Today,it is difficult to trace the origins of the history of Buddhism,and the lack of historical evidence about Mt.Emei is not unique. Dating back
to Jin Dynasty and further, the whole Buddhist history is short on authentic written records,at last in Sichuan. However,before Buddhism entered China, Daoism was well established in Sichuan and first sprang up on Mt.Emei towards the end of Eastern Han Dynasty. There is a fork story,which is still popular on Mt.Emei. It recounts that during the which is still popular on Mt.Emei. It recounts that during the Western Jin Dynasty,Qian Ming (乾明），a Daoist priest built Qianming Temple at the base of Zhongfeng Peak(中峰). The temple accommodated more than a hundred Daoist monks. Later, because of a dispute caused by personlity clashes,monks were going to split into different circles. As the story goes,an emient Buddhist monk exposed the witchcraft of a priest who was attempting to deceive people. Ming Guo(明果),an
eminent Buddhist monk,came to the temple and held a discourse with the Daoist priests about Buddhism. For his noble_minded moral conduct,MingGuo was honored by most of the Daoist priests who expressed Ming Guo to take charge of the temple.Ming Guo turned the Daoist temple into Zhongfeng Monastery. 
What is more extraordinary is that many Daoist temples turned into Zhongfeng Monastery. What is more extraodinary is that many Daoist temples turned into Buddhist monastery is that many Daoist temples turned into Buddhist monasteries on Mt.Emei with their original names unchanged.It seems that this collective conversion happened only on Mt.Emei .By reading some names of temples on Mt.Emei,you can gain some insight into the historical origins of these temples with Daoism.Such temples include Chunyang Hall(纯阳殿), Xianfeng Temple,Yuxian Temple(遇仙殿 Meeting Immortal Temple), Leishen Temple(雷神祠 Thunder_Deity Temple) and others.
Hui Chi (惠特)came to Sichan in 399 based on the information from a book by the name of The Biiography of Eminent Monks(高僧传) written by Hui Jiao(蕙皎) of the Liang state during the Southern Dynasties(420_589). Admired by Mao Qu(毛璩),Yizhou Prefectural Governor, he stayed in Longyuan Monastery(龙渊) in Chengdu to preach Buddhism. Before long,he went to Mt.Emei where he built Puxian Monastery.It is said taht this was the first monastery on the mountain,according to the recorded historical documents. The current Wannian Monastery
grew out of the earliest temple.
During Northern Dynasty and Southern Dynasty(420_589),Buddhism flourished and monasteries sprang up all across the country.This was mainly because the rulers of the dynasties during this period were practicing Buddhists. Between 502 and 549, some eminent monks came to China from the Western Regions to preach and spread their Buddhism. They also traveled around the interior of the country. At this time there was a legendary monk whose name was Bao Zhang(宝掌). It is said that Bao Zhang lived to be 1,072 years old ,and died in 657.Because of his longevity he was given another name ,“Thousand _Year_Old Monk.”Bao Zhang came to Sichuan during the period of the Liang state(502_557).He first resided in the Daci Monastery (大慈寺) in Chengdu and then went up to Mt.Emei,where he built a hut as his residence.
According to The Annals of Emei County(峨眉县志) written during the Qing Dynasty ,Bao Zhang built Lingyuan Monstery(灵岩寺). The monastery lasted through the Tang,Song ,Yuan ,Ming dynasties,and it finally become the largest monastery in Western Sichuan.It was said that the monastery consisted of 48 halls, extending ten li amid dark pine trees. There was a popular saying that the monastery was so extensive that the monks who did not work in the same hall in Lingyuan Monastery might not get to know each other,and that visitors
had to ride horses to travel from one hall to another for purpose of burning incense .Later,Bao Zhang traveled beyond Lingyuan Monastery until he arrived at Baoyan Monastery (宝岩寺) in Zhejiang. 
During his stay here,Bao Zhang was on good terms with Lang Chan(朗禅), the mnastery abbot. While residling in the same monastery they corresponded daily by letter.Whenever their letters were ready ,a white dog in the monastery was responsible to wash bowls whenever the two monks; a blue monkey was responsible to wash bowls whenever the two monks had their vegetarian food together.There is a couplet by the name of The Two_Hunderd_Long Couplet, which hangs in Hongchun Monastery on Mt.Emei. The literary quotation from the couplet says,“The white dog fetches letters ; the blue monkey washes bowls(白犬衔书,青猿洗钵。).”
