中国山西五台山显通寺 Xiantong Temple in Wutai Mountain, Shanxi, China

WS 45 - 中国山西五台山显通寺 Xiantong Temple in Wutai Mountain, Shanxi, China

五台山并非一座山，而是山西省东北忻州市的一系列山峰群。五座主峰环抱整片区域，佛教寺庙林立，是中国四大佛教名山之首，为文殊菩萨的道场。

五台山现有寺院几十处,列为全国重点寺院的有11处。我们2013年去过五台山，今天要介绍的是的显通寺，是五台山庙群中规模最大、历史最久的皇家寺院。

显通寺建于东汉，是中国历史上第二座寺院，建成仅晚于洛阳白马寺。本名“大孚灵鹫寺”，清朝时才改名为显通寺。现存建筑有几百间，大多为明、清时期的建筑。

寺院香客丛多，求神祈福，香火不绝。主要建筑包括白色的无量殿(第三，四张照片), 全砖结构，供奉的是释迦摩尼佛祖。大文殊殿是全木结构，里面供奉的是七尊文殊菩萨像。其中一尊是千手文殊菩萨，十分稀有。另一间著名的殿宇是铜殿(第七张照片)，建于明代，1610年。是一座镀金铜铸的仿木建筑物，格扇内壁铸有佛像，格扇外壁铸有各种图案和花卉鸟兽。

机缘巧合，游览寺庙时遇见了丛僧祈福法会，多一见识。

Wutai Mountain in northeast Shanxi Province is a small mountain range with 5 main peaks each with many Buddhist temples at the peak. There is also a big complex of temples in the centre of the valley. It ranks first among the four famous sacred Buddhist mountains in China and it is the domain of bodhisattva Manjushri. We visited Wutai Mountain in 2013.

There are many temple groups in Wutai Mountain. The specific one covered here is the Xiantong Temple group, which is the largest and oldest in the Wutai Mountain temple complex. It was built in the Eastern Han Dynasty, about 1950 years ago, and is the second oldest temple in China. There are hundreds of buildings making up the group, most of which are from the Ming and Qing periods.

The main buildings include the white Wuliangdian (3rd and 4th photo), a full-brick structure, dedicated to Buddha Shakyamuni. The Great Manjushri Hall is an all-wood structure, and inside are 7 enshrined statues of Manjushri. One of them is the thousand-handed Manjushri, which is a very rare form of representation. 

Another famous structure is the Bronze Hall (7th photo), built in 1610 during the Ming Dynasty. It is a gilded wooden structure with elaborate carving.