Mount Putuo

Putuo Mountain, together with Wutai Mountain in Shanxi Province, Emei Mountain in Sichuan Province and Jiuhua Mountain in Anhui Province, is known as the four famous mountains of Chinese Buddhism. It is the Taoist temple for Guanyin to educate all living beings. Therefore, Mount Putuo is surrounded by the sea, beautiful scenery, unique, known as "the first world of pure land.". Rocks and trees, cliff carvings of temples and pagodas, and the sound of Sanskrit sound are all full of the mysterious color of Buddhism. The island is surrounded by sands, white waves, and fishing sails. The twelve scenes of Putuo are either steep, mysterious or strange, giving people endless reverie. Many places of interest and historic sites have formed an indissoluble bond with Guanyin, spreading beautiful and moving legends. Putuo Mountain is divided into nine scenic spots.

Putuo Mountain

Putuo Mountain is located in Putuo District, Zhoushan City, Zhejiang Province, on the southern edge of Hangzhou Bay, and in the eastern sea area of Zhoushan Islands. It is located in 29 ° 58 ′ 3 ″ - 30 ° 02 ′ 3 ″ north latitude and 122 ° 21 ′ 6 ″ - 122 ° 24 ′ 9 ″ east longitude. It is said that it is the Daoism center of Guanyin Bodhisattva.

Putuo Mountain is a small island of 1390 islands in Zhoushan Archipelago, with an area of 12.52 square kilometers. It faces Shenjiamen of Zhoushan archipelago across the sea. It is known as the "sea heaven Buddha kingdom" and the "holy land of the South China Sea". It is 8.6 kilometers long from north to south, 3.5 kilometers wide from east to west, and 30 kilometers long coastline. The tiandengtai of Fuding mountain in the middle is the highest, with an altitude of 291.2 meters, extending in all directions. The west is Chashan mountain, the north is Fulong mountain, the East is qinggulei mountain, the southeast is Jinping Mountain, liantai mountain and Baihua Mountain, and the southwest is meicen mountain. The main peaks range from 100 to 200 meters.

In 1982, Mount Putuo was rated as a national key scenic spot. In 2004, Putuo Mountain was named ISO14000 national demonstration zone. On May 8, 2007, Putuo Mountain scenic spot in Zhoushan City was officially approved as a national 5A scenic spot by the former National Tourism Administration.

Historical evolution

According to historical records, as early as 2000 years ago, Mount Putuo was the treasure land for Taoist cultivation. The name of Mount Putuo has changed several times.

During the spring and Autumn period (497 bc-465 BC), King Gou Jian of Yue and Zhoushan Islands were collectively referred to as Yongdong.

It is said that during the reign of emperor Cheng of the Western Han Dynasty (32-7 BC), Wei Meifu of Nanchang came to the mountain to live in seclusion and collect herbs for alchemy.

Putuo Mountain was founded in Tang Dynasty as Guanyin Taoist center.

During the reign of Tang Dazhong (847-860), a Buddhist monk (also known as a monk from the western regions) came to the mountain to worship the Buddha. It is said that he witnessed the appearance of Guanyin in Chaoyin cave.

In the fourth year of Xiantong (863) of Tang Dynasty, master hui'e invited the statue of Guanyin to return to China by boat from Wutai Mountain. The boat was in a storm when it arrived at Lianhua ocean. He couldn't get there for several times, so he believed that Guanyin refused to go eastward. Instead, he left the statue beside Chaoyin cave, so he called it "refused to go to Guanyin". After generations of construction, temples. In its heyday, there were four temples, 106 nunneries, 139 thatched cottages, and more than 4654 monks and nuns in the mountain, which was known as "the first Buddhist kingdom of Sinian".

In Song Dynasty, Putuo Mountain was called Baotuo mountain. According to song Baoqing's Changguo county annals, "the Guanyin Baotuo temple in meicen mountain is located in the East Sea of the county. It was built in the second year of Liang Zhenming and is named after the mountain." Song Zhang bangji's Mo Zhuang man Lu said: "Baotuo mountain, to the two tides of Changguo, the mountain is not very high."

