JiuhuaMountain,locatedinQingyangCounty,SouthAnhuiProvince,isoneofthefourfamousBuddhistmountainsinChina.LiuYuxi,awriteroftheTangDynasty,praisedJiuhuaMountainafterclimbingit.HethoughtthatthefamousmountainsintheworldcouldnotcompetewithJiuhuaMountain.LiBaiwenttoMountJiuhuathreetimes.JiuhuaMountainischaracterizedbybeautifulmountainsandnumerousBuddhisttemples.
AsearlyastheEasternJinDynasty(401),templesbegantobebuiltonthemountain.Sincethen,theyhavebeenaddedandexpandedtoform"onesmalltempleinthreeliandonebigtempleinfiveli".Thetemplesspreadalloverthemountain.Itissaidthatthereweremorethan300templeswith4500monksintheirheyday.Atthemoment,therearestill50or60templesincompletepreservation.
WhenyouvisitJiuhuaMountain,youfirstgotoJiuhuastreet,whichismorethan600metersabovesealevel.ItisthecenterofJiuhuaMountain,andtemplesaremainlyconcentratedthere,soitiscalled"LotusBuddhakingdom".Itisactuallyavillageonthemountain.Besidestemples,thereareshops,schools,hotelsandfarmhouses.Visitorscanstaythereandtakeitasastartingpointtovisitthescenicspotsonthemountain.
HuachengtempleonJiuhuastreetistheoldestancienttempleofJinDynastyinJiuhuaMountain.ItisalsothemaintempleofJiuhuaMountain.Thearchitectureofthetempleisarrangedaccordingtothemountainsituation,reflectingthesuperbartofarchitecturaldesign.Inthetemple,thereisanancientclockwhichismorethantenfeethighandweighsabout2000Jin.Itisexquisitelycastandhasaloudvoice.Itisstruckwithamallet.Thesolemnandclearsoundofthebellreverberatesinthevalley,whichoftenmakespeoplefeelextraordinarilyrefined."Huachengeveningclock"hasbecomeoneofthe"Jiuhuatensceneries".
NotfarfromtheeastofJiuhuastreet,thereisahallbuiltonthecliff,whichisthefamous"centenaryPalace".Ontheplaque,therearetengoldcharacters:"imperialgranttothecentenarypalace,protectthecountryWannianTemple".ItissaidthatintheWanliperiodoftheMingDynasty,therewasamonknamedWuxu.Attheageof26,hecametoJiuhuaMountainandspent100yearsinararecave.Threeyearsafterhisdeath,hisbodywasfoundinthecave.Themonkonthemountainthoughtthathewasreincarnated,soheofferedhisbodyingold.EmperorChongzhenoftheMingDynastygrantedhimthetitleof"YingshenBodhisattva".Asaresult,thesmalltemplededicatedtohimflourished,andthetempleexpandedtobecomeoneofthefourjunglesinJiuhuaMountain.Visitorscanseethegoldenbodyofaflawlessmonkinamonk'shat,redcassockandlotusplatforminthebodyHallofthetemple.