Tibetan Buddhism at Mount Wutai Five Terraces

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Tibetan Buddhism at Mount Wutai (Five Terraces
???)
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Shambhala t

• Another sacred space said to be in northern Asia
• Note rings of mountains surrounding a central city

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What makes a place sacred?

• Miracles, the strange, a numinous presence,
  popular stories and history

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• Manjusri
• Bodhisattva of Wisdom
• Sword Symbol of sharp insight

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Hoar frost on the Central Terrace

• Weird weather (_at_ 10,000 ft)

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• Manjusri
• And one of the five temples on
• the Five Terraces

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Strange Lights (since the 7th century)

• Five-colored clouds

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• Buddha-light
• 1991

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• Clouds above the central monastery, 1991

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Famous teachers
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Miraculous Visions

• Bamboo Grove Temple
• One of several built
• in the Tang Dynasty
• (7th-8th centuries)
• based on visions had
• by resident monks

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• Manjusri with flaming halo, mounted on lion
• Frequently seen in visions, as shown on the Rubin
  Museum map of Mount Wutai

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Proximity to Inner Asia (Mongolia/Tibet)
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View from Space

• http//wikimapia.org/lat39.008113lon113.56945
  z6l0mav2
• Search Wikimapia for Wutai shan
• Inner Asian steppe brown, dry terrain to
  northwest
• Chinese agriculture green, wetter terrain to
  southeast

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• Tibetan pilgrims from Amdo traveling by foot

• Chinese pilgrims catching a ride walking

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Flat-topped Peaks (Terraces)
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West Central North (central village)
East

• View from atop South Terrace (covering 125 sq
  miles)

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South West Central North East
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Bodhisattva Peak White Stupa
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• 108 stairs to the
• top of Bodhisattva
• Peak (the main
• temple at Wutai)
• Imperial Residence
• from 17th-20th
• centuries

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• Bodhisattva
• Peak (est. 4th c.)
• (Golden Roof)
• White Stupa
• (built by Nepali
• in 13th century)

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Wall Mural at Potola Palace, Lhasa(Only 4
Terraces with temples) Bodhisattva Peak
White Stupa
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Stupa (pagoda) sign of Buddhas mind
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i

• Disciple of Tsongkapa 2) As depicted on
  Eastern Terrace
• (founder of Dalai Lamas sect)
• 1) As depicted in Tibetan art

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• Multi-ethnic
• Ritual (19th century)
• Chinese
• Buddhist
• Monks
• (in yellow robes)
• Tibeto-
• Mongols
• Monks
• (in red robes)
• Manchus
• Chinese
• Officials
• (in blue, with queues)

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Modern Multi-ethnic Buddhists

• Chinese Tibetan Buddhists (yellow-orange robes)
• Chinese Buddhists
• Tibeto-Mongol (brown, black, grey, blue
  robes)
• Tibetan Buddhists
• (red, burgundy robes)

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• Cham Tibetan- style masked
  dance as part of yearly festival

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• Rich in Art

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For Younger StudentsFun to find details on the
map

• Yeti, Camels, Tigers (chasing people, being
  killed)
• The Great Wall (an inner part of it)
• Prostrating pilgrims
• Qing officials firing off canons
• Dragon Kings on the peaks (little green men)
• Naked bathers (being shot by emperor)
• Holy mother children (hint look for red halo)
• Buddhas footprint on a rock
• Burning books flying birds
• A hand catching someone falling off cliff

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Resources for Teaching (in English)

• from the Tang Dynasty (7th-8th centuries)
• Chinese poetry about the mountain
• Dunhuang paintings of the mountain
• Japanese Monks diary of travel there
• From the Qing Dynasty (17th-20th centuries)
• Tibeto-Mongol poetry about the mountain
• Tibeto-Mongol paintings of the mountain
• American ambassador met 13th Dalai Lama there
• From Modern Chinese states (1911-present)
• British Buddhists experiences there in 1930s
• Modern tourist maps of the mountain
• JIATS articles Tibetan Buddhism at Mount Wutai