Tiantai Mountain (also Tí Taî in the local language) is a mountain in Tiantai County, Taizhou, Zhejiang, China.
Legends
In the mythology of Traditional Chinese religion, the creator goddess Nüwa cut the legs off a giant sea turtle () and used them to prop up the sky after
Gonggong damaged
Mount Buzhou, which had previously supported the heavens.
A local myth holds that Tiantai was on the turtle's back before and Nüwa relocated it to its current position when she had to remove the turtle's legs.
Guoqing Temple
Guoqing Temple on the mountain is the headquarters of
Tiantai,
and also a tourist destination. Tiantai, named for the mountain, is an East Asian Buddhist school of Mahāyāna Buddhism that developed in
Sui dynasty and focuses on the
Lotus Sutra.
The most prominent teacher of that school,
Zhiyi, was based at Guoqing Temple.
Over many years it has been an important destination for pilgrims, especially from
Japan. The mountain was visited by Saichō in 805 CE, who went on to found the related Japanese Buddhist school,
Tendai. A
Korean Buddhism, the
Cheontae, was also established during the 12th century.
Ji Gong Temple
The mountain has a famous temple to the
Song dynasty Chinese Buddhist monk
Ji Gong at the Cave of Auspicious Mists that was associated with early modern fuji or "spirit writing" movements.
Scenic Area
Tiantai Mountain was designated a scenic area in 1985, with an area of 105 km
2.
[UNEP-WCMC (2023). Protected Area Profile for Tian Tai Shan from the World Database on Protected Areas. Retrieved 3 December 2023.]
Transport
-
Tiantaishan railway station
