Zunsheng Temple on Mount Wutai

Zunsheng Temple on Mount Wutai

Zunsheng Temple on Mount Wutai is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Zunsheng Temple was originally built during the Tang Dynasty and was then called Shanzhuo Pavilion Courtyard. It was renovated in the 19th year of the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty and renamed Zunsheng Temple. Partial repairs were carried out in the 7th year of the Tongzhi era of the Qing Dynasty. A stone stele from the 24th year of the Kangxi era in the Qing Dynasty within the temple records its history.

Zunsheng Temple faces south and has five levels. Along its central axis are six halls: the Hall of Heavenly Kings, the Mahavira Hall, the Three Great Bodhisattvas Hall, the scripture depository, the Hall of All Heavens, and the Five Manjushri Hall, plus the Guanyin Hall located opposite the temple, totaling seven major halls. There are more than 200 halls and pavilions in total. The scripture depository is a two-story building, with the lower floor enshrining the Twelve Great Enlightened Beings, proportioned harmoniously. In front of the temple stands a pair of stone lions, about 3 meters high including their pedestals, which are the largest and most beautifully shaped stone lions on Mount Wutai. Their exquisite carvings and vivid expressions make them masterpieces among the mountain’s stone lions.

Zunsheng Temple is located at Dongyang Ridge, 1,000 meters east of Longwangtang Village, Rucun Township, Wutai County. According to a stele from the 24th year of the Kangxi era (1685) of the Qing Dynasty, it was originally named Cuiyan Mountain Courtyard. Legend says that in the first year of the Yifeng era of the Tang Dynasty (676), the Indian monk Buddha Patri came to China to worship the sacred sites and encountered the manifestation of Manjushri at Dongyang Ridge. Later, in the first year of the Hongdao era (683), he returned to India to retrieve the "Buddhoṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī Sūtra", translated it in Chang’an upon his return, and then...

...he returned via Dongyang Ridge to worship the sacred sites again, expanded the original temple, and named it “Shanzhuo Pavilion Courtyard”. It was rebuilt in the 4th year of the Tian Sheng era of the Northern Song Dynasty (1026) and named “Zhenrong Chan Monastery”. During the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty (1573–1620), it was renamed “Zunsheng Temple”, the name it retains to this day. It was rebuilt in the 11th year of the Republic of China (1922), and restored and expanded in 1986. The current main structures date back to the early Republican period. The temple faces south and is built along the mountainside, covering an area of 32,300 square meters. It includes 277 halls, 5 jade Buddhas, 25 cloth-laid statues, 1 boxwood carving, 3 plaster statues, 293 painted clay sculptures, 1 stone sutra pillar from the 4th year of the Tian Sheng era (1026), 1 stone sutra pillar from the 22nd year of the Republic of China (1934), and 3 steles recording renovations from the Ming and Qing dynasties. Along the central axis from south to north are seven tiers of halls. The first tier is the Hall of Heavenly Kings, with five bays in width, six rafters in depth, rear corridor, and a flush-gable roof. The second tier is the Mahavira Hall, with five bays in width, six rafters in depth, front corridor, rear turtle tail, and a flush-gable roof. The third tier is the Three Buddha Hall, with five bays in width, six rafters in depth, front corridor, and a flush-gable roof. The fourth tier is the scripture depository, with three bays in width, four rafters in depth, surrounded by an ambulatory, and a double-eaved hip-and-gable roof. The fifth tier is the Twenty-Four Deities Hall, with five bays in width, six rafters in depth, front corridor, and a flush-gable roof. The sixth tier is the Five Directions Manjushri Hall, with five bays in width, four rafters in depth, front corridor, and a flush-gable roof. The seventh tier is the Ten Thousand Scriptures Pagoda, a nine-story tower where the first to fifth stories are hollow and accessible. Around the pagoda is a twelve-sided brick and concrete structure forming a 33-cave brick-vaulted corridor, and the pagoda itself has a twelve-sided floor plan. On August 18, 1986, it was designated as a Provincial Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit by the People's Government of Shanxi Province.

On October 7, 2019, Zunsheng Temple on Mount Wutai was included in the eighth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Longwangtang Village: Longwangtang Village is located in the northeastern part of Rucun Township, 7 kilometers from the township government and 7 kilometers north of the Changyuan Line of the Xinzhou-Taiyuan tourist road. The village has an average temperature of 6.5°C, a frost-free period of about 110 days, annual sunshine duration of 2,700 hours, accumulated temperature above 10°C of 274 hours, and average annual rainfall of 400–500 mm, suitable for growing crops with shorter growing seasons such as corn, sorghum, beans, tubers, and millet. The total area of Longwangtang Village is 7,000 mu, with 1,713 mu of arable land. The village has 201 households and 753 residents, including 398 males and 310 laborers. In recent years, the whole village has been focusing closely on... [Detailed information on Longwangtang Village++]

Further Reading:

· Second Batch of Shanxi Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Eighth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units