The five main peaks of Mount Wutai are named after the five directions. They are called Dongtai, Beitai, Xitai, Nantai and Zhongtai respectively. The specific meaning of Wutai is Wanghaifeng in the east and Xuanyuefeng in the west. The remaining three have changed historically. Beitai was first named Dahuangjianshan, and later changed to Ye Doufeng; Zhongtai was first named Ye (pronounced Nie) Doufeng, and later changed to Cuiyan Peak; Nantai was first named Cuiyan Peak, and later changed to Gu Nantai, and finally It was designated as Jinxiu Peak. The changes in Wutai should be the changes in religious activities in history. It must be an objective reflection of development from north to south.
Today, there are five main peaks in Mount Wutai. The east, north, west and middle peaks are a series of mountains, and the south peak is an independent peak. Mountain rocks are mostly composed of gneiss, marble, and quartzite, which are strong and difficult to peel off. The terrain on the top of the mountain is gentle and can land an airplane; the valley is deep and it looks like a special U-shaped landscape. Each of the five tops has its own landscape. There are Huocong Yuezhu in the east, Yuxi Qiongjiang in the north, Linong Yao room in the west, and cave-light pearl trees in the south. The middle peak has gold and self-illumination, and the walls stand with a ring of light. Yuan Haowen, a poet of the generation, marveled: "This scene can only exist in the sky, I don't know that I am in the wonderful peak."
The east platform is called Wanghai Peak, with an altitude of 2,795 meters. It is at the top of Aoling Mountain and has a circumference of three miles. There is Wanghai Temple. Standing on the stage, you can see the clouds and mist filling the mountains, revealing the peaks of the mountains, and the scene looks like a floating boat on the sea. Sometimes the sea of ??clouds is calm and gentle as silk; sometimes it surges up and down, with rolling clouds and waves. The peaks on the sea of ??clouds appear and disappear, as if they are drifting in the rapid waves. Climbing to the top of the mountain to watch the sunrise, I saw a red sun jumping out of the sea of ??clouds. The sea and sky were the same color, like a red damask, which was very spectacular.
Nantai Jinxiu Peak, 2485 meters above sea level, has a top like a raspberry and is surrounded by Puji Temple for one mile. It is known as "Qingliang Mountain Zhi": "The peaks are towering, the smoke is green, the grass is blooming, and the mountains are covered with thousands of peaks, just like a brocade, so it is named".
Xiyi is named Guayue Peak, with an altitude of 2,773 meters. The peak is flat and broad, with a radius of two miles. There is Fa Lai Temple. It got its name from the fact that when the moon sets in the west, it looks like a hanging mirror when viewed from a distance.
The name of Beitai is Ye Doufeng, with an altitude of 3,558 meters. It is the "No. 1 peak in North China". The peak is flat and broad, and there is Lingying Temple built four miles around. There is a saying among the people that "if you lie on your back on the top of Beitai, you can reach out and touch the stars." "Qingliang Mountain Chronicles": "Looking up below, don't fight on the top, hence the name. Storms, clouds, thunderstorms, starting from half a foot. It rains suddenly, and it is sunny..., or there are strong winds and thunder, which is frightening. There is a strong wind. , Blown people fall into the stream, like haggard leaves and ears. Looking to the east is the sea air, and to the north is the desert."
Cuiyan Peak in Central Taiwan is 2,894 meters above sea level. The peak is flat and broad. On Friday, there is a Gospel Temple. The peak is connected to the North Platform and the West Platform, overlooking Jinyang Pingchuan in the south and Yanmen Xiongguan in the north. The peak stands tall and green mist floats in the sky, so it is named Cuiyan Peak.
Mount Wutai is a famous Buddhist holy land at home and abroad. It is also known as the four famous mountains of Chinese Buddhism together with Mount Emei in Sichuan, Mount Jiuhua in Anhui, and Mount Putuo in Zhejiang. Mount Wutai has a long history of building temples and is of large scale, ranking first among the four famous Buddhist mountains. Throughout the ages, emperors have built temples, and countless eminent monks have become monks. Chinese and foreign Buddhist believers and tourists have come in droves to pay homage to the Buddha.
