Wutai Mountain

Located in central chinas shanxi Province， Wutai Mountain is seen as the global center for Buddhist Manjusri worship， and one of the four sacred Buddhist mountains in China.

Its five main peaks， positioned east， south， west， north， and in the middle， embrace one another with broad and plain terraces rather than forests on their peaks. That is why it bears the name Wutai Mountain， which literally means Mountain of Five Terraces.

Host to over 53 sacred monasteries， the mountain is home to many significant monasteries and temples. Overall， the buildings on the site catalogue the way in which Buddhist architecture developed and influenced the building of palaces in China for over a millennium.

Among them， the East Main Hall of Foguang Temple is the highest surviving timber building of the Tang Dynasty （618-907） with life-size clay sculptures. The cultural landscape also features the Ming Dynasty （1368-1644） Shuxiang Temple with a huge complex of 500 statues representing Buddhist stories woven into threedimensional pictures of mountains and water.

For about 1，000 years since the Northern Wei Dynasty （386-534）， nine emperors made 18 pilgrimages to pay tribute to the bodhisat- tvas， commemorated in stele and inscriptions. Introduced by the emperors， the tradition of taking a pilgrimage to the five peaks is still very much alive. With an extensive library of books collected by emperors and scholars， the monasteries of Wutai Mountain remain an important repository of Buddhist culture and attract pilgrims from across wider Asia.

Besides the religious aspect， the beauty of the rising and falling ridges of mountains， exotic rocks， crisscrossed gullies， crystalline waters and towering green forests also gives the mountain its reputation as a colorful and notable scenic resort.

Wutai Mountain reflects perfectly the fusion between natural landscapes and Buddhist culture， religious belief in the natural world and Chinese philosophical thinking on the harmony between man and nature.