Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s3.t3: Mount E'mei
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s3.t3
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Mount E'mei
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Mount E'mei is among one of the four holiest Buddhist mountains in China. It is located in E'mei, Leshan City of Sichuan province. According to legend, the mountain was the *ashram* for Samantabhadra to make its presence and power felt and disseminate *dharma*.
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Introduction
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Today, the scenic region of the Mount E'mei covers 154 sq km, including four great mountains, ie Da-E, Er-E, San-E and Si-E. Mount E'mei, generally speaking, refers to Mount Da-E, also known as the main peak of Mount E'mei. The top of the peak is called Wanfo Peak (Thousands of Buddha Peak in Chinese) which is 3,099 m above sea level and wriggles more than 50 km from the top to bottom. As of now, there are about 26 temples in the mountain which mainly include Baoguo Temple, Fuhu Temple, Qingyin Pavilion, Wannian Temple, Xianfeng Temple, Huazang Temple etc. accommodating around 300 monks and nuns. In 1982, Mount E'mei was approved by the State Council to be in the first category of national scenic areas. In 1996, it was listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization into the World Heritage List. In 2007, Mount E'mei was officially approved by the National Tourism Administration to be a five star A Tourist Scenic Area.
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History
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According to legend, Buddhism was introduced into Mount E'mei during 1st century CE and at the end of Han Dynasty, the Buddhists began to build temples here. But this does not appear to be reliable
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The main hall of the Huazang Temple on Mount E'mei, Sichuan, China
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enough. Originally, Daoism was very popular here and during the period of Eastern Jin Dynasty, there were Daoists who came to Mount E'mei to practice Daoism. In Tang and Song Dynasty, Daoism and Buddhism began to co-exist in the mountain and from then on, Buddhism began to prevail over Daoism and became well-accepted. During Ming Dynasty, Buddhism was ever-popular and Daoism became gradually weaker and weaker and at this period, the number of Buddhists on Mount E'mei became more than 1,700 persons with nearly 100 temples of different sizes scattered all over from top to bottom. By the end of Qing Dynasty, the number of temples had increased to more than 150.
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The history of Mount E'mei as the *ashram* of Samantabhadra can be traced back to the Eastern Jin Dynasty. According to legend, Puxian Temple was already built at that time which was the predecessor of present-day Wannian Temple. The temple was renamed Baishui Temple during Tang Dynasty. People during the period of Northern Song Dynasty had already enacted a huge copper statue of Samantabhadra in Mount E'mei and this was the reason for renaming the Baishui Temple as Baishui Samantabhadra Temple and from then on, the belief in Samantabhadra dramatically enhanced.
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Major Temples
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Baoguo Temple, sitting at the foot of Mount E'mei was originally named Huizong Temple. It was built during the reign of Emperor Wanli, Ming Dynasty (1573-1620 CE), and rebuilt during the reign of Emperor Kangxi (1662-1722 CE). It treasures a huge number of cultural relics, the most important of which include (1) the 14-floor red copper Avatamsaka Sutra pagoda is 7 m high, made in Ming Dynasty and carved with 4,700 small Buddhism statues and entire Avatamsaka Sutra (2) the Buddha statue was made out of colour ceramic glaze and was built in the 13th year of the reign of Emperor Yongle, Ming Dynasty (1415) which is 2.47 m high with glittering and translucent colour. The Wannian Temple, originally named Puxian Temple, was built during the Eastern Jin Dynasty (4th century CE). It was renamed as Baishui Temple in the Tang Dynasty and as Baishui Samantabhadra Temple in the Northern Song Dynasty. During the period of the reign of emperor Wanli, Ming Dynasty, a palace hall made out of bricks was built there so emperor Wanli named it as Shengshou Wannian Temple and the name of Wannian Temple still exists. The brick palace hall was also named Wuliang Hall which boasts of significant research value from the perspective of architecture. Inside the hall, there is a huge copper statue of Samantabhadra riding a six-tooth white elephant measuring 7.35 m high and weighing 62 tonnes. This was built in Taipingxingguo 5th year of the reign of Emperor Taizong, northern Song Dynasty. Until now, it has stood there for more than 1,000 years.
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The hilltop of Mount E'mei, Sichuan, China
Linked texts (1)
- 大方廣佛華嚴經 — Classical Chinese