According to Chanzhenyishi(禅真逸事 Anecdotes of Eminent Monks) written in the Ming Dynasty,Dan Ran (淡然), an eminent eminent monk,came to Mt.Emei between 534 and 549 A.D. . He built a hut to practice his Buddhism in Zhongfeng Ridge area.
Later, he was appointed abbot of Zhongfeng Monastery .Due to his noble _minded moral conduct ,many sinful pesons who had been reincarnated as pigs ,dogs ,tigers ,and other animals,came to Dan Ran and bagged him to release their souls from [purgatory which he did .The main hall in Zhongfeng Monastery still stores a wooden screen with a colorful painting on it ,displaying a marital_looking monk who holds a sword in his hand and glares at a tiger,a pig and a dog .These animals hide themselves behind the eminent monk. The painting was produced based on the above story.
During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the unified and centralized power of the state was established and then strengthened.The imperial goverments supported religions in an attempt to stabilize society and meet the damand for spiritual life .
Therefore, Daoism and Buddhism competed with each other for patrionage and favor from goverment .Meanwhile ,in order to their followers, the two schools learned from each other's strength ,and with each other's strength ,and with each passing day co_existed more harmoniously .During this period,quite a number of folk stories, reflecting the peaceful co_existence between Buddhism and
Daoism,were alreadly circulating around Mt.Emei.
According to the Annals of Mt.Emei of the Qing Dynasty, during the Kaihuang period of the Sui Dynasty (隋文帝开皇年间581_604) ,Master Zhi Kai (智凯),the founder of the Buddhist Tiantai_Sect arrived at Mt.Emei and resided in Zhongfeng Monastery .At the same time Sun Simiao (孙思邈)lived in a stone cavern in Niuxin Monastry, and every day he collected medicinal herbs or made bills of immortality.Daoism respectfully honored Sun Simiao as the Chinese Medicial Herb King. Sun Simiao and Zhi Kai lived at the foot of the different peaks ,and every fouth day two persons would like up their respective mountains ,stand on the top and greet each other from a distance .
People in the following generations named the two hill the Echoing Peaks. There was a huge stone in the forest in the front of Zhongfeng Monastery.
Under the stone was an ever_flowing spring .Those who drank the spring water were cured of their ailments.Therefore monks consider the water from the spring to be supernatural . One day ,after Master ZhiKai had returned to Yuquan Monastery(玉泉寺) in Jiangling ,he felt a little ill.He walked out of the monastery and saw a spring of water gushing out.Immediately Zhi Kai thought of the supernatural water on Mt.Emei.It was at this moment that the dragon's daughter,who was in the form of a village girl,suddenly appeared before Zhi Kai and expressed the wish to go and fetch the supernatural water for him.They aggred to meet again in front of Yuquan Cavern the next morning .The next day as
scheduled, Zhi Kai arrived at the Cavern.There he saw his Buddhist Chan_cane and alms bowl in the cavern steram. The bowl was full of pure spring water ,which tasted different from the water of Yuquan stream flowing in the cavern. It is indeed the Emei supernatural spring water, the monk thought. Sincethen people say that Yuquan stream is connected to the supernatural spring water on Mt.Emei . In 1626,a monk on Mt.Emei engraged an inscription on a stone by the stream,saying ,“The Supernatural Water Flows to Chu Region(神水通楚)”.
(Chu covers the region in Hunan and Hubei.)Once ,Yang Shengan(杨升庵), a Sichuan's scholar of the Ming Dynasty stopped at the stream as he toured Mt.Emei. He composed a poem called the Supernatural Water; his reaction to the stream and the stone.
Literally it says
“This stream flow to Jianaling,so mountain monks say,
To preach Buddhism, Master Zhikai came, and to pray.
The dragon's fair daughter flew high in the air .
And the water is constant throughout the whole year;
Cool in the summer and in winter quite warm.
No ordinary water can with it compare.
The Creator has reasons for the gifts of creation.
Who fathoms the scope of the Spirit's vast nature?”
