Mount Emei (; ), alternately Mount Omei, is a mountain in Sichuan Province, China, and is the highest of the Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains of China. Mount Emei sits at the western rim of the Sichuan Basin. The mountains west of it are known as

Daxiangling Daxiangling (), or Daxiang Range is a fairly small mountain range in China's Sichuan Province. It runs in the general western and northwestern direction from the famous sacred Mount Emei, and is part of the western mountainous rim of the Sichuan Bas ...

. A large surrounding area of countryside is geologically known as the Permian Emeishan Large Igneous Province, a large igneous province generated by the

Emeishan Traps The Emeishan Traps constitute a flood basalt volcanic province, or large igneous province, in south-western China, centred in Sichuan province. It is sometimes referred to as the Permian Emeishan Large Igneous Province or Emeishan Flood Basalts. Li ...

volcanic eruptions during the Permian Period. Administratively, Mount Emei is located near the county-level city of the same name ( Emeishan City), which is in turn part of the prefecture-level city of Leshan. It was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.

As a sacred mountain

Mount Emei is one of the Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains of China, and is traditionally regarded as the bodhimaṇḍa, or place of enlightenment, of the Bodhisattva

Samantabhadra Samantabhadra (Lit. "All Good", or "Always Auspicious") may refer to: * Samantabhadra (Bodhisattva), a bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism associated with practice and meditation * ''Samantabhadra'' (Tibetan: ''Kuntu Zangpo''), the name of a Buddha, ...

. Samantabhadra is known in

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

as Pǔxián Púsà (). Sources of the 16th and 17th centuries allude to the practice of

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

in the monasteries of Mount Emei, which made the earliest extant reference to the Shaolin Monastery as Chinese boxing's place of origin..

Buddhist architecture on Emei

This is the location of the first

Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism represen ...

built in China in the 1st century CE. The site has seventy-six Buddhist monasteries of the Ming and

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...

dynasties, most of them located near the mountain top. The monasteries demonstrate a flexible architectural style that adapts to the landscape. Some, such as the halls of Baoguosi, are built on terraces of varying levels, while others, including the structures of Leiyinsi, are on raised stilts. Here the fixed plans of Buddhist monasteries of earlier periods were modified or ignored in order to make full use of the natural scenery. The buildings of Qingyinge are laid out in an irregular plot on the narrow piece of land between the Black Dragon River and the White Dragon River. The site is large and the winding footpath is long, taking several days to walk.

Cable car Cable car most commonly refers to the following cable transportation systems: * Aerial lift, such as aerial tramways and gondola lifts, in which the vehicle is suspended in the air from a cable ** Aerial tramway ** Chairlift ** Gondola lift *** Bi ...

s ease the ascent to the two temples at Jinding (3,077 m), an hour's hike from the mountain's peak.Hayes, Holly (2009
Emei Shan
Sacred Destinations. Updated 24 July 2009.Gluckman, Ron (2002)

''Silk Road'', December 2002. Hong Kong; Dragon Airlines.

Climate

The summit of Mount Emei has an alpine

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...

( Köppen ''Dwc''), with long, cold (but not severely so) winters, and short, cool summers. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from in January to in July, and the annual mean is . Precipitation is common year-round (occurring on more than 250 days), but due to the influence of the monsoon, rainfall is especially heavy in summer, and more than 70% of the annual total occurs from June to September.

Indigenous animals

Visitors to Mount Emei will likely see dozens of

Tibetan macaque The Tibetan macaque (''Macaca thibetana''), also known as the Chinese stump-tailed macaque or Milne-Edwards' macaque, is a macaque species found from eastern Tibet east to Guangdong and north to Shaanxi in China. It has also been reported from n ...

s, which can often be viewed taking food from tourists. Local merchants sell nuts for tourists to feed the monkeys. Other featured animals includes ''

Rana adenopleura ''Nidirana adenopleura'' is a species of frog in the family Ranidae. It is found in Taiwan, south-eastern China, and in the Yaeyama Islands (Ryukyu Islands, Japan). Populations from Yaeyama Islands might represent a distinct, as yet undescribed ...

'', ''

Vibrissaphora liui ''Leptobrachium liui'', the Chong'an moustache toad or Pope's spiny toad, is a species of frog in the family Megophryidae. It is endemic to southern and southeastern China. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, ...

'' and ''

Pheretima praepinguis ''Pheretima praepinguis'' is a huge earthworm about half meter long of genus Pheretima. ''Pheretima praepinguis'' lives in Emei mountain, Sichuan Province, China, and is one of the most featured organisms living in the place. It's trivially calle ...

''.

Flora

Mount Emei is known for its high level of endemism and approximately 200 plant species in various plant families have been described from this mountain. A rare species of Fir tree is endemic to this mountain it is Abies Fabri.

Gallery

File:峨眉山风景区 Mount Emei Scenic Area 06.jpg, Wanfoding File:Mount Emei pic 3.jpg, A temple at the Golden Summit File:Massive golden buddha on the sumit of Eimei Shan.jpg, Massive statue of

at the summit of Mount Emei File:Baoguosi.jpg, Baoguo Temple, a Buddhist temple File:报国寺弥勒殿.JPG, Buddhist temple at Mount Emei File:CrystalStreamOverpass2.jpg, Wooden bridgewalk over the Crystal Stream, western slopes File:MacaqueEmeishan.jpg,

Macaque The macaques () constitute a genus (''Macaca'') of gregarious Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. The 23 species of macaques inhabit ranges throughout Asia, North Africa, and (in one instance) Gibraltar. Macaques are principally ...

indigenous to the region File:Sunrise at Eimei Shan.jpg, Sunrise over Mount Emei File:Sunrise over clouded sea on sumit of Eimei Shan.jpg, Sunrise over a sea of clouds at Mount Emei File:Guangfu pavilion at Mount Emei.JPG, Guangfu pavilion, with summit visible in background File:Elephant statues in the fog on the steps of the temple atop Mount Emei.jpg, Elephant statues on the steps leading to the statue of Samantabhadra File:Mount emei tour.jpg, alt=mount emei travel guide, Monkeys of Mount Emei File:在峨秀湖远望峨眉山 Mount Emei 1.jpg, Mount Emei and Exiu Lake File:在峨秀湖远望峨眉山 Mount Emei 2.jpg, Mount Emei and Exiu Lake

References

External links

Religion and the environment in China, 中国的宗教与环境 - chinadialogue article

Mount Emei, including Leshan Giant Buddha, Scenic Area: official Unesco site
{{authority control Chinese Buddhist grottoes

Emei Mount Emei (; ), alternately Mount Omei, is a mountain in Sichuan Province, China, and is the highest of the Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains of China. Mount Emei sits at the western rim of the Sichuan Basin. The mountains west of it are know ...

National parks of China World Heritage Sites in China Chinese architectural history

Tourist attractions in Leshan Buddhism in Sichuan Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Sichuan Buddhist sites in China