Venerable Grandma's Temple on Mt. Li (Lintong County, Xi’an city, Shaanxi)
Venerable Grandma's Temple on Mt. Li ( 驪山老母殿Lishan Laomu Dian ) lies in the Xiu Peak west of Mt. Li, Lintong County, Xi’an city, Shaanxi. According to legend, Venerable Grandma's on Mt. Li was Nüwa ( 女媧Nuwa ) who patched the leaking heaven with refined stones and transmitted The Book of Secret Correspondences ( 《陰符經》Yinfu Jing ) to Li Quan under this mountain during the period of the Xuanzong Era of the Tang. First built in the Tang, the temple remains a structure of Ming and Qing style, for it experienced major repairs in the 47th year (1619) of the Wanli Era of Ming. The whole construction includes the three-chamber mountain gate, the three-chamber of Hall of Three Immortals, the five-chamber Hall of Offerings, the five-chamber Main Hall, the six-chamber of wing rooms, and the four-chamber side palaces. In the Hall of Three Immortals stand the statues of the three female immortals named Yunxiao (Cloudy Heaven), Qiongxiao (Jade Heaven) and Bixiao (Blue Heaven) who are worshipped respectively as goddess bestowing bliss and longevity, goddess curing eyes and goddess giving sons. In the Main Hall stands the golden statue of the Venerable Grandma on Mt. Li (Nüwa). In the 8th year, the people built a Scripture Tower of behind the main hall. The Scripture Tower was destroyed in the republican period and now only the ruins remain. In recently years, the temple has completely repaired the front platform and roads and newly built the stone steps to the Hall.
Preserved in the mountain gate hall are an iron pot and an iron crock made in the 16th year (1588) of the Wanli Era of the Ming. In front of the statue of the Venerable Grandma there is an iron bell made in the Ming Dynasty. Preserved in the Main Hall is the Stele of the Venerable Grandma on Mt. Li Transmitting Scriptures ( 《驪山老母授經碑》Lishan Laomu Shoujing Bei ) erected in the 1st year （763）of the Guangde Era of the Tang, recording the story of the Venerable Grandma on Mt. Li transmitting the Book of Secret Correspondences to Li Quan under this mountain.
On every 20th of the 1st lunar month, the 8th of the 4th lunar month and the 15th of the 6th month, people hold fairs of Venerable Grandma on Mt. Li ( 驪山老母會Lishan Laomu Hui ).Most of the pilgrims to the fairs are elder women.