（山神言此泉,下与江陵通.智师昔说法,龙女为飞天.夏洌冬复暖,凡水焉可同.造物有此理,灵源谁能通?）
Xuan Zang(玄奘),an eminent monk of the Tang Dynasty became a monk in Chengdu.He once went to Mt.Emei to visit Puxian. According to The Annals of Mt.Emei,as he approached to Jiulao Cavern(九老洞 Nine-Immortal Cavern),Xuan Zang came across an old monk who offered him a Buddhist scripture. The old monk spoke the following divine words loudly:
Send your Banrou Boat'
And with kindness guide all sentient creatures.
Puxian,from your boundless good will,
Bestow you infinite mercy on all.
（付汝般若舟，慈悲般一切。菩贤行愿深，广利无边众）
Xuan Zang was immediately enlightened upon hearing these words. The old monk disappeared soon after Xuan Zang offered thanks to him. Puxian put himself into the bodily form of the old monk in legend .People in later generations said that Yuexian Cavern(月仙窟Moon_Celestial Being Cavern), close to Jiulao Cavern,was the spot where the old monk received the Buddhist scripture.
Daoism had to mo temple, images or statues when it came into being. At that time Daoist ascetic practitioners usually resided in cavern in remote mountains for their Daoist pratices.The names of the Nine Immortals and the Moon Celestial Bing from the above stories are believed to be closely related to the origin of Daoism.
According to the Annals of Mt.Emei of the Qing Dynasty,during the Xizong period of the Tang Dynasty(唐僖宗年间 874—888)，Hui Tong (惠通)，an eminent monk ,came to Mt.Emei for a Buddhist visit, and he resided in Puxian Monastery.Later,all the monks recommended that Hui Tong become the monastery abbot .To more widely disseminate Buddhism,Hui Tong had the noble aspiration to re_establish Puxian Monastery.Later, he also had people refurbish and expand other monasteries, incluing Zhongfeng Monastery, Huayan Monastery,
Niuxin Monastery and Huangzang Monastery.In addtion, he had people build a new place of worship,Qingyin Pavilion.However,in subsequent dynasties,fire disasters frequently ravaged the monasteries on Mt.Emei. The monutain was born in the year of fire,and therefore,Hui Tong used the Five Element Saying(metal,wood,water,fire,and earth ) to rename each monastery; Huayan Monastery as Guiyun Pavilion(归云阁 Returuing Clouds Pavilion),Zhongfeng Monastery as Jiyun Monastery (集云寺Gathering Clouds Monastery),Niuxin Monastery as Woyuansi Monastery(卧云寺 Crouching Clouds Monastery),Puxian Monastry as Baishui Monastery (白水寺 White Water Monastery) and Huangzang Monastery as Heshui Monastry(黑水寺 Black Water Monastery).
Hui Tong intentionally worked out the pattern of “ Three Clouds and the Black and the White Uncertainty,” hoping that the clouds would create water, and then the water would subdue the fires. As a reward for Hui Tong's grand moral conduct, Emperor Xi Zong granted him a Buddhist cassock and music instruments used in a Buddhist mass.After Hui Tong passed away,his body remained intact and did not decay.In addition, it produced a rate scent.His body was laid on the altar in the Zudian Hall of Heshui Monastery for the worship of people from following dynasties. The body even existed during the Ming Dynasty,but later the whereabouts of the body became unknown.
According to The Annals of Mt.Emei,there was a nun by the name of Hui Xu(慧续) who was Hui Tong's younger sister.She came to Mt.Emei and resided in Huazang Monastery and was considered the first nun to live on Mt.Emei. Hui Xu had extraodinary poweers.It is said that when she resided in Huangzang Monastery, a black tiger patrolled the corridor in the evening, and crows announced the break of day in the morning. There was a pool outside the monastery where over a hundred eagles often swam in groups. Whenever monks in the monastery chanted scriptures,frogs in the same pool sang as an accompaniment with the bells and drums played by the monks .The frogs sounded like the music from a zither,full of eigth_tone music scale melodies,So th pool was named as the Eight_Tone Scale Pool.
