Where is the largest Maitreya Buddha statue in China? What are the local characteristics?

When it comes to the "Four Famous Mountains of Chinese Buddhism", I believe it is familiar to most people, namely Mount Wutai in Shanxi, Mount Jiuhua in Anhui, Mount Emei in Sichuan and Mount Putuo in Zhejiang, which respectively correspond to Manjushri Bodhisattva and Ksitigarbha. The dojos of Bodhisattva, Samantabhadra and Guanyin Bodhisattva are now national AAAAA tourist attractions and are loved and welcomed by countless tourists and believers.

Speaking of the "Five Famous Mountains of Chinese Buddhism", many people may have heard for the first time that temples and monasteries began to be built on these five famous mountains as early as the Han Dynasty. One of these five famous mountains still exists today. The dispute is that Xuedou Mountain in Zhejiang and Fanjing Mountain in Guizhou, which are dedicated to Maitreya Buddha's monastery, are mentioned in their respective scenic spot introductions as one of the five famous mountains of Chinese Buddhism, which makes people very confused.

Compared with Fanjing Mountain, Xuedou Mountain is much less well-known, and many people even don’t know where it is.

Xuedou Mountain is located in the northwest of Xikou Town, Fenghua District, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province. It is the highest peak in the branch of Siming Mountain. It is known as "the first mountain in Siming", "Penglai on the sea, and rooftop on land". ? has a good reputation and is a national 5A-level tourist attraction like the four famous Buddhist mountains. The mountains have many scenic spots, numerous temples, beautiful scenery and profound cultural heritage.

Xuedou Mountain has been a famous Buddhist mountain since ancient times, which is inseparable from the Xuedou Temple in the mountain. Xuedou Temple is a famous temple built in the Jin Dynasty and has a history of more than 1,700 years. Xuedou Temple flourished in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty. During the Southern Song Dynasty, it was named one of the "Five Mountains and Ten Temples". Compared with Fanjing Mountain, few people would immediately think of the most famous temple in Fanjing Mountain.

During the Ming Dynasty, Xuedou Temple was known as the "Ten Temples and Five Temples of Zen Buddhism in the World", similar to the five famous Buddhist mountains today. During the Republic of China, Xuedou Temple ranked among It became one of the "Five Famous Buddhist Mountains in China". Later, the words "One of the Five Famous Buddhist Mountains in China" can also be seen in the promotional video of Xuedou Mountain and Xuedou Temple played by CCTV.

Although Xuedou Mountain is one of the five famous mountains in Buddhism, it has always been low-key. Not many people even know about the world’s largest and tallest Maitreya Buddha statue in the mountain. Maybe Because there is no publicity in the local area, and for other reasons, everyone has always been confused about its status.

The buildings we saw earlier were actually built in the later period. Nearby these buildings are still preserved the ancient temple buildings. At the entrance, you can see the four characters "modern ancient temple", which means snow. Dou Temple.

The Xuedou Temple was not here at first, but was located at the mouth of Qianzhangyan Waterfall not far away. It was called "Waterfall Temple" at that time.

In the first year of Huichang in the Tang Dynasty, the waterfall courtyard was moved to its current location and expanded in the first year of Jingfu. The expanded Xuedou Temple was very large in scale. By the Southern Song Dynasty, it was as large as Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou. It is as famous as Tiantai Guoqing Temple and Ningbo Tiantong Temple.

The buildings in the temple are built along the central axis and along the mountain. They include the mountain gate, the screen wall, the release pool, the Tianwang Hall, the Maitreya Hall, the Main Hall, the Dharma Hall and other buildings.

Because Xuedou Temple is the dojo of Maitreya Buddha, it is different from the buildings in many temples. The Maitreya Hall in the temple is unique to Buddhism. The entire hall is a double-eaves resting on the top of the mountain, and the roof is covered with yellow glazed tiles. Only the tiles are different. Generally speaking, only royal temples use yellow glazed tiles, which shows the high status of Xuedou Temple.

However, if you trace its history, you may find that using yellow glazed tiles is not an exaggeration at all. Xuedou Temple in the Tang and Song Dynasties has received more than 40 edicts from several generations of emperors, and it remains in the temple to this day. It preserves precious cultural relics such as the imperial dragon collection, jade seal, dragon robe, jade Buddha, and dragon bowl. Unfortunately, it was not open when we went there and could not appreciate it. We must appreciate it next time we come to Xuedou Temple.