Clear Breeze Temple

Biodata

History

Inheritance and Early Recovery

Before Yun Zhaozhao inherited Clear Breeze Temple, her grandmother had devoted practically all her savings to its construction and development. Declining interest in religious cultivation and her advancing age prevented her from restoring it to its former glory. By Yun Zhaozhao’s arrival, the grounds were neglected, and the entrance pond had green, faintly foul-smelling water 1.

Yun Zhaozhao cleaned the temple and registered as its heir with the Taoist Association. She was told that rebuilding it would earn her a separate million-yuan inheritance, with approximately 100,000 yuan available as startup funding in installments. Believing she would otherwise inherit its debts, she briefly abandoned her efforts before posting a recruitment advertisement 1.

Daoist Chang Kong’s cooking became an early draw. After Qin Yajun’s coverage of a temple ceremony reached the local newspaper’s food section, daily takings rose to 300–500 yuan on quieter days and more than 1,000 yuan on busier ones. At an early Taoist conference, however, the temple still had only three members, including Yun Zhaozhao, and attracted little respect from established practitioners 12 15.

Diversification and Expansion

The temple added handmade merchandise and recruited Xu Tingting and Xie Yu as its first campus representatives. Donations from visitors associated with a village awaiting demolition helped produce a five-figure income on Lunar New Year’s Day, allowing Yun Zhaozhao to give each worker a 1,000-yuan bonus 13 17 27.

Growing crowds exposed the limits of relying on Chang Kong’s labor. Yun Zhaozhao restricted meal purchases when he became exhausted and began seeking other income sources, including agriculture. Meanwhile, some Daoists dismissed the temple as neglecting its proper duties and courting public attention, making recruitment difficult 30 32.

President Zhu later sent corporate HR and publicity staff to assist the temple. Recruitment planning, promotional videos, an official website, and the short drama Subduing Demons strengthened its public presence. A substantially larger new complex was subsequently completed, allowing the temple to expand its dining, retail, garden, and medical facilities 75 84 85 98.

Establishment and Continuing Growth

Martial Uncle Chuli and ten young Daoists moved into the temple. The children were assigned to the Qing generation, enrolled in school, and given additional instruction at the temple. All ten were orphans; later visitors learned that Yun Zhaozhao had adopted young Daoists from an orphanage 90 104 166.

The opening of Clear Breeze Guesthouse provided accommodation for tourists, conference attendees, and visiting Daoists. Clear Breeze Temple then served as host for a Taoist medicine academic conference organized by True Yang Temple, taking on responsibilities far beyond its former role as an inconspicuous participant 131 133.

When Yun Zhaozhao eventually tried to settle the temple’s old debts, Lawyer Wang revealed that her grandmother had invented them to persuade her to take over. Later, an ancient tomb discovered near the temple brought another surge of visitors, followed by the installation of the Taiji Bagua Diagram as its guardian treasure 169 177 178.

Location and Layout

Clear Breeze Temple stands beside Clear Breeze Mountain and Qingfeng Park. Its original buildings occupy a slope, with flights of steps between successive courtyards 68 71.

Old and New Complexes

Grounds and Landmarks

• Original courtyards — Three gates lead through successive courtyards toward the dining hall. Early features include a stone rockery, spring-fed pool, and a large bamboo clump 4.
• Rear garden — Contains an orchard, flower beds, medicinal herbs, fences, and fruit trees. Expansion plans connected the old and new gardens to more than double the garden’s size 59 97.
• Ancient ginkgo tree — A longevity stand made from ginkgo branches holds visitors’ longevity plaques beneath the tree 97.
• Prosperity Spring and Prosperity Road — A landscaped streamside route with clear water, fish, and planted flowers. Visitors can walk upstream and play in the water 101 116.
• Exhibition hall and museum — A dedicated Taoist cultural exhibition hall was placed between the medical clinic and the library exhibition hall. The museum later received the Taiji Bagua Diagram 170 178.

Worship and Visitor Services

Religious Practice

• Worship and rituals — Offers incense burning, prayers for blessings, scripture chanting, and religious ceremonies. After expansion, Daoists received training at other temples and Daoist colleges, improving practices the temple had initially struggled to perform 101 185.
• Tai chi — Free group sessions outgrew the courtyard and moved to the park plaza outside. By the later period, classes generally ran on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays 68 184.
• Pet blessings — A pet-blessing ceremony was linked to pet talismans, mosquito-repellent bands, and membership registration; nearly 90 percent of its young attendees became members 184.

Dining

• Daoist Chang Kong’s cooking — The temple’s earliest major attraction, supporting boxed lunches, regular meals, pastries, banquets, and specialty foods 17 56.
• Expanded dining halls — Chang Kong planned to train cooks for the new complex while introducing stricter access to his old dining hall 98.
• Meal service — During Ma Ke’s visit, the crowded dining hall served freshly cooked dishes rather than taking orders from a menu 68.
• Old-complex specialties — Documented dishes include lotus fish, multigrain congee, and vegetables 137.

Taoist Medical Clinic

• Physician — Daoist Qiuting operates the clinic and teaches medicine to the ten young Daoists and Lin Banxia 100.
• Consultation fee — Two yuan, with the same fee for young and old patients 144.
• Public reach — Media coverage following the guesthouse’s opening helped turn the clinic from a niche service into one frequented by the general public. Its queue sometimes exceeded the temple’s 144.
• Academic role — During the Taoist medicine conference, Qiuting offered free consultations and spoke as City A’s representative for Taoist medicine 131.

