The Stone Spirit Official of Nan Yan Palace

Five hundred stone spirit officials statues. It is a unique guardian deity of Taoism on Wudang Mountain. According to the Taoist priest, when Zhenwu went to Wudang Mountain to practice Taoism, his father was extremely missing him and sent five ministers with five hundred soldiers to search for the Crown Prince (that is, Zhenwu). The water level of the Jian River rose sharply, and they crossed the mountain nine times but were unable to enter. After much hardship, they found the words of the Crown prince kneeling and pleading, "Please return to the palace." Suddenly, everyone's whole body stiffened and they couldn't move, only their mouths could speak. They said in unison, "We wish to learn the Tao from the Crown Prince and never return to the palace again." Immediately, everyone returned to normal and followed the Crown Prince. Later, Junzheng Dao ascended to the true realm and became the guardian deity of the Great Emperor Zhenwu. Five ministers became the "Five Manifestation Officials", and five hundred soldiers became the "Five Hundred Manifestation Officials". During the Ming Dynasty, there was a volume of Taoist books listing a comprehensive record of five hundred spiritual officials, titles, and surnames. It is now included in the 18th volume of "The Taoist Books Outside the Tibetan Autonomous Region" under the category of "Biographies of Immortals".