Mount Putuo
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Mount Putuo (Simplified Chinese: 普陀山; pinyin: Pǔtúo Shān) is an island located to the south-east of Shanghai, in Zhoushan prefecture of Zhejiang province, China. It is famous in Chinese Buddhism, and is considered the bodhimanda of Avalokitesvara (Guan Yin), a revered Bodhisattva in many parts of East Asia. Mount Putuo is one of the four sacred mountains in Buddhism, the others being Mount Wutai, Mount Jiuhua, and Mount Emei (Bodhimandas for Manjushri, Ksitigarbha, and Samantabhadra, respectively).
Today it is a noted tourist destination. As of January, 2004, tourists were charged 110 RMB for an entry ticket upon disembarkation at the island's port. A number of hotels and settlements are dotted around the island.
The name Putuo derives from "Potalaka" the mountain residence of Guanyin in the Avatamsaka Sutra, as does the Potala Palace, the former residence of the Dalai Lamas.
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[edit] History
Around 1612, the 20-year-old future Chan-master Yinyuan Longqi arrived at Mount Putuo while looking for his father, who had disappeared fifteen years earlier. He served tea to the monks.
[edit] Features
- 20m tall statue of the Guan Yin at Zizhulin (紫竹林)
[edit] Temples
- Puji Temple
- Putuo is covered with many temples and monasteries, both large and small. All are under the directive of the Chinese Buddhist Association. Many monks and nuns from all over the country, and abroad, go to great lengths to live and practice there.
- In addition to these monasteries, is a large Institute of Buddhism, on of the largest Buddhist academic institutes in China.
- The modern scholar monk Taixu, spent several years in solitary retreat at a small hermitage in Putuo.
