CHAPTER XVII 

 SACRED OMEI SHAN 



Its Temples and its Flora 



THE lofty and sacred eminence known as Mount Omei, 

 or Omei shan, is situated about long. 103° 41' E., lat. 

 29°32' N., one day's journey from the city of Kiating. A 

 gigantic upthrust of hard limestone, it rises sheer from the plain 

 (alt. 1300 feet) to a height of nearly 11,000 above sea-level. 

 From the city of Kiating a fine view of this remarkable moun- 

 tain is obtainable during clear weather, the mirage of the 

 plain seemingly lending it additional height. Viewed from 

 a distance it has been aptly likened to a couchant lion de- 

 capitated close to the shoulders, the fore-feet remaining in 

 position. The down-cleft surface forms a fearful, well-nigh 

 vertical precipice, considerably over a mile in height ! It is 

 one of the five ultra-sacred mountains of China, but the origin 

 of its holy character is lost in antiquity. We are told that 

 in a monastery here the patriarch P'u (an historical personage) 

 served Buddha during the Western Ts'in Dynasty (a.d, 265- 

 317). P'u-hsien Pu'ssa (Samantabhadra Bodhisattva), Mount 

 Omei's patron saint, descended upon the mountain from the 

 back of a gigantic elephant possessed of six tusks. In one 

 of the temples (Wan-nien-ssu) there is a life-sized elephant 

 cast in bronze of splendid workmanship which commemorates 

 this manifestation. Upwards of seventy Buddhist temples 

 or monasteries (either word is applicable, since the buildings 

 are really a combination of both) are to be found on this 

 mountain. On the main road to the summit there is a temple 

 every 5 li, and they become even more numerous as the ascent 

 finally nears the end. These temples are controlled by abbots 

 and contain upwards of 2000 priests and acolytes. The 



