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Wutaishan

Mount Wutai
五台山
Wutai Shan from the air - p-ad20080116-10h51m49s-cdr1b.jpg
Mount Wutai from the air
Highest point
Elevation 3,061 m (10,043 ft)
Coordinates 39°04′45″N 113°33′53″E / 39.07917°N 113.56472°E / 39.07917; 113.56472Coordinates: 39°04′45″N 113°33′53″E / 39.07917°N 113.56472°E / 39.07917; 113.56472
Geography
Mount Wutai is located in Shanxi
Mount Wutai
Mount Wutai
Wutai County, Shanxi, China
Climbing
Easiest route Hike
Mount Wutai
Wutai shan (Chinese characters).svg
"Mount Wutai" in Chinese characters
Chinese 五台山
Literal meaning "Five Platforms Mountain"
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Mount Wutai
Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List
Temples in Mount Wutai
Location People's Republic of China
Type Cultural/natural
Criteria ii, iii, iv, vi
Reference 1279
UNESCO region Asia-Pacific
Inscription history
Inscription 2009 (33rd Session)

Mount Wutai (Chinese: 五台山; pinyin: Wǔtái shān; literally: "Five Plateau Mountain"), also known as Wutai Mountain or Qingliang Shan, is a Buddhist sacred site located at the headwaters of river Qingshui, in the Chinese northeastern province of Shanxi, surrounded by a cluster of flat-topped peaks (North, South, East, West, and Central). The North peak, called Beitai Ding or Yedou Feng, is the highest (3,061 m) of these, and is also the highest point in northern China.

As host to over 53 sacred monasteries, Mount Wutai is home to many of China's most important monasteries and temples. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009.

Mount Wǔtái is one of the Four Sacred Mountains in Chinese Buddhism. Each of the four mountains are viewed as the bodhimaṇḍa (dàocháng; 道場) of one of the four great bodhisattvas. Wǔtái is the home of the Bodhisattva of wisdom, Mañjuśrī or Wénshū (文殊) in Chinese. Mañjuśrī has been associated with Mount Wutai since ancient times. Paul Williams writes:

Apparently the association of Mañjuśrī with Wutai (Wu-t'ai) Shan in north China was known in classical times in India itself, identified by Chinese scholars with the mountain in the 'north-east' (when seen from India or Central Asia) referred to as the abode of Mañjuśrī in the Avataṃsaka Sūtra. There are said to have been pilgrimages from India and other Asian countries to Wutai Shan by the seventh century.

Wutai was the first of the four mountains to be identified and is often referred to as "first among the four great mountains". It was identified on the basis of a passage in the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, which describes the abodes of many bodhisattvas. In this chapter, Mañjuśrī is said to reside on a "clear cold mountain" in the northeast. This served as charter for the mountain's identity and its alternate name "Clear Cool Mountain" (Ch: Qīngliáng Shān; 清涼山).


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Wikipedia

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