Lingham Mountain Forest Park

　　Lingham Mountain Forest Park is located 6 kilometers southwest of Anji County in Zhejiang Province. It belongs to the Lingham Scenic Area of the Anji Bamboo National Forest Park, covering a total area of 155 hectares. Lingham Mountain is a branch of the Tianmu Mountain range, and its shape resembles a grand, north-facing armchair—stable and solid, which ancient people called a “feng shui treasure land.”

　　The park features overlapping green peaks, long-flowing streams, and distinct four seasons, offering abundant scenic resources. Lingham is renowned for its unique sites: Lingham Peak, Lingyan Cliff, Lingchi Pool, Lingquan Spring, Ling Trees, and Ling Temple—earning its reputation as a mountain full of spiritual energy. Tourist attractions include the “Thirty-Two Scenic Spots of Lingham,” characterized by their spirituality, antiquity, beauty, and serenity. Among them, the “Ten Scenic Spots of Lingham” captivate numerous visitors, making it an ideal place to return to nature and relax.

　　Lingham Mountain boasts numerous ancient and famous trees, as well as bamboo forests spread across the hills. The park is home to 231 species of woody plants from 64 families, over 1,500 acres of deciduous and evergreen broad-leaved forests, and more than 400 acres of bamboo groves. The most spectacular sight is the ancient tree cluster in front of Lingham Temple, spanning hundreds of acres, with towering trees and uniquely shaped trunks that are very rare.

　　Another highlight of Lingham Mountain is its peculiar peaks, extraordinary rocks, expansive caves, clear streams, and cool springs. The peaks include Bai Zhang Peak, Da Xiong Peak, Du Li Peak, Wu Lian Peak, and Er Ru Peak—all resembling their names with striking lifelike forms. The rocks feature the Wang Yun Platform, “hundred feet wide, where one seems to touch the clouds,” the Scripture Recital Platform where Monk Yi Lin chanted sutras daily, and the Ling Fo Stone that resembles Buddha sitting upright. The caves include the Golden Immortal Cave, Bamboo Immortal Cave, and Hua Yan Cave, each with its own enchanting legend. On either side of Lingham Mountain lie valleys—Dong Qing and Mei Hua Streams—rushing with crystal-clear waters that flow year-round. The Ying Yue Pool reflects the moon clearly on clear nights; at the mountaintop, Bei Tian Mu is a deep and expansive pool that never dries up throughout the year. Other sites include Huan Xi Spring, An Yang Spring, Ying Yun Pool, and Zhao Yue Pool—all with fresh, sweet, and refreshing water.

　　Lingham Temple was built because of the mountain, and the mountain became famous because of the temple. The park’s main attraction, Lingham Temple, was first constructed in the first year of the Kaiping era of the Liang Dynasty (907 AD) and has a history of over a thousand years. It is known as the sister temple to Hangzhou’s Lingyin Temple.

　　What sets Lingham Temple apart from other temples is that it is a preaching monastery, focusing on academic activities such as studying Buddhist scriptures and philosophies. In those days, abbots and senior monks from major southern temples all studied at Lingham Temple, and only after reaching a certain depth of Buddhist knowledge were they considered qualified.

　　On the west side of Lingham Temple’s wall lies the tomb of Master Yi Yi and the Dali Ling Pagoda. In his youth, Master Yi Yi opposed Buddhism and wrote many anti-Buddhist works. Around the age of 21, after his mother passed away, his filial piety led him to take an interest in Buddhism. A few years later, when his father also died, he had gained deep insight into Buddhist studies and decided to become a monk, dedicating himself entirely to the study of Buddhism. He wrote over 40 treatises on Buddhist research in his lifetime, organizing and interpreting the scriptures of all Buddhist sects, while guiding and systemizing the theories of Pure Land Buddhism. He further advanced the Sinicization of Buddhism, incorporating Confucian values of loyalty and filial piety into the Buddhist worldview of the Four Noble Truths and the Six Perfections for the first time in theoretical terms. He advocated chanting the Buddha’s name in gratitude to one's parents, thus promoting the spread and popularization of Buddhism among the public. Pure Land Buddhism is part of Mahayana Buddhism, which generally imposes fewer precepts on its followers—who can attain rebirth in the Western Pure Land simply by chanting the Buddha’s name with sincerity. Master Yi Yi took this theory further. In his most important work, the Lingham Sect Treatise, he proposed that having faith and aspiration in the Buddha is enough—chanting the Buddha’s name is not strictly necessary. Elevating religious aspiration above ritual form was a global first.