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| Mt. Wutai |
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Mt. Wutai (Five Terrace Mountain) is one of Buddhism's Four
Sacred Mountains, and is dedicated to the Bodhisattva of Wisdom Manjusri
(Wen shu). It is located about 200 km (77 miles) north of Taiyuan
in mountainous country. The name refers to the flat tops of the five
principal peaks. The north peak (Dou Feng) is the highest of the group
at 3,058 meters (10,036 ft). The Buddhist associations of the site
date back to the Han dynasty when an Indian monk is supposed to have
had a vision of Manjusri there. The mountain became an important Buddhist
center in the Northern Wei through the Tang dynasties, when more than
200 temples there were dedicated to the study of the Avatamsaka Sutra.
After a period of decline, the mountain regained popularity in the
Ming and Qing periods, when the emphasis on Tibetan-style Lamaist
Buddhism made Mt. Wutai an important pilgrimage site. In the 15th
century the founder of the austere Tibetan Yellow Hat Sect came to
Mt. Wutai to preach.
About forty temples remain in the region, many in the monastic
village of Taihuai nestled in the center of the five peaks, and
others farther afield in the mountains. The Tayuan Si (Temple of
the Pagodas) was built in Tibetan style in the Ming period, with
a 50-meter high bulbous, whitewashed dome characteristic of the
style. Behind the pagoda is a two story Ming-period library, which
contains an older revolving sutra-case, holding rare religious texts.
The nearby Xiantong Si (Temple of the Manifestations) is one of
the oldest Buddhist monasteries in the world. Its foundation dates
back to the early years of Buddhism in China in the 1st century
AD, though most of the present complex is Ming or Qing in date.
The only major historical site you can visit is the imperial palace
of China's last emperor. It is nothing like the imperial palaces
in Beijing or Shenyang. It is comprised mostly of simple houses
with crude lay-outs, reflecting the hasty establishment of the Japanese
puppet state, headed by Puyi, China's last emperor dethroned in
the 1911 Revolution. |
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