Five-Terrace Mountain

Lying in Wutai County of Shanxi Province, the range of Five-Terrace Mountain winds down from Northern Mount Heng. Its main peak is over 3,000 meters above sea level. The mountain consists of five peaks, the tops of which are plain and wide without any trees like natural terraces. They are called Southern Terrace (Jinxiu Peak), Northern Terrace ( Yedou Peak), Center Terrace (Cuiyan Peak), Western Terrace (Guayue Peak) and East-ern Terrace (Wanghai Peak). That is how Five-Terrace Mountain gets its name. It is also called Cooling Mountain for its cool climate, beautiful scenery, lush flowers and grass, and endless brooks. Far back in the Eastern Han Dynasty, temples appeared on Five-Terrace Mountain. Built and extended through all the later dynasties, a large-scale building complex came into being, consisting of over 50 temples. Taihuai Town, as the center and symbol of Five-Terrace Mountain, has a large collection of temples and high towers. The best-known temple in Taihuai Town is the Xiantong Temple where there are great halls and age-old towering trees. Behind Daxiong Hall is the impressive beamless Wuliang Hall where the most interesting section is Jingzi Tower (a Buddha Tower formed by the letters of "Huayan scripture"). It is said that a Buddhist devotee of Suzhou City spent 12 years completing it. Moreover, in the hall there are 223 steel statues (formerly 499 statues) sitting on the ground as though listening to Sakyamuni on the lotus-like altar. Behind the Wuliang Hall, there is a famous copper hall within which are countless glittering little Buddha statues. In the southeast part of the Central Terrace is the splendid Boddhisattva Top, in which is the Water-Dropping Hall. Even though there has been no rain for a long time, water drops fall from the eaves. The continuous dripping results in rows of deep pits on the slab stones under the eaves. There is also a big copper pot made in the Ming Dynasty. How big is it? It is said that after cooking a meal for 10,000 people, the monk had to make a strong ox plow the rice crust in the bottom of the huge pot. Surrounded by hills, the Golden Temple is very secluded. In the main hall there is a 16-meter-high copper statue of a thousand-handed Goddess of Mercy, the greatest statue of Bodhisattva of Five-Terrace Mountain. Another important site is the Foguang Temple with its clean, tidy hall and quiet yard. The Wenshu Hall, facing south, was built in the 15th year of Emperor Tianhui Rule of the Jin Dynasty. It may be the earliest upturned "Y" shape building in the architecture history of the world. The main part -- East Hall with its primary simplicity and greatness stands on a high platform. In the hall over 30 statues on the altar form a solemnly Buddhist world. Five-Terrace Mountain is active in Buddhist ceremonies and rich in sutra collections. It shares the honor "Four Great Buddhism Mountains" with Mount Emei of Sichuan Province, Mount Putuo of Zhejiang Province and Mount Jiuhua of Anhui Province.