World Cultural Landscape Heritage: Mount Wutai (11)

Mount Wutai used to be known as Zifu Mountain, and was also called Mount Wufeng Taoist Temple. Mount Wutai once was where monks practiced their religious. In 68 A.D. (the 11th year of the Yongping Period in the Eastern Han Dynasty), two high ranking Indian monks visited the mountain from the White Horse Temple in Luoyang and believed this area was where the Bodhisattva Manjusri taught Buddhism. They wanted to build temples to worship the Bodhisattva Manjusri, but Taoists who lived there did not agree. Finally, a competition between the Taoists and the two monks was staged by Emperor Liu Zhuang in Luoyang, and the two monks won. From then on, the Buddhists began to build Buddhist temples in Taihuai Town, and the first temple they built is today's Xiantong Temple. Since then, the temples, which centered on Taihuai Town, were constructed and expanded in all dynasties with their total number once reaching more than 360, and over one hundred temples still exist today. Therefore, Mount Wutai ranks first among the four famous Buddhist Mountains with its long temple history and large-scale.

There was a rare-known story about why Mount Wufeng changed its name to Mount Wutai. According to legend, the climate in the ancient Mount Wufeng was very bad and it was very hot all year round. However the Manjusri, who was teaching Buddhism there, showed his sympathy for the local people and decided to save them. The Manjusri dressed up as a mendicant monk and went to the East China Sea to ask the Dragon King for help. He discovered a big bluestone at the gate of the Dragon Palace, which sent out cool breeze, and took it back. When the Manjusri put the big bluestone (the precious stone the Dragon King of the East China) at a valley in Mount Wufeng, the valley became a natural pasture with rich grass and cool weather. As a result, the valley was called Qingliang Valley. Local people constructed a temple in the valley and put the bluestone in the temple. Therefore, Mount Wufeng became known as Mount Qingliang.