Zhu Yuanzhang(朱元璋)，the first Ming emperor used to be a monk when he was young. When he ascended the throne,the emperor continued to be especially fond of Budhism. Other emperors through out the Ming Dynasty also frequently granted imperial favors to Mt.Emei. It is said that Master Guang Ji and Zhu Yuanzhang uesd to work toghter as monks n Huangjue Monastery(皇觉寺). Toward the end of the Yuan ,Guang JI traveled round until he arrived at Longxin Monastery(龙兴寺). When Zhu Yuanzhang became an emperor ,Guang Ji secluded
himself in Niuxin Monastery onm Mt.Emei. On several occasions,the emperor summoned him to the Ming captial,but Guang Ji kindly refused his invitation. Consequently,Niuxin Monastery attracted more and more visitors and pilgrims.
During the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty(明洪武年间),Monks Bao Tan(宝昙) arrived at Mt.Emei by the imperial order. He resided on Xijin Peak( 锡金顶 the Tin and Gold Peak) and had the Iron_Tile Monastery reconstructed.He also had the Puxian statue cast in gold. Monk Bao Tan spent 10 years in Sichuan where he perfected Buddhist disciplines. His infuence kept increasing. Later, he return to the captial upon the imperial summons,and then he passed as he sat crossed_legged in Tianjie Monastery (天界寺).
In 1534 a wandering monk named Bie Zhuan(别传) from Hubei arrved at Shengji Monastery on Mt.Emei.
He reside on the mountain for 40 years and greatly contributed to Buddhism on the mountain. Ming emperor Shenzong(明神宗) gave Bai Zhuan another name,“Hong Ji (洪济)” which means“Grand Aid.” During hid life Bie Zhuan supervised the casting of three bells.The largest one weighs 125,000km and is more than 2m in heigh.It is the largest bell on Mt.Emei,and is considered to be the second largest in the country. The largest bellis now in Dazhong Monastery (大钟寺) in Beijing.On the day when the Mt.Emei bell was scheduled to be hung,Bie Zhuan suddendy remembered that he had forgotten to cast an iron chain to hang the bell.At that very moment, a golden dragon unexpectedly jumped out of the pool outside the monastery.Bie Zhuan quickly appointed his men to catch the dragon and to pull it through the huge handle attached to the ball.The dragon body was used as the chain to hang the bell.
In 1567,Bie Zhuan built the Golden Drgon Temple in Qingyin Pavilion area and set up a Golden_Dragon Column for worship from the people. In 1579 ,Bie Zhuan passed away on Mt.Wutai,and was buried in Sihui Pavilion(四会亭) in front of Wannian Monastery .The big bell in Shengji Monastery was well cast,and its sound resonates for many miles around. Commonly known as “Shengji Evening Bell”, it is one of the ten traditional Emei Best Attractions.
In 1958, when the Grand Iron and Steel Smelting Movement occurred,the bell came within an inch of being destroyed. It was moved away to a foundry. Fortunately, the staff from the Relics Management and Protetion Administration recovered the bell in time. At present,“Shengji Evening Bell” is placed in Shengji Pavilion on the Phoenix Fortress outside Baoguo Monastery.
In 1568,Master Tong Tian(通天) arrived at Mt.Emei and built a hut on Qianfu Peak(千佛顶 the Thousand Buddha Peak). Later,he renovated Dacheng Monastery and built Zushi Hall.In English,Zushi means ,“founder of a sect of Buddhism”. His reputation spread far and wide.While working as the abbot in the Tianmen Monastery(天门) ，he toured Guangxiang Monastery(光相寺) one evening . As he walked,Tong Tian saw raysof the light radiating from the foot of a cliff. So Tong Tian,using his hands, climbed down to the base of the cliff. When he arrived , he sat and began his meditation,which lasted for three consecutive days. Upon his departue,Tong Tian placed his cassock in the cave at the foot of the cliff. A fortnight later, a peal of thunder roared around the foot of the cliff and Tong Tian's cassock flew back to Tianmen Monastery. This miracle surprised all the monks in the monastery who now considered Tong Tian to be a celestial being.Tong Tian had some pupils
who worked as officials in the imperial goverment. These pupils reported this miracle to Emperor Wanli who then presentd Tong Tian with another cassock and the Longzang Scripture(龙藏经).The emperor also had his eunuch safeguard the transfer of valuable gold all the way to the monastry and had him built an iron_tile monastery. From that time on,the monasteries on Mt.Emei often received imperial gifts,and more and more monks and laymen attended Buddhist Services by eminent monks.The attendance was often as many as a thousand persons for each service.