In 967, Zhao Kuangyin sent his eunuch Wang GUI to the mountain to offer incense, and gave him a brocade flag, which was the first time for the imperial court to offer incense to Putuo.

In the third year of Yuanfeng (1080), the imperial court granted silver to build Baotuo Guanyin temple. At that time, people from Japan, South Korea and other countries who came to China to do business and pay tribute also began to mount mount Mount Putuo and pay homage to Buddha.

In the first year of Shaoxing (1131), master Zhenxie, the abbot of Guanyin Temple in Baotuo, asked the imperial court to approve the change to Zen. More than 700 fishermen moved out of the mountain, and Putuo Mountain became a pure land of Buddhism.

In the seventh year of Jiading (1214), the imperial court gave money wanluo to repair Yuantong hall, and designated Mount Putuo as the Taoist temple for Guanyin.

In the Yuan Dynasty, Putuo Mountain was called butuoluojia mountain.

In June of the third year of Dade reign of Yuan Dynasty (1299), he was appointed president of Buddhism in the south of the Yangtze River and presided over Yishan in Guanyin Temple of Baotuo. He was the master of miaozhongji. He carried the national documents to Japan to promote Buddhism and have good relations with Japan.

From Song Dynasty to Ming Dynasty, Putuo Mountain was named Baihua Mountain in Sanskrit.

In 1421, Tang He was ordered to burn the temple and destroy the Buddha. He moved the monks to Qixin temple in Mingzhou (now Qita temple in Ningbo). It was not until 1488 that he welcomed the Buddha back to the mountain and rebuilt the temple.

During the reign of emperor Xiaozong of Ming Dynasty (1522-1566), the temple of Putuo Mountain was destroyed, and Baotuo Guanyin temple was not spared.

In 1605, Baotuo Guanyin temple was granted the title of "protecting the country and longevity Putuo Temple". The mountain was named after the temple, which is the beginning of the name of Putuo Mountain.

In 1669, Dutch colonists invaded Putuo. Except for the main hall, the temple disappeared.

In the 38th year of Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1699), Putuo temple was built to protect the country and Yongshou, and was granted "Puji qunling", which was called "Puji Temple".

In the ninth year of Yongzheng reign of Qing Dynasty (1731), Puji Temple expanded its halls and rooms.

In 1924, there were three temples, 88 nunneries, 128 Maopeng and more than 4000 monks in the mountain. There were thousands of monks in Puji Temple alone.

In July of 1937, the Japanese army occupied Mount Putuo, the harbor was closed, pilgrims were cut off, the nunnery was in disrepair, and Buddhism was in decline. There was a slight recovery after the victory of the Anti Japanese war.

On May 19, 1950, when Mount Putuo was liberated, there were 316 monks. The party and government implement the policy of freedom of religious belief, protect legitimate religious activities, and allocate funds to build Puji, Fayu temples and yangzhi'an.

Since 1958, due to the influence of the "left" and the chaos of the "Cultural Revolution", the party's religious policy has been seriously damaged, and religious activities have been suspended for a time. After smashing the "Gang of four", the party's religious policy has been re implemented.

In April 1979, Putuo Mountain Management Bureau was established. The state allocated funds and materials to repair dangerous buildings and scenic spots.

geographical environment

Location context

Putuo Mountain is located in the southern edge of Hangzhou Bay and the eastern sea area of Zhoushan Islands, with a land area of 12.52 square kilometers. It is located in 29 ° 58 ′ 3 ″ - 30 ° 02 ′ 3 ″ N and 122 ° 21 ′ 6 ″ - 122 ° 24 ′ 9 ″ E. It is 6.5km away from Shenjiamen fishing port in the southwest, 2.5km away from Zhujiajian island in the south, and adjacent to Hanhai sea in the East.

