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嵩山

Pronunciations

Basic Meaning: Songshan

Senses:

  • A mountain located in the north (about five or six kilometers) of Dengfeng 登封 county, Henan 河南 province. It is also called Zhongyue 中嶽, Songgaoshan 嵩高山, Chonggaoshan 崇高山, Chongshan 崇山, Waifangshan 外方山. Along with Mt. Tai 泰山 in the east (in Shandong 山東 province), Mt. Hua 華山 in the west (in Shanxi 陝西 province), the Mt. Heng 衡山 in the south (in Hunan 湖南 province), and Mt. Heng 恆山 in the north (in Shanxi 山西 province ), it is one of the 'five mountains'  五嶽. Mt. Song consists of two main parts which are called Taishishan 太室山 and Shaoshishan 少室山. Mt. Taishi is on the east and Mt. Shaoshi is on the west. In addition， there are more than thirty peaks, such as Mt. Aolai 懊來山, Mt. Wanyang 萬羊山, Mt. Qi 箕山, Mt. Daxiong 大熊山 and Mt. Xiaoxiong 小熊山 and so on. Since ancient times, Daoist priests and monks have valued this mountain as a place to dwell in seclusion. In the Tang 唐 dynasty, The empress Wu Zetian 武則天 called it Shenyue 神嶽. The Shaolinsi 少林寺 is in the northern foothills of Mt. Shaoshi. It is famous as the site for the purported nine years meditation practice of Bodhidharma 達磨 who is the founder of meditation school in China. The Shaolinsi is said to have been built during the Northern Wei 北魏 Dynasty in 496 by master Batuo 跋陀. Bodhidharma is said to have practiced there between the first year of King Liangwu 梁武 in 520, and the second year of Datong 大通 period in 528. His disciple Huike 慧可 is also recorded as having stayed there. This temple was deserted and rebuilt for many times, finally it became a center for the later generations to practice the meditation. The Gaoyuesi 嵩嶽寺 in Taishishan was built in the first year of Zhengguang 正光 period of King Xiaoming 孝明帝 in the Northern Wei Dynasty (368–534) 北魏, at which time it was called Xianjusi 閑居寺. After the abolition of Buddhism in the Northern Zhou Dynasty (557–581) 北周, in the first year of Renshou 仁壽 period of King Suiwen 隋文 in 601, it was renamed as Gaoyuesi 嵩嶽寺 and became the center of Chan 禪 during the Northern Song period 北宗 between the Sui and Tang dynasties. The temple has a dodecagonal shape and fifteen floors, which are rarely seen in the architectural history. It is also the oldest brick tower 磚塔 in China. The Dafawangsi 大法王寺 was also built at the same period of Baimasi 白馬寺, and then Shaolinsi, Huishansi 會善寺, and Yongtaisi 永泰寺 were built one after the other. Also many Daoist temples were built at that time. 〔古今圖書集成山川典, 圖會嵩嶽圖考, 職方典〕 [Charles Muller; source(s): Ui, JEBD, FGD]
  • Korean monk Sung San. See 崇山. [Charles Muller]
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    [Dictionary References]

    Chūgoku bukkyōshi jiten (Kamata) 189

    Bukkyō jiten (Ui) 617, 617

    Bulgyo sajeon 497a

    Zengaku daijiten (Komazawa U.) 636d

    A Glossary of Zen Terms (Inagaki) 17

    Japanese-English Buddhist Dictionary (Daitō shuppansha) 310b/344

    Zen Dust (Sasaki) 237, 243, 249, 398

    Fo Guang Dictionary 5441

    Bukkyō daijiten (Mochizuki) (v.1-6)2879c

    (人)Bukkyō daijiten (Mochizuki) (v.1-6)3874a

    Copyright provisions

    The rights to textual segments (nodes) of the DDB are owned by the author indicated in the brackets next to each segment. For rights regarding the compilation as a whole, please contact Charles Muller. Please do not reproduce without permission. And please do not copy into Wikipedia without proper citation!

    Entry created: 2014-05-02

    Updated: 2020-05-11