Tiantai Mountain
| Tiantai Mountain | |
|---|---|
| Elevation | 1,138 m (3,734 ft) |
| Location | |
| Location | Zhejiang Province in China |
| Coordinates | 29°10′44″N 121°02′32″E / 29.178843°N 121.042213°E |
Tiantai Mountain, Mount Tiantai, or Tiantaishan (Chinese: 天台山, p Tiāntāi Shān), formerly romanized as T‘ien-t‘ai, is a mountain in Tiantai County near the city of Taizhou, Zhejiang, in eastern China.[1] Its highest peak, Huading, reaches a height of 1,138 meters (3,734 ft).[1] The mountain was made a national park on 1 August 1988. One of nine remaining wild populations of Seven-Son Flower Heptacodium miconioides is located on Mount Tiantai.[2]
According to one legend, Tiantai Mountain used to be carried by the giant turtle Ao, swimming in the ocean. When the goddess Nuwa had to cut off the turtle's legs in order to use them to support the falling sky, she moved the mountain to the dry land so that it would not sink in the ocean.
The Guoqing Temple on the mountain is the headquarters of the Tiantai sect of Buddhism and also a tourist destination. Tiantai Buddhism, named after the mountain, focuses on the Lotus Sutra. The most prominent teacher of that school, Zhiyi, was based at the Guoqing Temple. Over many years it has been an important destination for pilgrims, especially from Japan. The mountain was visited by Saichō in 805 who went on to found the related school of Japanese Buddhism, Tendai.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Tiantai Mountain Scenic Area". Retrieved March 8, 2011.
- ↑ Lu, H. P.; Cai, Y. W.; Chen, X. Y.; Zhang, X.; Gu, Y. J.; Zhang, G. F. (2006). "High RAPD but no cpDNA sequence variation in the endemic and endangered plant, Heptacodium miconioides Rehd. (Caprifoliaceae)". Genetica 128 (1–3): 409–417. doi:10.1007/s10709-006-7542-x. PMID 17028968.
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