Neil McGee

This project involes fieldwork to unearth epigraphical materials (inscriptions, stele, funerary epitaphs, commemorative records, etc.) from Daoist temples primarily in south China that may have been part of an extensive state-sponsored Daoist temple network during the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1215-1368). A list of prominent Daoist sacred centers where relevant inscription materials for these temples are believed to exist includes: Mount Longhu in Jiangxi province, Mount Mao in Jiangsu province, Mount Wudang in Hubei province, and Mount Tiantai in Zhejiang province. Other temples recorded as being part of this network are located in Beijing, Hangzhou, Chengdu, and Suzhou. Fieldwork at these prominent Daoist sacred sites provides new epigraphical materials for the study of Daoism during this early period which have never before been studied by historians. In so doing, this project adds to the historical record of contemporary sources available for the study of the Yuan dynasty.