In 1599,a fire destroyed Puxian Hall in Baishui Monastery. In the following year the emperor dowger favred the monastery with gold and had the hall rebuilt.A monk by the name of Taiquan (台泉) painted and decorated the new hall's appearance based on Rena Monastery in India.The ball was built with bricks and then named the Beamless Hall because no ridgepoles were used in its construction. This beamless hall is the only of its kind on Mt.Emei . Its appearance is that of an Indian Buddhist monastery.On the occasion of his mother's 70_year_old birthday ,Emperor Shengzong endowed the monastery with his inscription for the monastery's horizontal board. It said ,“the Imperial Longevity Wannian Monastery”. From then on Baihui Monastery was renamed Wannian Monastery.
In 1601,by order of the emperor ,Monk Miao Feng (妙峰) convoyed Dazang Scripture(大藏经) to Mt.Jizu (鸡足山) in Yunnan. On his way back from Mt.Jizu, Miaofeng came to Mt.Emei for his Buddhist visit where he made a vow to cast Buddha figures to be placed in a copper hall.After he returned to the captial, Miao Feng collected tens of thousands of liang of gold from King Jin ,and he himself went to Jingzhou(荆州) in Huibei to supervise the casting project. Later the cast figures were transported to the summit of Mt.Emei for worship. Theses figures stayed od the summit of the towering mountain and shone so gloriously that it became known as the “golden summit”among the people. Later ,Miao Feng cast three copperhalls in Chang'an , and he believed Buddha figures to Mt.Wutai, Mt.Jiuhua and other places. When the copper hall
for Mt.Emei was completed ,Emperor Shengzong granted the hall his inscription for its horizontal board, read “Light Everlasting Huazang Monastery”.The emperor dowager donated 41sets of Buddhist scriptures and one eaglewood tower.
Toward the end of the Ming and the beginning of the Qing dynasties,chaos occurred everywhere in Sichuan because of wars. Many monasteries on Mt.Emei could not escaped the disasters of war and became dilapidated. At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty,a number of eminent monks arrived at different times at Mt.Emei. They started to remold and repair Buddha statues among the brambles and
wild grass. Gradully, Buddhism on Mt.Emei returned to its former prosperity.
During the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty (清顺治年间)，a monk arrived at Mt.Emei for a Buddhist visit. His name was Guan Yi and he came after a disastrouos war and during the year of food shortage. It was a pocerty-stricken situation in which monks in monasteriers had not enough food to eat and not enough clothes to wear. Guan Yi generously supported them. In additon,everywhere he went,he collecte alms to prived the monks with food. More than that,Guan Yi lead this pupils to reconstruct Fuhu Monastery on Mt.Emei. Over the years ,Ke Wen(可闻) ，Guan Yi's pupil,reconstructed Woyun Nunnery,the Boundless Hall and the Cool Brezze Bridge. In addition,Ke Wen moved and then reconstructed the Huizong Hall(汇宗堂),which grew into the current Baoguo Monastery. Monk Sun Ji(孙寄),a discipleof Guan Yin pleated altogether as many as 100,000 trees around Fuhu Monastery.Each time he planted one tree, he chanted out loud one charter of the Mahayana Svripture. Ten years later, those trees grew into the towerng ,thick forest, which is now known as “Bujing Forest ”.Bujing means thast here is the Buddhist world ,and its land is covered with gold.
Today,there are over 30 temples at the mountain ,and the total building space is over 100,000 square meters. Many temples were built againest hillside or hidden in a dark forest.Both Baoguo and Fuhu monasteries now are the largest ones on the mountain and Fuhu monasteries now are the largest ones on the mountain.
Here is a poem,written by May Holdsworth from Odyssey Illustrated Guide to Sichuan:
Emei Shan is more than a mountain;
It is as frame of wind.
That is not just because looking up at momumental heights
Induces in the beholder a sense of his own frailty and insinificance.
It is also because for centuries Chinese belief has endowed Nature
With a mystical influence on man's charater,
And Nature is supremely exemplified by mountains.
Mixed up with this tradition was the ancient folk belief
That mountains were the magical habitations of immortals.
Although Daoist in origin, these ideas have been gathered
Into the Chinese Buddhist's view of the universe
Like much else of the indigenous cult.