Mount Wutai,One of the Four SacredBuddhist Montains
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Mount Wutai,also known as Wutai Mountain or Qingliang Shan,located in Shanxi,China,is oneof the Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains.The mountainis home to many of China’s most important monasteriesand temples.Mount Wutai’s cultural heritage consistof 53 sacred monasteries,and they were inscribed as aUNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009.
The Four Scared Buddhist Mountains are MountEmei,Mount Wutai,Mount Jiuhua and Mount Putuo,Each of the four mountains are viewed as the abodeor place of practice of one of the four greatbodhisattvas.
Wutai is the home of the Bodhisattva of wisdom,Manjusri or Wenshu in Chinese.Mount Wutai also has an enduring relationship with Tibetan Buddhism.it takes its name from its unusual topography,consisting of five rounded peaks(North,South,East,West,Central),of which the North peak,called Beitai Ding or Yedou Feng,is thehighest,and indeed the highest point in northern China.
Wutai was the first of the four mountains to be identified and is often referred to as”firstamong the four great mountains.” It was identified on the basis of a passage in the AvatamsakaSutra(Ch:Húayán jing),which describes the abodes of many bodhisattvas.In thiscnapter,Manjusri is said to reside on a”clear cold mountain” in the northeast.This served asCnarter for the mountain’s identity and its alternate name”Clear Cool Mountain”(Ch:QingliangShan).
The bodhisattva is believed to frequently manifest himself on the mountain,taking the formOf ordinary pilgrims,monks.or most often unusual five-colored clouds.
Mount Wutai is home to some of the oldest existent wooden buildings in China that haveSurVived since the era of the Tang Dvnasty (618-907).They include the main hall of NanchanMonastery and the East Hall of Fuguang Monastery,built in 782 and 857 respectively.Theywere discovered in 1937 and 1938 hy a team of architectural historians including the prominenthistorian Liang Sicheng of the early 20th century.The architectural designs of these buildingshave since been studied by leading sinologists and experts in traditional Chinese architecture,such as Nancy Steinhardt.Steinhardt classified these buildings according to the hall typesfeatured in the Yingzao Fashi Chinese building manual written in the 12th century.
In 2008,there were complaints from local residents that in preparation for Mount Wutai’sbid to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site,they were forced from their homes and relocatedaway from their livelihoods.