Five peaks are towering, all with flat and broad tops, surrounded by thousands of peaks, and beautiful bells and bells. It is known as the spiritual district of Foshan by the Buddhist circles. The Mahavatam Sutra says: "There is a place in the northeast called Qingliang Mountain, where Bodhisattvas have lived since ancient times. There is a Bodhisattva named Manjushri, who, along with his retinue and ten thousand Bodhisattvas, always preaches there." Treasure Dharani Sutra He also said: "The Buddha told the Master of the Vajra Secret Tract: 'After my extinction, in the northeast of Qianfangbuzhou, there is a country named Dazhenna. There is a mountain in it named Sun Wuding. Manjushri is a boy who walks around the world and works for all living beings. In the Dharma, "Dachenna" refers to China. Manjusri, the Sanskrit transliteration, is one of the Mahayana Bodhisattvas in Buddhism. Sometimes it is called Manjusri Bodhisattva, and sometimes it is called Manjushri Boy. Sutra lists Manjushri Bodhisattva and Samantabhadra Bodhisattva as accomplices of Sakyamuni Buddha. Manjushri Bodhisattva is located on the left side of Sakyamuni Buddha. According to general Buddhist scriptures, Mount Wutai is where Manjushri Bodhisattva spreads his teachings. land.
In the early Qing Dynasty, the imperial court changed the ten green temples in Wutai Mountain into yellow temples, and the monks were also changed from monks to lamas. Since then, Han lamas, who are rare in the country, appeared in Mount Wutai. The Yellow Sect of Mount Wutai was divided into two systems in the Qing Dynasty: Bodhisattva Dingzha Sak and Zhenhai Shou Zangjia. Among the monks there are believers from Han, Manchu, Mongolian, Tibetan, Turkish and other ethnic groups. It is a holy place for ethnic unity and harmony.
There are two types of Wutaishan temple organizations: Sun and Shifang. Zisun Temple accepts novice monks and ranks them in the order of master, master, disciple, and disciple. A temple is divided into several families. In addition to **** having property in the temple, each family can also have private property, such as houses, gold and silver, etc. After the master dies, the disciples have to divide the inheritance. Temple descendants strictly stipulate that temple duties must be performed by temple monks. When a family auctions private property, it must be sold to other families in the temple. Most of the temples in Mount Wutai belong to the Zisun Temple, which is the basic organizational form that maintains the everlasting prosperity of Buddhism in Mount Wutai. In Shifang Temple, no ordination is allowed, and monks are called according to their seniority. The wandering monk enters the temple, hangs a banner, and becomes a natural member of the temple. As long as you abide by the precepts and have considerable ability, you can hold important positions. The famous Shifang Temple in Wutai Mountain includes the Lion's Nest, Qingliang Bridge, Bishan Temple, Shifang Hall, etc. Among them, Bishan Temple has the greatest influence.
There were more than 200 temples in Mount Wutai during the Northern Qi Dynasty. During the Dazhong period of Tang Dynasty, there were 64 famous temples. During the Jiayou reign of Song Dynasty, there were 72 famous temples that could be tested. In the 31st year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (16O3), there were 90 inscriptions, divided into four levels, including 12 large temples, 5 top temples, 39 small temples in the mountains, and 34 quiet temples in the mountains. The "Qingliang Mountain Chronicles" compiled in the early Qing Dynasty compiled 104 temples, of which 68 Wuding Temples were called Biao Nei Temple internally and 36 Wuding Temples were called Biao Waixiang externally. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were ten green temples and ten yellow temples in the temples in Mount Wutai. There are two Qing and Huang temples in the whole mountain. There are the so-called five places on the top of the mountain. There are three Qing temples, namely Xiutong Temple, Tayuan Temple, and Shuxiang Temple; and two Huang temples, Dingshang Bodhisattva Temple and Luohou Temple. A survey conducted in 1956 found that there were 124 temples, including 99 green temples and 25 yellow temples. There are 43 existing temples, including 37 temples inside Taipei and 6 temples outside Taipei.
