Mt. Wutai, Shanxi Province

Mt. Wutai (Five Terrace 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). 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. In the 15th century the founder of the austere Tibetan Yellow Hat Sect came to Mt. Wutai to preach.

About forty 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. The nearby Xiantong Si (Temple of the Manifestations) is one of the oldest Buddhist monasteries in the world. Its foundation dates back to the early years of Buddhism in China in the 1st century AD, though most of the present complex is Ming or Qing in date.

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The only major historical site you can visit is the imperial palace of China's last emperor. It is nothing like the imperial palaces in Beijing or Shenyang. It is comprised mostly of simple houses with crude lay-outs, reflecting the hasty establishment of the Japanese puppet state, headed by Puyi, China's last emperor dethroned in the 1911 Revolution.
 

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