Wutaishan or Mt. Wutai (means Five Terraces 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).
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.
About fourty 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.
It is said that Asoka, king of ancient India built 84,000 dagobas of which 49 were in China. The Great White pagoda is one of the dagobas. The White Pagoda was made of bricks and stones and shaped into an overturned bowl.
