Little Emei Mountain

Little Emei Mountain

Situated to the east of Hucheng, Little Emei Mountain is backed by the Hundred-Mile Bamboo Sea and faces the Mao’er Stockade of Hucheng. The mountain is lush with bamboo and trees, while streams babble at its feet, making it stand out as particularly upright, elegant, quiet, and refined among the surrounding peaks. Some say its shape is as lovely as a beautiful woman’s brow; others say that when night falls, a crescent moon hangs on the mountaintop, and seen from a distance, it resembles the mountain’s graceful eyebrow. In short, because of its beauty, it is called Emei Mountain. And to distinguish it from Mount Emei in western Sichuan, the word “Little” is prefixed to its name.

(1)

In the 30th year of the Guangxu reign, there was a drought lasting 40 days. Legend has it that two people who were picking fragrant leaves climbed up Little Emei Mountain. One of them noticed a bell hanging from a pine tree and found it very strange, muttering, “In this remote mountain wilderness, where did this bell come from?” The other asked, “Where is the bell?” The first one pointed with his hand: “Isn’t it right there?” Unexpectedly, his hand remained pointing and would not retract. At that moment, he had a realization: “Could it be that the bodhisattva performed a miracle by flying the bell here?” So he silently prayed, “If it really is the bodhisattva showing a miracle, let me retract my hand. I will use this hand to clear a path for you and tell others to come worship you…” After the prayer, his hand easily retracted, as flexible as ever. So the two of them started chopping down from under the pine tree, cutting through thorns and brambles, and in half a day, they had cleared a path. They then shouldered the fragrant leaves and returned home in the evening. After spreading the news to their neighbors, the story of the bodhisattva’s miracle on Little Emei Mountain quickly spread, and people came in an endless stream to burn incense. Since it was a time of severe drought and farmers were desperately hoping for rain, it was said that wherever someone went to burn incense, paper, and worship, rain would surely follow; but in places where no one worshipped, the rain wouldn’t even cross the drainage ditches. And beneath the divine bell, light rain would fall gently and continuously.

(2)

The miracle of the flying bell on Mount Emei and the efficacy of the worshippers’ prayers for rain quickly led to the construction of a temple. But given the limited local resources, the temple was small in scale. Building a grand temple was no easy task. It is said that in a manor in the Bazhong area (some say in Badong), mournful music played softly and cries of grief shook the heavens. In front of the manor, an old woman walking with a dragon-headed cane asked a servant who had come out to fetch water what had happened to cause such sorrow. The servant sighed and replied, “Our master’s only son in three generations has died. Our poor master has been kind his whole life and had this child in his old age—how could this happen…” Seeing the servant choked with emotion and weeping uncontrollably, the old woman felt deep sympathy and asked further, “How old was your young master? How long has he been dead?” The servant answered tearfully, “Twelve years old, dead for three days. He is to be taken up the mountain tomorrow.” The old woman comforted him, saying, “It’s all right, don’t take him up yet. Take me to see him. Maybe he can still be saved.” The servant, seeing that the old woman was white-haired and elderly, and didn’t seem like a frivolous person, was both shocked and delighted to hear that the young master might be saved. He dropped the water bucket and rushed inside to tell the master. The master, half-believing, half-doubting, called out, “Please—” The old woman shuffled in, prised open the youth’s eyes to take a look, felt his chest, and said, “He can still be saved. Quickly bring me a bowl of water!” She drew her finger across the surface of the water in the bowl, chanted some words, then had someone lift the youth’s head, pry open his mouth, and pour the water in. Everyone held their breath. Before long, the youth slowly woke up and sat up. Everyone was astonished and quickly helped him back inside to rest. The master was overjoyed and immediately knelt before the old woman, bowing and kowtowing in gratitude. The old woman helped him up, and the master hurriedly invited her to sit and offered her tea. He then asked, “How can I repay your great kindness?” The old woman said, “No need to thank me, no need.” The master insisted, “How can I feel at ease without repaying a life-saving grace?” The old woman replied calmly, “If you truly wish to repay me, then go and offer your thanks at Little Emei Mountain in Hucheng, Liangshan.” With that, she turned and disappeared. The master suddenly realized, “This must be the bodhisattva showing a miracle!”

