Golden Summit Buddhist Hall of Yunzhao Mountain

Golden Summit Buddhist Hall of Yunzhao Mountain

【Golden Summit Buddhist Hall of Yunzhao Mountain】

Located within Cili County. “Yunzhao Mountain lies ninety li to the south of the county, towering several thousand ren high, facing Tengyun Mountain, and is also a scenic wonder... Those who climb it are enveloped in mist, as if witnessing the primordial chaos, hence the legend that it is called Yunzhao (Cloud Morning)” (Qing Dynasty, Jiaqing era). The mountain features attractions such as Stone Screen, Stone Stove, and Stone Candle. At the summit, the Golden Summit Buddhist Hall faces south and was built on a north-south axis. Its roof has been damaged, but the stone-wall structure is largely intact. The hall walls are 2.35 meters wide from east to west and 6.13 meters deep from north to south, with a remaining height of 4.8 meters. Inside the hall, the Patriarch Platform and the side Buddha Statues Platforms still remain, along with several stone steles donated by the Li and Mo families during the Qing Dynasty. According to the Jiaqing-era , the Golden Summit Buddhist Hall “was most likely rebuilt during the glorious (prosperous) Tang Dynasty. Although its steles have been eroded by moss, the characters for ‘Zhenguan’ (era name of Emperor Taizong of Tang) can still be faintly made out... During seasonal festivals, worshippers who climb the mountain to pay homage number in the tens of thousands.” The existing stele from the 10th year of the Jiaqing era records that the Buddhist Hall was renovated in the 49th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1784).