Lu Zu Temple: A Century-Old Legend in the Land of Immortals

In the historical annals of Nangang Town, Fengxian District, Shanghai, there once stood a thousand-year-old temple that carried the memories of the local community—the Lu Zu Temple. This structure, originally built during the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty, was not only an important carrier of local Daoist culture but also gained fame for its tale of kindness and the poetic inscriptions by literati, becoming a renowned cultural landmark in Fengxian and the Songjiang region. Though now lost to the passage of time, the legend of “Nanpu Xianzong” continues to be passed down through generations among the local people.

I. A Corner of the Ancient Town: The Geographical Location and Origins of Lü Zu Temple

The former site of Lü Zu Temple is located in the core area of Nanjiao Town, Fengxian District, where the Huangpu River flows to the east and the ancient Songjiang River flows to the west. This area has always been a key transportation hub and a gathering place for culture and history. During the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty (1736–1795), local gentry Huang Chu observed that his neighbors were frequently plagued by illness and lacked effective medical treatment. Moved by compassion, he established a pharmacy in the town, providing free medical consultations and medications to impoverished villagers. His compassionate medical practice soon earned him the reputation of “Huang the Benevolent.”

As the number of people seeking medicine grew, Huang Chujian realized that the pharmacy alone could not fulfill his vision of benefiting the world. He heard the legend of Lu Dongbin (Lu Zu) saving those in distress and decided to donate his family’s fertile fields and savings to build a Lu Zu Temple next to the pharmacy. This temple served both to venerate Lu Zu and pray for the well-being of the region, as well as to provide a place for the people to seek blessings and cultivate virtue. Though small in scale when first built, the shrine exuded warmth due to Huang Chu’s benevolent deeds, becoming a spiritual refuge for the town’s residents.

II. Divine Traces and Poetic Inscriptions: Prosperous Incense Offerings Enhanced by Calligraphic Blessings

The fame of the Lu Zu Shrine was further enhanced by a legendary encounter with a literati. Several years after the temple was completed, on a spring day, a wandering Taoist priest dressed in a blue robe visited the temple. Upon seeing the temple’s serene and elegant surroundings and hearing of Huang Chu’s acts of kindness, the priest immediately took up his brush and inscribed the words “Nanpu Xianzong” on the temple’s gate plaque. The brushwork was vigorous and graceful, as if enveloped in a divine aura, leaving onlookers in awe.

The monk then inscribed a couplet on the side pillars: “Songjiang’s falling flowers know the crane’s courtyard; Yunxi’s flowing water recognizes the divine source.” The upper couplet used the falling flowers of Songjiang and the crane courtyard to depict a serene and elegant atmosphere, while the lower couplet used the flowing waters of Yunxi and the source of the immortals to imply the convergence of spiritual energy in this place. This couplet not only had a perfect parallel structure and a profound meaning, but also complemented the plaque “Nanpu Xianzong,” adding a rich cultural heritage to the shrine.

Upon hearing the news, local villagers flocked to admire the calligraphy and make wishes. The once-quiet Lu Zu Shrine became bustling with incense smoke, and believers seeking fortune-telling and blessings for health and prosperity come in an unending stream. Even literati and scholars from Songjiang and Shanghai traveled specifically to view the couplets and admire the calligraphy, leaving behind numerous poetic works. The Lu Zu Shrine thus became a renowned Daoist holy site and cultural landmark in Shanghai at the time.

III. The Passage of Time: The Decline of the Ancient Shrine and the Preservation of Cultural Memory

After enduring a century of storms, the Lu Zu Temple underwent multiple renovations and remained popular. However, with the passage of time, especially the social upheavals and urban development of modern times, this ancient temple, which carried local memories, gradually declined and eventually vanished into the annals of history, leaving only scattered records and folk legends.

Today, in Fengxian’s Nanqiao Town, though physical remnants of the Lu Zu Temple are hard to find, the legend of “Nanpu Xianzong” still circulates among local residents, and the story of Huang Chule’s kindness and generosity has become a model for promoting acts of kindness.

Local cultural authorities have also made efforts to preserve this historical memory through compiling historical materials and writing articles, ensuring that future generations understand the former glory of this ancient temple and the cultural significance it embodies—it is not merely a Daoist architectural structure, but a testament to the benevolent hearts and cultural aspirations of the people of Fengxian, a spiritual imprint flowing through the local bloodline.

Standing on the streets of Nanqiao Town today, though the ancient temple shrouded in incense smoke is no longer visible, the poetic imagery of “Songjiang Falling Flowers” and “Yunxi Flowing Water” persists, and the legend of “Nanpu Divine Traces” continues to unfold. Though the Lu Zu Temple has faded into the past, the benevolent spirit and cultural heritage it embodies have already become an integral part of Fengxian’s urban fabric, cherished as a precious cultural legacy of this land.