World Cultural Landscape Heritage: Mount Wutai (12)

Later, Emperor Yangjian of the Sui Dynasty heard this story and ordered his people to build temples at each top of the five peaks to enshrine the Manjusri. The enshrined Manjusri included the Intelligent Manjusri worshiped in the east peak, the Lion Manjusri worshiped in the west peak, the Wise Manjusri worshiped in the south peak, and the Spotless Manjusri worshiped in the north peak, and the Childish Manjusri worshiped in the middle peak. Visitors can watch the sunrise in the east peak, appreciate the bright moon in the west peak, look at pediment in the south peak and watch snow in the north peak. All of these are the origin of Mount Wutai.

Mount Wutai's special activities

Driving ghosts

Driving ghosts, which usually begins around the 15th day of the sixth month on the lunar calendar, was derived from Tibet and is an important Buddhist activity held every year. The day before the event, lamas would read scripture, perform Buddhist dances, and "put down" ghosts at the Pusading Temple. On the 15th, more than 100 senior lamas would walk out of the Pusading Temple with the image of the Maitreya at the front, followed by the chair of the first lama and the horse of the second lama, as well as playing temple music. They would go to the Luohou Temple to dance for the Gods. On the 16th, the lamas would "chop ghosts" at the Pusading Temple. The first and second lama would wear clothes given to them by the emperor and other monks would dress up as the 28 regions with masks. They would form a circle and move their whole bodies around, hoping to dispel evil and welcome auspiciousness and stability.