A DAOIST PRIEST PLAYS A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT IN WUDANGSHAN, 1999-04-22 (photo)

A Daoist priest plays a musical instrument in the overgrown ruins of a temple at the foot of the Wudangshan mountain range in central Hubei province in China April 19. The sacred mountain, dotted with hundreds of ancient temples and pavilions, was home to 30,000 Daoist priests in its heighday during the Ming dynasty, but fewer than a hundred remain. Many buildings were destroyed during peasant rebellions in this remote area, and Maoist Red Guards ransacked remaining temples during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76). A handful of Daoist priests, including an 108 year old Daoist nun, live in the ruins of the Yuxu temple, struggling to keep the ancient religion of Daoism alive. Picture taken April 19. ASW/TAN/WS