Research on Healthy Human Settlements Thought in “Cavern of Heaven and Place of Blessing”

“Cavern of Heaven and Place of Blessing”(CHPB), a “sacred place” for the integration of man and nature, contains traditional views of nature protection in China. It embodies the oriental ecological protection tradition under the idea of “harmony between man and nature” (Tian Ren He Yi). Taoism interprets the epidemic with the “Qi” theory, pointing the cause and pathology to the nature. This paper traces the origin of CHPB and the epidemic, believing that people’s fear of the epidemic and their pursuit of “immortal land” produced the symbol of “fairyland”. As a natural place of refuge, CHPB played an important physiological and psychological healing role in quarantine and epidemic prevention in history. To avoid the epidemic, the northern refugees migrated to the south due to “Yongjia Rebellion” which led to the development of CHPB in regions south of the Yangtze River. This paper also analyzed the construction characteristics of CHPB in mountains and forests and the health maintenance practice of Taoism to form a natural way of getting along with both internal and external practice. In this way, it explores the modern enlightenment of CHPB to the construction of healthy settlements.