Today, Mount Wutai has become a rare treasure house of ancient Chinese architecture.
The earliest existing ancient wooden temple in China is a relic of the Tang Dynasty. The main hall of Nanchan Temple in Mount Wutai and the east hall of Foguang Temple are the originators and models of wooden structures in the Tang Dynasty. After the Tang Dynasty, the Song, Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming, Qing, and until the Republic of China, typical large wooden structures were left in Mount Wutai. The architecture of the Tang Dynasty is solemn and simple, the architecture of the Song Dynasty is soft and gorgeous, the architecture of the Liao and Jin Dynasties is bold and bold with reduced columns, the architecture of the Yuan Dynasty is rough and natural, the architecture of the Ming Dynasty is rigorous, the architecture of the Qing Dynasty is luxurious and exquisite, and the architecture of the Republic of China is delicate and complex. The ancient wooden structure of the temples in Wutai Mountain has the same historical evolution. It has a grand scale, fine details, many styles and typical techniques, and is unique in the country. It can be said that Mount Wutai has preserved typical buildings from various historical periods, which itself is a long history of wooden structure architecture of ancient Chinese temples.
Wutai Mountain has many pagodas. From the perspective of materials used, there are brick towers, stone towers, glazed towers, wooden towers, iron towers, copper towers, silver towers, jade towers, crystal towers, etc.; from the perspective of architectural forms, there are car-plug towers, dense eaves towers, Pavilion-style towers, pavilion-style towers, Vajra throne-style towers, combined towers, etc.; judging from the nature of the towers, they can be divided into tomb towers. There are stupas, relic stupas and general worship towers in the pagoda. Tomb towers can be divided into Gaozeng tomb towers and general memorial towers; from the age point of view, the earliest is the Northern Wei Dynasty stone tower, and later in various periods, the latest is the stupa built for the monks of Mount Wutai in recent years; from the scale , the largest one is 56.4 meters high, piercing the sky, trying to compete with God. The small one is only 0.05 meters, exquisite and exquisite. Judging from the value of the existing pagodas in the country, the Asoka Pagoda built in Yuango Temple, the Sakyamuni Buddha Relic Pagoda in Tayuan Temple, the combined copper pagoda in Xiantong Temple and the "Huayan Sutra" pagoda are all A rare treasure that can be described as unique. The Wutai Mountain Pagodas have a long history, a large number, a wide range of materials, a complete range of shapes, and a variety of properties, which are rare in similar areas across the country.
For Buddhist statues in Mount Wutai, the relevant departments only investigated 37 temples, and the number reached 17,445. The number of Buddha statues in the entire mountain will probably exceed this number exponentially.
In terms of materials used and production methods, it can be roughly divided into eight types: clay sculpture (including hanging sculptures and mold rubbings), metal casting (using iron, copper, gilding, and gold tracing), stone sculpture (including jade sculpture). It can be divided into full sculpture , reliefs, cliff carvings), wood carvings, porcelain firing, rubbings, embroidery, paintings (including murals, scroll paintings, scroll paintings). The earliest Buddha statues are relics from the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the art of pagoda cutting is obvious. The largest number of Buddhist statues are clay sculptures, which have been continuously produced since the Tang Dynasty, forming a unique and complete evolutionary system. The rarest one is the eighteen arhats painted on bodhi leaves by the famous painter Ding Yunpeng of the Ming Dynasty. There are 12 of them, single painting of a single figure and double painting of two figures. They are meticulously painted and made into a volume. The Buddha statues in Mount Wutai have different raw materials, different craftsmanship, and different era techniques. The whole work is mottled in red and purple, decorating Mount Wutai into a rare treasure house of Buddhist art.
There are a large number of bells, drums, bowls, boards, steles, tablets, blocks, plaques, plaques, couplets, poems, articles, etc. preserved both inside and outside the Wutai Mountain Temple. Many of them are national precious cultural relics.