Here's a quick post about Shuzaing Temple, the first temple we visited on Wutaishan. I'll do longer posts on the other temples, because many of them were a bit more interesting. The most notable things about Shuzaing were the Great Manjusri Hall, featuring a gigantic statue of the Boddhisattva Manjusri lined in gold riding a giant blue lion, and the crowd of merchants selling incense sticks, lotus candles, prayer beads, and prayer flags as well as Buddhist trinkets in front of the temple steps. This was my first exposure to the commercialization of Buddhism at Wutaishan, which became a rather consistent theme throughout the rest of the study tour, as well as the commercialization of other Chinese historical sites.
The first picture is of me standing at the bus checkpoint at the entrance to Wutai mountain. Behind me you can see the Wutai Valley, which was absolutely beautiful. Wutai is a five-peaked mountain, with a valley between the five peaks, and a different Boddhisattva is said to dwell on each peak. The valley, however, and therefore the area itself is thought of as the dwelling place of the Boddhisattva of Wisdom, Manjusri. Most of the Wutai mountain temples are dedicated the Manjusri, including Shuzaing.
Shuzaing was a beautiful temple on its interior, an area we were not allowed to photograph, but in many ways it was not all that different from the other temples we visited, which were more interesting and which I will discuss more in the future. The second photo above is of the main hall exterior at Shuzaing. On the right you can see the ritual bell. Inside this structure was a truly massive statue of Manjusri which we were unfortunately not allowed to photograph. It was easily fifteen feet tall, covered in gold and jade. Absolutely magnificent.
The third picture I've posted was not at Shuzaing but at the town we stayed in that night. The town was full of tiny shrines to all number of things. This was one we stumbled across, dedicated to a rock. None of us could read Chinese, so we still don't really know what was up with this shrine. It may have been Daoist, as Daoists are more often the persons who practice worship of natural objects, and Daoism also regards Wutai mountain with special interest.
That's all for today! We went to Karaoke tonight and I'm way tired. It was super fun though. Hannah, Matt, and I sang Poker Face. Also, Eric and I sang Power by Kanye West. Good times.
The first picture is of me standing at the bus checkpoint at the entrance to Wutai mountain. Behind me you can see the Wutai Valley, which was absolutely beautiful. Wutai is a five-peaked mountain, with a valley between the five peaks, and a different Boddhisattva is said to dwell on each peak. The valley, however, and therefore the area itself is thought of as the dwelling place of the Boddhisattva of Wisdom, Manjusri. Most of the Wutai mountain temples are dedicated the Manjusri, including Shuzaing.
Shuzaing was a beautiful temple on its interior, an area we were not allowed to photograph, but in many ways it was not all that different from the other temples we visited, which were more interesting and which I will discuss more in the future. The second photo above is of the main hall exterior at Shuzaing. On the right you can see the ritual bell. Inside this structure was a truly massive statue of Manjusri which we were unfortunately not allowed to photograph. It was easily fifteen feet tall, covered in gold and jade. Absolutely magnificent.
The third picture I've posted was not at Shuzaing but at the town we stayed in that night. The town was full of tiny shrines to all number of things. This was one we stumbled across, dedicated to a rock. None of us could read Chinese, so we still don't really know what was up with this shrine. It may have been Daoist, as Daoists are more often the persons who practice worship of natural objects, and Daoism also regards Wutai mountain with special interest.
That's all for today! We went to Karaoke tonight and I'm way tired. It was super fun though. Hannah, Matt, and I sang Poker Face. Also, Eric and I sang Power by Kanye West. Good times.
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