Xuedou mountain

Mount Xuedou, a national scenic spot, National Forest Park and national AAAAA scenic spot, is known as "the first mountain of Siming". It is one of the five famous Buddhist mountains in China, and is the ashram of Maitreya.

Xuedou mountain is located in the northwest of Xikou Town, Fenghua District, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province. It is the highest peak of the branch of Siming Mountain, with an altitude of 800 meters. It has the reputation of "Penglai on the sea, Tiantai on the land".

Xuedou mountain was named "yingmeng Mingshan" because of Zhao Zhen, Emperor Renzong of the Northern Song Dynasty, who visited here in his dream, while Zhao Yun, Emperor LiZong of the Southern Song Dynasty, wrote "yingmeng Mingshan". Famous for its beautiful natural scenery, the landmark scenic spots include qianzhangyan, Xuedou temple, sanyitan, xufuyan, miaogaotai and the world's highest bronze statue of Maitreya. Xuedou temple, located in the heart of Xuedou mountain, was founded in Jin Dynasty, flourished in Tang Dynasty and flourished in Song Dynasty. It has a history of more than 1700 years. For thousands of years, it has a strong fragrance and a large number of eminent monks. It is the basic Taoist site of Maitreya Buddha. Xuedou mountain in Zhejiang Province is as famous as Wutai Mountain in Shanxi Province, Putuo Mountain in Zhejiang Province, Emei Mountain in Sichuan Province and Jiuhua Mountain in Anhui Province.

brief introduction

Xuedou mountain national scenic spot is located in the northwest of Fenghua District, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, covering an area of 85.3 square kilometers, 54.8 square kilometers and 30.5 square kilometers. With Xuedou ancient temple and qianzhangyan waterfall as the center, the scenic spot is surrounded by Wulei, Alsophila and DongCui peaks in the East, Pingfeng mountain in the west, Tianma and Cuiluan in the south, Xiangbi peak, ShiShun peak and Rufeng in the southwest. In the middle, there is a vast flat land with crisscross fields, beautiful scenery and pleasant climate. There are qianzhangyan waterfall, miaogaotai, Xufu cliff, Shangang forest sea and sanyitan Waterfalls and other landscapes.

history

Xikou Xuedou mountain scenic spot is located 22 kilometers northwest of Fenghua, with an area of 85 square kilometers. It has 53 scenic spots, including Xikou Town, Xuedou mountain and Tingxia lake. It is famous for its unique cultural landscape and natural landscape integrating mountains, lakes and waterfalls. It is also the site of Maitreya Taoist temple, a famous Buddhist holy land, and is well-known at home and abroad. Xikou Xuedou mountain scenic spot has always been loved by tourists. Zhao Zhen, Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, once dreamt about this mountain, while Zhao Yun, Emperor LiZong of the Song Dynasty, wrote "a dream of a famous mountain". Su Shi, one of the eight famous poets in Tang and Song Dynasties, wrote a poem praising: "Gaohuai has Yunmen pass, and good sentences are used to spread Xuedou wind." Zhang Qiyun, a famous modern geographer, called Xuedou mountain "magnificent Tiantai Mountain, picturesque Yandang Mountain and verdant Tianmu Mountain". Wang Xinjian, a famous poet, wrote in Xikou Xuedou mountain: "the quiet air covers the valley, and the green bamboo brushes the moss road. The mountain moon shines on the ancient temple, and the green haze moistens the pillars of the sky. The bridge is across the Songxi River, and the waterfall is deep in the clouds. With the help of the hurdles and the wonderful platform, the heart of the dust will cross from here. " In the 1920s, it was listed as one of the 26 key scenic spots in China; in the 1980s, it was designated as a provincial key scenic spot and a national forest park; in January 1994, the State Council announced that it was one of the key scenic spots in China. Since 1991, there have been more than 1 million tourists per year.

Geography and climate

Since the first volcanic eruption about 145 million years ago, there have been three volcanic eruptions and four transgression and regression in the following 10 million years. The most typical Danxia landform is basically shaped. Today, rock flow traces can still be seen in qianzhangyan and xiayintan. After more than 100 million years, Xuedou mountain has entered the era. This generation begins to present the scene of dense forest, various animals, towering cliffs and flying waterfalls.

With the evolution of nature for hundreds of millions of years, Xuedou mountain is rich in wildlife resources. According to historical records, in the area of Xuedou mountain in the Yuan Dynasty, there were "no people at sunrise, but there were many tigers in the forest". During the reign of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty, deer still appeared. In the early 1950s, clouded leopards were still active. At present, there are more than 1600 species of wild animals, and there are more than 20 species of national first and second level protected animals.

Xuedou mountain has been listed as a National Forest Park, and there are many kinds of plants. It has more than 180 families and 1500 species of wild higher plants, which is one of the regions with the most abundant wild plant resources in eastern Zhejiang. Rare plants, such as Eucommia ulmoides Oliv, Phoebe chekiangensis, Magnolia officinalis and Pterocarpus tatarinowii, are still scattered in Xuedou mountain. 　

The origin of Buddhism

Xuedou mountain is a famous Buddhist mountain with a long history and profound cultural accumulation. Located in the heart of the mountain, Xuedou temple was founded in the Jin Dynasty, flourished in the Tang Dynasty, and flourished in the Song Dynasty. It has a history of more than 1700 years. In the Song Dynasty, it was ranked as one of the "five mountains and ten temples" of the world's Zen Buddhism, and in the Ming Dynasty, it was ranked as one of the "ten temples and five courtyards of the world's Zen Buddhism", which occupies an important position in the history of Buddhism. According to the records of the temple: in the Tang and Song Dynasties, Xuedou Temple received 41 imperial edicts from several emperors. So far, there are 5760 scriptures, jade seals, dragon robes, dragon bowls and jade Buddhas in the temple. Song Zong granted the plaque of "Zisheng temple in Xuedou" and LiZong pursued the book of "yingmeng Mingshan".