Ten days later, a pilgrim arrived at Little Emei Mountain with two porters. After setting off firecrackers, burning paper, offering incense and candles, and worshipping the bodhisattva, the pilgrim instructed the porters to present the gifts. When the abbot opened them, he found two loads of silver, and he was so delighted his mouth couldn’t close. It turned out that this pilgrim was the master from Bazhong, who had specially come to repay the bodhisattva for granting his son a new lease on life.

With the two loads of silver, the temple on Little Emei Mountain was built magnificently. Statues of the Buddha, Guanyin, the Twelve Devas, the Eighteen Arhats, and the Twenty-Four Heavens were tall, majestic, and resplendent in gold. On the walls of the halls, “Awakening Dreams” was written on the left, “Miraculous Bell” on the right, and on the rear wall, the two large characters “Do Good” stood out especially prominently.

At this point, Little Emei Mountain became widely renowned. During temple fairs, devout men and women from around Hucheng would line up, kowtowing every five steps and bowing every three, in a ritual called “Starting the Pilgrimage Incense.” They would chant in unison, “Namo Amituofo—Buddha!” as they made their way up the mountain. The temple was packed with people, shoulder to shoulder; outside, the food stalls and shops along the route were countless, doing booming business. Nearby counties such as Daxian, Dazhu, Dianjiang, Kaijiang, and Kaixian, and even farther ones like Bazhong, Badong, and Yichang, all sent believers to burn incense, worship the Buddha, present inscribed plaques, and hang merit offerings.

(3)

In front of Little Emei Mountain, the hills rise and fall, majestic and dynamic. Especially notable are five rocky peaks that rise abruptly from the ground, standing thousands of feet high, as if cut by knives and axes. Made of limestone, the cliffs are smooth and dust-free, making it difficult for plants to grow. Rainwater erosion has carved streaks into the rock, resembling the mane of a lion held high. Behind the rocks, the mountain range gradually stretches away and lowers, resembling the lion’s body and tail. The five lions are in various poses—some as if neighing with heads raised, some as if charging forward with all their might, some as if looking back, and some as if standing still and listening. All of them face Little Emei Mountain together, creating a majestic and spectacular sight. This is the famous “Five Lions Worshiping the Buddha.”

Legend has it that when the Tang monk Xuanzang journeyed to the West to retrieve Buddhist scriptures, he passed through Yuhua County in the kingdom of Tianzhu. There, the “Nine-Heaven Primordial Sage”—a nine-headed lion demon—living in the Nine-Twist Cave of Wanying Bamboo Ridge Mountain, abducted Xuanzang and his three disciples. Sun Wukong managed to escape and went to the Heavenly Gate of the East to ask the Lord Taiyi for help. The nine-headed lion was captured, seven of its heads were killed, but five little lions escaped unnoticed. Many years later, the little lions grew into big lions, powerful in magic, and traveled from Tianzhu westward through Tibet, Yunnan, and Sichuan, intending to go north via Little Emei Mountain to Chang’an to avenge their father. As they passed by Little Emei Mountain, the Buddha and Guanyin took the opportunity to subdue them and enlighten them. From then on, the five lions reformed their evil ways, converted to Buddhism, and sincerely worshipped the Buddha in front of Little Emei Mountain, hoping to attain immortality.

When night falls and the Jade Rabbit (the moon) rises in the east, the five lions roll and leap in the open space in front of the Buddha’s hall on Little Emei Mountain, performing and competing in skills, not stopping until late at night. Before the cock crows, the five lions return to their original positions. By morning, people see only the five lion-shaped rocks, standing quietly. Trees on the rocks are lush, birds flit about; below the rocks, the land is vast, and cicadas sing loudly: “Zhīliǎo, zhīliǎo!” “Isn’t it so, isn’t it so—!”

There seems to be some understanding of the mysteries of existence; but upon reflection, confusion sets in again. Affirmation, negation, negation of the negation—“At fifty, I knew the errors of my ways in the past forty-nine years.” Humanity always moves forward by constantly negating previous conclusions. Is this the Zen insight that the five lions have gained over the centuries as they stand silently before Little Emei Mountain? —The lions cannot speak, so they entrust the cicadas to spread their wisdom:

“Zhīliǎo, zhīliǎo!”

“Isn’t it so, isn’t it so—!”