Geology and geomorphology

Putuo Mountain is high in the northwest and gentle in the southeast, with the highest elevation of 291.2 meters at tiandengtai of Fuding mountain. It extends northward, eastward and southward, and its height decreases meandering. It extends northward to Chashan (93.7 meters) and Longtou mountain (102.3 meters); eastward to Jinping Mountain (205.2 meters), liantai mountain (133.3 meters) and Qinggu mountain (142.7 meters); southward to Xuelang mountain (183.2 meters) and Dashan mountain (183.2 meters) , meiqinshan (109.3 m) and Baihuashan (97.1 m).

The geology of Putuo Mountain belongs to the coastal zone of eastern Zhejiang in the ancient Cathaysian fold belt. It was formed in the Jurassic Cretaceous period 150 million years ago, and the intrusive granite in the late Yanshanian movement formed the rock foundation. Influenced by the intermittent rise of the tertiary neotectonic movement and the Quaternary glacial and interglacial sea erosion, its landforms can be divided into mountain, sea erosion and marine terrace, marine land and marine erosion area.

Mountainous area: the low mountainous area above 200 meters above sea level covers an area of about 0.24 square kilometers. Accounting for 2% of the total area of the island, the rest is hilly land below 200 meters above sea level. In the long geological period, the hard granite has been weathered and eroded, developed along the vertical high angle cutting joints, and collapsed around the mountains, forming many isolated peaks and abrupt landscapes.

Marine erosion and marine accumulation terraces: the whole island is well preserved with five marine erosion terraces and three marine accumulation terraces, accounting for 90% of the total area of the island, of which the fourth and fifth marine erosion terraces are round, forming the main ridge on the island.

Marine land: due to the hydrodynamic difference around the island, the sediment distribution is different. The hydrodynamic force of the northeast coast is strong, and the swell is close to the beach surface, and the beach and gravel beach are mainly along the coast. The hydrodynamic force of the southwest coast is weak, and a large amount of silt supplied by the Yangtze River is accumulated in the intertidal zone, forming a wide mud beach. Beach: the total length is about 5.17 km, accounting for 22% of the island coastline. It is distributed in houaosha and husha in the north of the island, feishaao, qianshasha, baibusha in the east of the island, Jinsha in the south of the island, etc. The sand changes from coarse to fine from shore to sea and from below the intertidal zone to muddy.

Gravel Beach: the total length is about 3.23 km, accounting for 14.3% of the island's coastline. It is distributed in dashuilang in the northwest of the island, the north coast of Gangdun and the coast of Xiangan in the southeast of feisha'ao. It is embedded in the Bay in a strip shape. In the southeast of feisha'ao and across from Fulong mountain cave, the width of gravel beach is 20-30 meters, and the rest is several meters. The diameter of gravel is generally between 0.50-1.5 m, and the maximum is 1.5-2 M. due to the impact of surge and torrent, the gravel is rubbed into a round shape.

Mudflat: about 4.2km in length, accounting for 20% of the total coastline of the island. It is distributed in areas with weak wave and tidal current, such as Xiaogu Daotou to fengchuangzui in the south of the island, fengdongzui to Liuqiao shanzui in the west of the island. It is formed by siltation of suspended solids in the tidal current of the Yangtze River Estuary and Zhejiang coast in the wave hidden area. The intertidal zone extends 400-1000m wide with a slope of 2-3 degrees.

Sea eroded land: under the action of tide, tide and wave, sea eroded caves are formed and gradually expanded into sea eroded roadways, sea eroded niches, sea eroded cliffs and sea eroded platforms, forming bedrock shoreline with a total length of 9.9 km, accounting for 44% of the total shoreline of the island.

Sea erosion cliff and sea erosion platform: they are distributed around the island, especially in the north and East. The cliff is more than ten meters high. It is said that Taishi, xinzishi and other ancient sea cliffs can be seen, and they are still well preserved. Sea erosion platforms are distributed on the edge of some marine terraces, with rock pillars standing on the wall.

Chinese PinYin : Pu Tuo Shan