Jizu Mountain,Dali

Jizu Mountain or Chicken Foot Mountain is one of the four sacred Buddhist mountains of Chinese Buddhism. It's name comes from the fact that this volcanic mountain is shaped like a chicken's foot with three hills on one side and a single hill at the back. Many of the temples on the mountain were first built during the Tang Dynasty, reaching their heyday during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. However, during the cultural revolution, many were razed to the ground. Now what still remains are the Jiuling Temple, Zunsheng Temple and Huideng Temple and a few other smaller temples. Besides these Buddhist attractions, you can also climb to the top of the mountain in the early morning and watch the sunrise. It is possible to make a round trip to the mountain top within a day, but lodging in the Bingchuan County is inevitable.

Jizu Mountain is located in northwest corner of Binchuan County, on the east of Dali and Eryuan, on the south of Heqing. It extends 7km from east to west, 6km from south to north and covers an area of 2822 hectare. Jizu Mountain got its name “Jizu” (Chicken foot) as its shape is just like a chicken’s foot, with its peak pointing westward and its lower part southeastward. Its highest peak (Golden Top) is 3248m. And there are altogether 40 rare hills, 13 perilous peaks, 34 cliffs, 45 deep and quiet caves, hundreds of springs and ponds and innumerous ranges and valleys in Jizu Mountain. There scatter many ancient buildings of temples here and there in the valleys or in the forests. From the past to the present, it is well-known for its grandness, rareness, quietness and elegance. The Ming geographer Xu Xiake climbed it twice and compiled “Records of Jizu Mountain”. He spoke highly of the famous “4 sights” and “8 landscapes” in the mountain in his poems. He said “4 sights” included all the beautiful scenery of the past and the present and that it was rare if there was one of the “8 landscapes” in the country.

But how do you think about all the “8 landscapes” in this mountain? This article has spread up to the present.

The climate here is mild and humid, which is suitable for varieties of plants and animals. According to the preliminary survey, there are 80 sections of advanced-grade plants, 500 kinds, 100 kinds of medical plants and hundreds of low-grade plants. The rare trees includes evergreen chiquapin, nanmu, Manchurian catalpa, aspen, robur, Cangshan Mountain fir, Yunnan pine tree, Hua Mountain pine tree and different kinds of azaleas and camellias. And the rare flowers are green orchid, black orchid, snow orchid, yellow peony, grass jelly and golden spider lily. The rare herbmed plants are stone ginseng. Among the low-grade plants, the edible ones include agric. According to the survey, among hundreds of kinds of animals, the rare ones are roe, red deer, wild boar, leopard, bear, stone goat, apes and monkeys, large Indian civet, raccoon dog, pangolin, hedgehog, and the rare birds are grouse, parrot, sparrow, golden eagle.

The old name of Jizu Mountain is Qingdian Mountain, Nine-curve Mountain, or Nine-layer Cliff. After the flourishing of Buddhism in Ming Dynasty, it was renamed Jizu Mountain. It was as the sacred place of Buddhism for a long time. According to the regional records, the Buddhism at Jizu Mountain started in Song Dynasty and flourished in Ming Dynasty. And in the Records of Jizu Mountain by Fan Chengshun of Qing Dynasty, in Song Dynasty, there was a monk named Ji Ci who cultivated himself here and believed in Kasya. Since then, Buddhism started here. In Yuan Dynasty, the monks, such as Yuan Kong, Pu Tong, Ben Yuan cultivated themselves. Up to Ming Dynasty, the distinguished monks, such as Yuan Qing, Jing Yue, Zhou Li, Wu Zhu, Hong Ru, Da Cuo, Dan Dang cultivated themselves in Jizu Mountain and pushed Buddhism to its peak. Then there were 8 large temples, 34 small temples, 65 nunneries and more than 170 chambers for cultivation.

Among them, the following are famous ones: Golden-top Temple, Passing-lantern Temple, the Pavilion of Prince, Nine Lotus Temple, the Hall of Kasya, Stone Bell Temple, Ji Guan Temple, Hui Deng Nunnery. Besides them, there are 200 booths, lanes, pagodas, halls, and 18 bridges (according to Da Cuo’s ). During the flouring period of Buddhism from Jiajing to Wanli, there were hundreds of big or small temples and thousands of monks. At the same time, Taoism also began to spread in Jizu Mountain, where many Taoist temples, such as First Gate to Heaven, Second Gate to Heaven, Third Gate to Heaven, Yuhuang Pavilion and Pavilion of Genuine Prowess, were built. After Qing Dynasty, Buddhism here developed further, and the temples, Shurangama Pagoda, were added. And during this period, great monks, Xu Yun, Zi Xing, Hong Shu and Pu Xing stayed here. As a famous mountain of Buddhism, Jizu Mountain is ranked along with Mt. Emei, Mt. Wutai, Mt. Jiuhua and Mt. Putuo.