Wutai Shan

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(Redirected from Mount Wutai)

Wutai Shan <tr><td style="border-top:1px solid #999966; text-align: center;" colspan=2>Image:Wutai Shan temple grounds.jpg </td></tr>
Elevation	3,058 metres (10,033 feet)
Location	Shanxi, China <tr><td style="border-top: 1px solid #999966; border-right: 1px solid #999966; background: #e7dcc3; width: 85px">Coordinates</td><td style="border-top: 1px solid #999966; width: 220px">39°32′N 113°25′E</td></tr><tr><td style="border-top: 1px solid #999966; border-right: 1px solid #999966; background: #e7dcc3; width: 85px">Easiest route</td><td style="border-top: 1px solid #999966; width: 220px">hike</td></tr><tr><td style="border-top: 1px solid #999966; border-right: 1px solid #999966; background: #e7dcc3; width: 85px">Translation</td><td style="border-top: 1px solid #999966; width: 220px">Five Plateau Mountain (Chinese)</td></tr>

Wutai Shan

<tr><td style="border-top:1px solid #999966; text-align: center;" colspan=2>Image:Wutai Shan temple grounds.jpg
</td></tr>

Elevation

3,058 metres (10,033 feet)

Location

Shanxi, China

<tr><td style="border-top: 1px solid #999966; border-right: 1px solid #999966; background: #e7dcc3; width: 85px">Coordinates</td><td style="border-top: 1px solid #999966; width: 220px">39°32′N 113°25′E</td></tr><tr><td style="border-top: 1px solid #999966; border-right: 1px solid #999966; background: #e7dcc3; width: 85px">Easiest route</td><td style="border-top: 1px solid #999966; width: 220px">hike</td></tr><tr><td style="border-top: 1px solid #999966; border-right: 1px solid #999966; background: #e7dcc3; width: 85px">Translation</td><td style="border-top: 1px solid #999966; width: 220px">Five Plateau Mountain (Chinese)</td></tr>

Mount Wutai (Chinese: 五台山; pinyin: Wǔtái Shān; literally "Five Plateau Mountain") is one of the four sacred mountains in Chinese Buddhism.

Each of the four mountains are viewed as the abode or place of practice (dàocháng 道場) of one of the four great bodhisattvas.

Wutai is the home of the Bodhisattva of wisdom, Manjusri or Wenshu (Traditional:文殊) in Chinese.

It takes its name from its unusual topography, consisting of five rounded peaks (North, South, East, West, Central), of which the North peak, called Beitai Ding or Yedou Feng, is the highest, and indeed the highest point in northern China.

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 Avatamsaka Sutra (Ch: Húayán jīng 華嚴經), which describes the abodes of many bodhisattvas. In this chapter, Manjusri is said to reside on a "clear cold mountain" in the northwest. This served as charter for the mountains identity and its alternate name 'Clear Cool Mountain' (Ch: 清涼山 Qĩng Liáng Shãn).

The bodhisattva is believed to frequently manifest himself on the mountain, taking the form of ordinary pilgrims, monks, or most often unusual five-colored clouds.