Emei Facts

Map of Emei from 1938

Unesco World Heritage site since 1996.

9.519722° N, 103.3325° E

Highest summit: Wanfo Ding (10,000 Buddha Summit) 3099 m.

Middle summit: Qianfo Ding (1,000 Buddha Summit) 3085 m?

Tourist/traditional summit: Jinding (Golden Summit) 3077 m.

Some sources claim Jinding and Qianfoding to be the same summit, others that there are three separate summits. In actuality there seems to be two main summits with a small outcropping between them. But is this Qianfoding or something unnamed? Please enlighten me anyone who knows!

Emei Moutain is one of the Four Buddhist Holy Mountains of China (The other three being Wutaishan, Putuoshan and Jiuhua Shan).

The patron saint or house boddhisattva of Emei is Samantabhadra (Puxian 普贤菩萨 in Chinese). Puxian is the Boddhisattva of Action and the Protector of the Lotus Sutra.

The meaning of the name Emei 峨嵋山 is subject to much speculation. Emei is said to mean "high" or "lofty" but has traditionally been translated as "silkworm-moth eyebrows". According to James M. Hargett in his excellent definitive book on Emei Mountain "Stairway to Heaven" , State University of New York Press, SUNY, the earliest reference to this name is Li Daoyuan (d. 527) "Although Mount Emei is 1,000 li south of Chengdu, on clear, autumn days if you gaze at the mountain from afar, its two peaks seem to face one another like moth eyebrows." Hargett: In other words, the mountain's twin peaks resemble the arched, antennae of a silkworm moth (e 蛾) and so the name was adopted as the name for the mountain.

Emei Mountain Conquered!

Naughty macaque that stole a milk package from Chinese tourists.

Macaques patrolling their turf between Leidong Ping and Jieyin Tai.

Following the abandoned monorail. Not for the faint hearted at 6 meter drops.

Paddy, Minna, Jari and one of our faithful construction workers engulfed in the bush.

Golden Summit with statue of Puxian (Samantabhadra) on his elephant.

Golden Summit from Wanfo Ding

Wando Ding summit (3099 m) with swirling clouds

Flat summit of Dawashan from Golden Summit

Clouds over the plains of Sichuan from Golden Summit

View from Wanfo Ding (10,000 Buddha Peak) past Qianfo Ding (1,000 Buddha Peak) over to Jinding (The Golden Summit). All images above ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

After 25 years and several trips to this mountain I finally "conquered" the highest peak of Emei: 3099 m Wanfo Ding! :-) A small triumph but great fun nonetheless, as the weather is usually so very fickle on the top. My last three trips were socked in with fog and even snow and ice! When we got to the top and found a couple of construction workers who knew the way we couldn't resist bushwhacking over to the far highest peak of Emei, something I have been wanting to do for years. Paddy and I and two Finnish friends Minna and Jari headed off along the path beside the abandoned Monorail. 22 meters of elevation (the difference between the Golden Summit and Wanfo Ding) made a difference and the view back onto Jinding was breathtaking. So now I have been on both "moth eyebrows"! What a day!

Yunfeng Temple, Western Sichuan

All photos ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

Yunfeng Si (Cloud Peak Monastery) is a Zen monastery tucked into the mountains of SW Sichuan. The monastery is rebuilt but the temple gardens have trees that are 1,200 years old, monks that are almost as ancient, bamboo groves, medicinal kitchen gardens and supreme tranquility. We visited at the end of June when the weather was lovely and the light absolutely magical. 

Human inch worms and the arduous task of long-distance prostration

Potala Palace khora, Tibet ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

You'll see these people anywhere in the Tibetan buddhist world. When you understand what they are doing you will most likely be both immensely impressed and deeply chocked. They are long-distance prostrators and they will probably have been doing this for hundreds if not thousands of kilometers. They are on pilgrimage and show their devotion in this physically demanding way. Like human inch worms they measure their body length meter by meter slowing advancing towards their destination. They are often accompanied by a friend or other devotee that drags their provisions in a cart. Every millimeter of the road is experienced either with hands up in the air in a prayer or with their nose and forehead pressed to the ground. Every day is a superhuman effort. The Holy City of Lhasa is a common goal and it can take years to get there. Extreme devotees prostrate sideways instead, measuring the width of their body and not the length. When you see pilgrims in Lhasa after finally making it to the destination of their dreams and faith many are illuminated with joy and radiate perfection in their smiles. The inch wormers are often another case entirely. Still fanatically intent on their purpose, their foreheads and arms are dirty and calloused with uncountable prostrations. They wear special aprons and knee guards to project their clothes and on their hands handmade clogs or more recently plastic bathroom slippers to protect their hands. Many seem not to have found inner peace at all but rather have lost their wits completely.

As A. Tom Grunfeld says in The Making of Modern Tibet: "Another curious manifestation of the evolution of Tibetan Buddhism was the belief in the merit of quantity over quality in religious practices. "