History of temple construction

In the first year of Jingfu (892) of Zhaozong of Tang Dynasty, Nanyue V, the fifth generation of Zen Buddhism, became one of the top ten jungles of Zen Buddhism. After the Five Dynasties, the rise of Zen Buddhism, Houliang Budao monks often come to the temple, become Maitreya should trace the holy land. In the second year of Guangshun (952), the Taizu of the Later Zhou Dynasty, Zen master Zhijue Yanshou, the third generation of fayan sect, moved in and wrote zongjinglu.

In the third year of Chunhua of Song Dynasty (992), Taizong of Song Dynasty presented Buddhist scriptures and stone inscriptions to the emperor, and granted "Zisheng temple in Xuedou". In 1010, Emperor Zhenzong issued an imperial edict to grant baopai, forbidding corvee, which made him famous all over the world.

In 1245, Emperor LiZong of Song Dynasty awarded "yingmeng Mingshan".

During the Jiading reign of emperor ningzong of Song Dynasty (1208-1224), it was one of the "five mountains and ten temples" in the world.

In the Song Dynasty, many works of eminent monks in Xuedou temple were recorded in the Buddhist masterpiece the Tripitaka.

In the 15th year of Hongwu (1382), Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, it was listed as one of the "ten temples and five courtyards of Zen in the world".

In 1906, the emperor granted magic tools and scriptures, which are still in existence.

In 1926, Chiang Kai Shek wrote "the first mountain of Siming".

In 1932, at the invitation of Chiang Kai Shek, Master Taixu took the position of abbot. He studied Maitreya's theory of knowledge only, devoted himself to the construction of Maitreya's Yingji Daochang in Xuedou, and proposed that Xuedou mountain be one of the five famous Buddhist mountains in China. During his tenure as abbot of Xuedou temple, Master Taixu actively advocated "life Buddhism", attached great importance to Buddhist Education and vigorously promoted Buddhist innovation, which had a profound impact on the development of modern Chinese Buddhism.

Since the founding of the people's Republic of China, the government has repeatedly allocated funds to help temples repair their buildings.

During the cultural revolution in 1968, Xuedou temple was severely damaged for the last time, and the monks were demobilized.

In 1984, the government implemented the policy of freedom of religious belief and put forward suggestions for reconstruction.

In 1985, reconstruction began.

In 1987, Mr. Zhao Puchu, then president of China Buddhist Association, visited Xuedou temple and said, "Xuedou is the place where Maitreya should be transformed. The building in the hall should be different from other temples, and Maitreya hall should be built alone." he also called Xuedou five famous mountains.

In 1988, the temple was opened to the public.

In the 1990s, temple construction continued as planned.

Since 2000, Taixu pagoda and Hualin temple have been built.

In May 2005, the open-air Maitreya Buddha project was approved by the State Bureau of zongzong and started construction.

In October 2008, the statue of the Great Buddha was completed.

In November 2013, Maitreya College of Xuedou mountain was officially approved by the State Bureau of religious affairs of the people's Republic of China. So far, the scale and grandeur of Xuedou temple have exceeded any period in history.

Maitreya Dojo

In Indian Buddhism, Maitreya is a sacred heaven crown Bodhisattva, while in Chinese temples, Maitreya is a smiling monk with a cloth bag and a bare chest. The prototype of this appearance is the monk Qiben of Yuelin temple in Fenghua during the late Liang Dynasty. Because he can't leave his body without a mouthful of cloth bag, he is known as the "cloth bag monk". In his Zen verse before sitting, he said, "Maitreya, true Maitreya, incarnates into hundreds of billions; he always shows the time people, but they don't know it." Since then, Chinese Buddhist temples have replaced the original image of Tianguan Maitreya in Indian Buddhism with the image of cloth bag Maitreya, which is the embodiment of Maitreya. It has become the Maitreya in the hearts of Chinese people and realized the localization of Maitreya belief. In Fenghua, a complete system of Maitreya temples was formed in the life of the Budao monk: Changting Village (with Maitreya Hall), Yuelin temple, the basic Taoist temple for becoming a monk and passing away, Xuedou mountain, three pagodas temple, Yuelin village, etc. Among the many Daoists, the most popular one is Xuedou mountain. The culture of Budai Maitreya is integrated with the splendid Buddhist culture of Xuedou mountain, which accumulates a vast collection of Chinese Maitreya, and in turn affects the Maitreya belief in the whole country and even the world. Therefore, Xuedou mountain is called Maitreya Taoist center, and it is also known as five famous mountains together with Mt. Emei, Mt. Wutai, Mt. Putuo and Mt. Jiuhua.

In October 2008, after three years of construction, the open-air Maitreya statue of Xuedou mountain and its supporting facilities were completed. The Buddha is 33 meters tall, with a total height of 56.74 meters and a body area of more than 6600 square meters. It is the highest sitting bronze Buddha statue in China. On November 8, the opening ceremony of Maitreya Buddha was held. Guests gathered in the grand ceremony. Taking this opportunity, Fenghua began to hold the annual Maitreya Culture Festival in Xuedou mountain. Now this festival has become a major event in the Buddhist circle of China. It has successively won the titles of "top 100 national festivals and 2008 China's top 10 festivals with the most development potential", "one of the most influential festivals in China on the 30th anniversary of reform and opening up", and "China's top 10 brand Festivals"

Chinese PinYin : Xue Dou Shan