Learning and Recreation

• Free reading room — Established beside Qiuting’s clinic, with medical texts, Chang Kong’s cookbooks, and Lin Banxia’s plant guide 104.
• Painting activities — Art students sketch the buildings, gardens, and daily temple life. A flower-painting activity offered seeds and artwork rewards, encouraging visitors to return with flowers the following year 59 66.
• Family activities — Include fish feeding, fruit picking, flower viewing, and streamside play 66 116.
• Educational excursions — Summer programs brought large groups and temporary university-student employees 61.
• Employee childcare — A summer childcare program combined storytelling, practical activities in the temple’s facilities, and physical exercise 181.

Visitor Information and Amenities

• Admission — The temple is explicitly described as charging no admission 59.
• Refreshments and comfort — Free Clear Breeze Tea dispensers and mosquito-repellent aromatherapy products were installed around the new complex 137.
• Electronic guides — Audio guides were paired with quizzes and souvenir-shop vouchers; Yun Zhaozhao required reasonable costs and proper preparation and maintenance 137.
• Digital services — The official website presents the temple, its activities, and development plans. Later services include a digital museum and membership-based visitor management 84 185.
• Access and atmosphere — Vehicles are stopped at the parking lot outside Qingfeng Park’s main entrance. Despite large crowds, visitors generally lower their voices inside the temple 179.
• Evening closure — The temple closes in the evening and is generally quiet at night 168.

Clear Breeze Guesthouse

• Purpose — Provides accommodation and a place for people interested in Clear Breeze Temple or Daoist culture to meet; visiting the temple itself remains central to that experience 132.
• Reservations — Online systems support room and dining bookings 131.
• Visiting practitioners — Its opening relieved an accommodation shortage as increasing numbers of Daoists arrived for exchanges and study 133.
• Sleep amenities — Sleep-aid aromatherapy impressed Wen Zhengrong enough that he extended his stay. The temple later adopted the guesthouse’s sleep pillows, lightweight quilts, and aromatherapy for its own residents 150 143.
• Attractions — A wishing tree, the peacocks Little Green and Little White, and Martial Uncle Chuli’s improvised fortune-telling helped make it a popular destination 169.
• Tea culture — A transplanted Clear Breeze Tea tree and tea-tasting activities extend temple tea traditions into the guesthouse 135.
• Nightlife — Unlike the quiet temple, its courtyard becomes lively at night with tea drinking, conversation, cards, music, reading, and other informal activities 168.

Businesses and Products

Yun Zhaozhao treats Clear Breeze Temple as her main undertaking and reinvests side-business earnings in its development rather than allowing those businesses to displace it 183.

Management and Personnel

Key Personnel

Working Conditions and Training

• Infrastructure improvements — Yun Zhaozhao introduced internet access and kitchen refrigeration. Plans for the new complex included whole-building air conditioning and underfloor heating 65.
• Personal freedom — Daoist Baiyun found the temple less restrictive than other temples, with minor mistakes generally drawing reprimands rather than kneeling punishments or beatings 143.
• Individual treatment — Residents describe being able to remain themselves and feel comfortable; Tang Li identifies this as a reason he stayed 100.
• Professional development — Daoists are sent to other temples and Daoist colleges for further study. Graduates also work in agriculture, guesthouse operations, translation, and mural painting 158 185.
• Martial training — Cen and Mao received two martial arts manuals, while Baiyun later trained a tournament team. The team won its first round before drawing rival Cloud Peach Temple 73 146.

Relationships

• Qingxin Temple / Daoist Qingxin — An early source of advice on donations, temple exchanges, construction timing, and religious practice. Qingxin also supported the temple’s martial trainees with talisman water 30 70 71 146.
• True Yang Temple — Initially concerned about Clear Breeze Temple’s growing name recognition, but later became a collaborator in medicine conferences, religious training, tea sales, guesthouse support, and charitable work 88 103 107 131 141 158 182.
• Embracing Bamboo Temple — Sent a delegation for an ostensibly educational exchange after becoming concerned about Clear Breeze Temple’s online popularity. The visitors arrived antagonistically but left on friendly terms 69 70 73.
• Cloud Peach Temple — An established rival. Their second-round tournament pairing prompted intensive preparation, with Yun Zhaozhao promising triple bonuses if Clear Breeze Temple won 146.
• President Zhu — Supplied corporate HR and publicity assistance when the temple struggled to recruit 75.
• Wen Xu and his family — Supported factory collaborations, tea-business connections, and interest in investment around the temple 119 150 178.
• Xu Tingting and Xie Yu — The temple’s first campus representatives, recruited with free meals, possible future internships, and flexible merchandise returns 17.
• Qingfeng Park — Benefited from the temple’s popularity and supplied workers to help clear Prosperity Road 71 101.
• Nearby villagers — Became employees, suppliers, farm workers, and supporters as the temple restored idle farmland and created local opportunities 38 56 85.

Community Work and Recognition

Community Contributions

• Village renewal — Leasing abandoned fields restored agricultural activity and created work for older villagers 85.
• School support — Funded books and exercise books for the village primary school 85.
• Charitable funding — Joined True Yang Temple in supporting welfare homes and impoverished primary and secondary schools in and around City A 158.
• Tree planting — Organized Daoists and villagers to plant trees; visiting Daoists also received practical training, gifts, and contribution-based cash rewards 172 176.
• Public-service media — Produced free promotional videos with public-security, fire-service, and traffic authorities 176.
• Employment — Recruited substantial numbers of agriculture and forestry graduates, a contribution considered during the provincial temple selection 185.

Honors and Rankings

Name and Guiding Principle

• Name inscription — Beneath the original stone-carved name is the line “the clear, subtle breeze nurtures all things.” Yun Zhaozhao suspects this is the source of the temple’s name 1.
• Yun Zhaozhao’s principle — During its collaborations with public-service agencies, she describes her guiding principle for the temple as “to soothe the world with a clear breeze” 176.