History of Wutai Mountain?

Located in Wutai County, Xinzhou City, Shanxi Province, Wutai Mountain is ranked among the four most famous Buddhist mountains in China. Wutai Mountain is located in the northeastern part of Shanxi Province, belonging to Wutai County, Xinzhou City, 230 kilometers southwest of the provincial capital of Taiyuan, and Zhejiang Putuo Mountain, Anhui Jiuhua Mountain, Sichuan Emei Mountain, *** called "China's four great Buddhist mountains".

Wutai Mountain and Nepal's Lumbini Garden, India's Deerfield Park, Bodhgaya, and the Buddha is known as the world's five sacred Buddhist sites. The earliest to propagate Buddhism in Wutai Mountain was the Bright Dharma Master Sangwang Aoden (the third generation of the Vaishnava Dharma King, Sangen Living Buddha), who personally went to Wutai Mountain to spread Buddhism in 710 BC. The Record of Famous Mountains states, "The five peaks of Wutai Mountain tower above the clouds, and the top of the mountain is free of forests and trees, and there is a terrace like a basement of earth, so it is called Wutai."

Wutai Mountain is one of the earliest places for Buddhist temple construction in China. Since the 10th year of Yongping in the Eastern Han Dynasty, two venerable figures, Regent Morten and Zhufan, carried sutras on white horses and came to Luoyang, China. The following year (68 A.D.), Regent Morten, Zhufan venerable came to Shanxi Wutai Mountain, found that Wutai Mountain's mountainous terrain and Shakyamuni Buddha practice Dharma in India Lingwu Mountain is very similar to the Han Mingdi to build a Buddhist temple here.

After the temple was completed, it was named Dafu Lingwu Temple (the predecessor of the present-day Hin Tong Temple, which is known as "Shiyuan Clan"). Among them, Foguang Temple and Nanchan Temple are the two earliest surviving wooden structures in China.

During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the development of Buddhism in Wutai Mountain saw its first climax. Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty carried out a large-scale expansion of Lingwu Temple and built twelve temples around it, including Shanjingyuan and Zhenrongyuan. During the Northern Qi Dynasty, the number of temples on Wutai Mountain soared to more than two hundred.

To the Sui dynasty, the Sui emperor issued an edict to build a temple on top of each of the five platforms. Namely, the East Terrace Wanghai Temple, the South Terrace Puji Temple, the West Terrace Falei Temple, the North Terrace Lingying Temple, and the Middle Terrace Evangelical Temple.

During the Tang Dynasty, there was a second high point in the development of Buddhism in Wutai Mountain. During this period, according to the Ancient Qingliang Biography, there were as many as three hundred monasteries throughout the mountain, with more than three thousand monks. At this time the Wutai Mountain, is not only one of China's famous Buddhist mountains, and is a veritable Buddhist shrine, known as the first of the four great Buddhist mountains in China. This is the beginning of Wutai Mountain's dominance in the Chinese Buddhist community, but also the beginning of the development of Wutai Mountain into a famous mountain and holy place under the utilization and auspices of the feudal rulers.

The Tang Dynasty was economically prosperous, strong and prestigious internationally, and was the center of economic and cultural exchanges among Asian countries. With the expansion of international exchanges, Wutai Mountain is also subject to India, Japan, Korea and Sri Lanka and other countries of the admiration of Buddhists. Pilgrimage to Wutai Mountain and to Wutai Mountain to seek Buddhist scriptures, Buddhism, many foreign monks.

Expanded Information:

Historical Legends about Wutai Mountain

Legend has it that Wutai Mountain, originally known as Wufeng Mountain, has an unusually harsh climate, with dripping water turning to ice in winter, flying sand in spring, and scorching heat in summer. The climate was so harsh that in winter the water dripped into ice, in spring the sand flew away, and in summer the heat was so intense that the farmers could not go out into the fields to plant their crops. Manjushri, the Bodhisattva, happened to come here to preach, and seeing the suffering of the people, decided to change the climate.

Manjushri realized that the Dragon King of the East China Sea had a sacred stone called the "Dragon Stone", which could turn the dry climate into a humid one, so he turned into a monk and went to the Dragon King's place to borrow the Dragon Stone.

Manjushri came to the East China Sea and saw a huge stone outside the Dragon Palace. Before he came to it, he already felt a cool air on his face. Manjushri met the Dragon King and explained his purpose. The Dragon King apologized and said, "The Great Master can borrow anything, but only this Dragon Stone cannot be borrowed.

Because it took hundreds of years to salvage it from the bottom of the sea, and it's so cool that the dragons come back from work every day, drenched in sweat and unbearably hot, and rest on it to refresh themselves, and if you borrow it, the dragons won't have a place to rest." Manjushri repeatedly explained that he was a monk from Wufeng Mountain and had come specially to ask for help in order to benefit the earth.

The Dragon King was unwilling in his heart to lend the sacred stone to anyone, and was not in a position to reject Manjushri Bodhisattva's request directly. Figuring that this old monk alone could not carry the stone away, the Dragon King reluctantly agreed, saying, "The sacred stone is very heavy, and no one can help you, so if you can carry it, take it!"

Manjushri thanked the Dragon King, walked up to the sacred stone, and mouthed an incantation that immediately caused the boulder to turn into a tiny projectile. Manjushri Bodhisattva tucked the projectile into his sleeve and floated away. The old dragon king was stunned and regretted it.

When Manjushri returned to Wufeng Mountain, the sun was blazing, and because of the long drought, the earth was parched and the people were suffering y. Manjushri placed the sacred stone in a valley in the middle of the mountain, and a miracle happened: Wufeng Mountain was immediately transformed into a cool natural pasture. So the valley was named Qingliang Valley, and a temple was built here, named Qingliang Temple, and Wufeng Mountain was renamed Qingliang Mountain.

Baidu Encyclopedia - Wutai Mountain