Compared with Buddhism, Taoism is a native traditional religion, and its influence is second only to Buddhism. However, during the period of Li Tang, its status was higher than Buddhism, and Tang Gaozu ordered Taoism to be the first of the three religions, namely Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Even in the imperial examinations, Taoism was highly regarded. The status of Taoism has been greatly improved, and the number of people has been increasing. Taoist temples are all over the country. Although Wu Zetian suppressed Taoism in order to show that she was different from Li Tang, put Buddhism before Taoism, and abolished Gong Ju's requirement to study the Tao Te Ching. Later, Wei Hou, the queen of Tang Zhongzong, came to power and supported Buddhism. However, from the perspective of the whole Tang Dynasty, Taoism was respected by the royal family most of the time and was in a supreme position, so Taoist temples were almost all over famous mountains and cities. The scale of the temple dedicated to Laozi is comparable to that of the imperial palace, which has a direct impact on the architectural scale and art of Taoist temples in the future. The existing Taoist buildings in Tang Dynasty include Wang Guangren Temple in Ruicheng County, Shanxi Province, Tiantai Temple in Pingshun County, Shanxi Province, etc. Wang Guangren Temple is the earliest existing Taoist building in China.
Taoism was highly respected in the Tang Dynasty, but almost all the emperors of the Tang Dynasty were tolerant and supportive of Buddhism, showing the grandeur of China's prosperous times. Buddhism entered its heyday in the Tang Dynasty, which was marked by the translation of a large number of Buddhist scriptures into Chinese, the gradual formation of many Buddhist sects, and the further development of grotto art. Famen Temple was regarded as the general Dojo for the royal offering of Buddhist relics and was highly respected. The court spent a lot of money. Famen Temple has been expanded several times to become the largest and highest-ranking royal temple in ancient China, with the largest number of sects and monks.
From the position of temples and Taoist temples in the design of Chang 'an City in Tang Dynasty, we can see that the belief in God, Buddhism and Taoism was placed above the emperors on earth. Chang 'an's geomantic treasures are only used to build temple towers dedicated to gods and buddhas. The Ninth Five-Year Plan Highland is the largest temple and Taoist temple in Chang 'an. In the heyday of Chang 'an, there were 9 1 Buddhist temples and 6 Taoist temples. Almost every square has at least one Buddhist temple or Taoist temple for all walks of life to worship.
From the geographical location of religious buildings, the hierarchy of buildings in the Tang Dynasty is clear, while some temples in Chang 'an City in the Tang Dynasty were converted from houses of royalty and relatives, and the shape of temple buildings is the same as that of aristocratic private houses. For example, the Daxian House where the Little Wild Goose Pagoda is located was rebuilt by Tang Zhongzong Li Xian in his old house in San Francisco. The main hall of the northern monk in Wutai Mountain, the East Hall, was built in the eleventh year of the Tang Dynasty, that is, in 857 AD. The main hall is seven rooms wide, one level higher than the five rooms in Sanpintang. The temple tower dedicated to the Buddha is more noble than the emperor's palace.
From the architectural characteristics, the architectural form of Taoist temple is almost the same as that of palace: the eaves are far-reaching, the proportion of bucket arches is large, the columns are thick, solemn and generous, and the spirit is magnificent. With the development of grotto art, the murals in the Tang Dynasty have further integrated the expressive techniques of the national arts in the western regions, showing a new look from content to form. Rich and fresh colors, full and powerful modeling, realistic and realistic, delicate and smooth lines, full and full color composition. A large mural with magnificent composition and rich colors appeared. A large number of architectural images and details in grotto murals make up for the shortcomings of architectural objects left over now, and are valuable materials for studying the image mode of ancient Chinese architecture.