Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1904-11-15
BUDDHA'S LOFTY SHRINES.
SOME ARE BUILT ON THE PEAKS
OF SNOW-cLAD MOUNTAINS.
Yearly Visited by More Than Eighty
Thousand Persons in Spite of the
inaccessible Sites-Phenomena of
These Spots.

inaccessible Sites-Phenomena of
These Spots.
Much has been written, and every
body has heard about the famous
shrines of Europe, such as Our Lady
of Lourdes, which thousands of pill
grims visit. every year. but little is
known of those in the Far East. Most
people hardly consider as shrines at
all the Temples of Buddha, to which
| the deyout Chinese journey to wor-
ship. Nevertheless. although the fact
may seem rather hard to credit, such
places as Mount Omei have almost as
many visitors as some of the holy
spots of the Christian world.
Mount Omei is situated in the Prov
ince of Sze-Chuen. In the hill region
almost every prominent crest is cap
| ped with a temple but as Omei is
| one of the highest peaks in Eastern
Asia, it was deemed worthy of greater
honor than the lesser hills, and was
made one of the three sacred noun
| tains of China. This, together with
the fact that the journey up to the
Golden Summit" as it is called, is
extremely difficult, adds to the virtue
of the shrine, and every year it is Wis
tied by eighty thousand or more
weary men and women.
There is no access by either rail
or vehicle of any sort, and some idea
of the little excitements of a pilgrim
age on foot may be gathered from
the descriptions given by Mr.. j. l..
Stewart, Canadian missionary:
For the first part of the journey, F"
he writes, eve waded, followed some
narrow path, leaped from rock to
boulder, crept cautiously along sin
gle plank perched upon poles span
ming the canyon, chung to the sides OF
the cut, assembled, descended, wound
in and out, up and down, but always
came out on higher altitude. Be
fore right VIC had followed the
stream TO enc CT those typical
sources of the great Yang-tse, as we
saw it spring from cave in the cliff
and fall in feathery spray to the gorge
below. Here we crossed q character
istic mountain bridge, constructed
simply by two we'll hewn pieces of
stone spanning the stream, and at one
side stood the storm-beaten tablet
concentrating those who built it,
Then follows the scaling of the
main peak of the mountain, which
is called "the ninety-nine corners"
The ascent is very steep, and the
summit is approached by many long
series of steps, hewn from the solid
rock. After hours of hard work the
weary climber reaches his goal.
The temple is built by the usual
Chinese way. II is ''T' shaped, with
an open court in the centre. and
buildings on three sides. There are
the usual idols-the laughing Buddha,
the three sisters, or other equally mid
eous figures. Then there must be
some relics to show to the pilgrim,
such as a tooth of Buddha, generally
a huge molar, which doubtless gives
great spiritual edification to the be-
holder.
But the temple at the Golden Sum-
NIT" has an attraction which no rival
can boast. 1t is what the priests call
"Buddha's Glory" This beautiful phe-
nomenon can be seen only at midday,
and is simply a complete circular
rainbow, caused by the sun shining
upon the rising mists far III the val
lev below. In the centre can be seen
reflected a human head, which proves
| on careful observation to be that of
the spectator. He is standing in a
| direct line with the sun, which throws
the shadow of his head, hugely magni-
fed on the surging clouds below.
Then slowly the giant halo rolls away,
| and far below stretches the valley,
with its villages and cities, its woods
and streams, while in the distant ho-
rizon cluster the glistening ranges
of snow-capped Thibetan peaks.
Such is the spot to visit which thou
sands of faithful Buddhists come pant
ing up the toilsome slopes very
year. Families, individuals, young
men in their prime, old men in their
dotage, women, tottering along on
their little feet, so the never-ending
stream flows on. Most of them, OF
course, come from the surrounding
provinces. but there are many from
distant towns, and during the winter
months large bands of strange, wild
Thibetan characters may be seen. The
dangers and difficulties of the way
do not daunt them, but, calling on
Buddha for aid, they drag themselves
up the ascent to the Golden Sum-
4 nit"
If the pilgrims are lovers OF the
beautiful, the view is enough to re-
ward them for their labor. But they
have come all this way laden with
the accessories of worship, so they
hasten to the temple, with its gro
tesuue figures, its clouds of incense
and the priest who sleepily bangs a
gong to keep the god from being
lulled to sleep by the monotony of the
ceremony. After going through their
strange forms of worship, they make
room for others. The pilgrims wait
a few days before departing, to see
what they probably regard as the
good omen of "Buddha's Glory" and
then they begin the long descent
So. year after year, they come and
go-merchants, soldiers, students,
coolies. and, it is said, even the En-
peror-all seeking common goal, the
Temple of Mount Omei, which may
Justly claim place among t'Le great
shrines of the world.-Torollto Mail
and Empire.
/
Called the Weeping Tree.