Shanghai Golden Mother Temple: A Distinctive Feature of Female Taoist Culture in the Republic Era
Amidst the shifting religious landscape of Republican-era Shanghai, the Golden Mother Temple left an indelible mark on Taoist history through its unique female-centered tradition. This temple, independently founded by nuns of the Quanzhen School, not only documented the religious practices of female Taoists in a modern metropolis but also reflected the era’s defining characteristic of multicultural convergence in Shanghai.
1. Founding in Turbulent Times: The Starting Point of Female Taoism on Fuxing East Road
In the 31st year of the Republic of China (1942), during the difficult years of Japanese occupation in Shanghai, Taoist nuns Yang Lili, Su Zongfu, and Qin Liliang from Ziyang Palace initiated a fundraising campaign on Fuxing East Road to establish the Golden Mother Temple Female Taoist Monastery. This pioneering effort was not accidental but the inevitable outcome of the development of female Taoist influence in Shanghai. Previously, as Shanghai’s first female Taoist monastery, Ziyang Palace had cultivated a group of capable female Taoists, with Su Zongfu as a prominent figure. She entered the Taoist order in 1939 and participated in the establishment of Jinmugong just two years later. At the age of 27, she succeeded Yang Lili as the abbess.
In its early days, Jinmu Palace operated modestly, renting just two rooms in Wufu Lane on Zhaojia Road in Nanshi District. Under Su Zongfu’s leadership, the nuns focused on ritual services and sutra recitations while offering vegetarian meals to devotees, quickly establishing a foothold in wartime Shanghai. This model of “sustaining the temple through Daoist practices” preserved the ritual traditions of Ziyang Palace while meeting the religious needs of urban devotees.
2. Relocation and Expansion: The Yingxun Road Complex
Following the victory in the War of Resistance in 1946, Jinmu Palace encountered a significant development opportunity. With remarkable initiative, Su Zongfu acquired land on Yingxun Road and constructed a complex comprising 33 structures, including the main hall and ancillary rooms, significantly expanding the temple’s scale. Though detailed architectural records of the new site are scarce, it likely followed traditional Daoist layout—featuring a main hall dedicated to the Queen Mother of the West alongside living quarters for practitioners. Its style may have blended elements of Jiangnan vernacular architecture with Daoist design.
As a temple dedicated exclusively to the Queen Mother of the West (Golden Mother), its religious activities exhibited distinct feminine characteristics. Taoist nuns not only managed daily incense offerings but also regularly conducted ritual ceremonies and celebrations, attracting numerous devotees. As the supreme deity in Taoism presiding over longevity and female immortals, the Queen Mother of the West found particular resonance within the female-centered Kun Dao Temple, forming a unique system of worship within Shanghai’s Taoist community.
3. Passing the Torch: The Enduring Legacy of the Kun Dao Tradition
The significance of the Golden Mother Temple extends far beyond that of a mere religious site. As a major Kun Dao temple in Republican-era Shanghai, it provided women with an independent space for religious practice, breaking the male-dominated structure of traditional Daoism. Daoist nuns like Su Zongfu, embodying the spirit of “steadfast faith and exceptional rationality,” persevered in preserving Daoist traditions during turbulent times, demonstrating the remarkable capabilities of female religious leaders.
After the founding of New China, while the Golden Mother Temple gradually faded from the historical stage, its spiritual essence endured through Su Zongfu’s efforts. In 1956, she helped establish the Preparatory Committee for the Shanghai Taoist Association and later served as an executive council member of the Chinese Taoist Association. In 1989, she presided over the reconstruction of the Kun Dao Monastery at Pudong’s Sanyuan Temple, perpetuating the female Taoist tradition of Jinmugong to the present day. Though the former site of Jinmugong on Yingxun Road is now difficult to trace, its historical significance as a model of female-led temple establishment in Shanghai’s Taoist history remains deeply etched in the city’s religious cultural memory.
The rise and fall of the Golden Mother Temple epitomizes how Taoism in Republican-era Shanghai adapted to an urban environment. These female Taoists, steadfast in their faith amid turbulent times, wrote a uniquely feminine chapter in modern Taoist development through their wisdom and perseverance.
