by Christopher Mollen

Zhen Hai Temple (鎮海寺) is located on one of the most scenic spots on Mount Wu Tai, a sacred Buddhist mountain in the Shan Xi (山西) province of China. It is built not on but “with” the mountain, on an altitude of 1600 meter. According to the legend, there is a “sea eye” (海眼) on the mountain, which leads directly to the East sea. Manjushri Budhisattva could not let the “eye” cause floods, so he took a copper pot and covered the eye. Around the pot he also built a pagoda, which he called the Zhen Hai (suppressing the sea) pagoda. Along with the pagoda a temple was built, which then came to be called Zhen Hai temple. On both sides of the “sea eye”, two great mountains rise - like two enormous dragons. If the eye of the sea were a precious pearl, then the setting could be seen as an auspicious sign to the Chinese, namely two dragons playing with a pearl.

Zhen Hai Temple is a temple in the Gelugpa tradition of the Tibetan school. It is where Zhang Jia Lama (章嘉活佛)is supposed to have deliver all sentient beings from suffering. In the upper part of the temple there is a shrine to the body relics of 15th and 16th Zhang Jia Lamas. The lower part contains a shrine to the Heavenly King (天王殿), the main shrine (大雄寶殿), a shrine to Manjushri, Canon pavilion and a shrine to Guan Yu (關羽) – in total five shrines. The temples’ full-body statue of Maitreya has an enchanting smile and Kuan Yin Bodhisattva is embodied with a delicate expression lying down. This was also the place where the Ch'ing emperor Shun Zhi (順治皇帝) became a monastic. The gate the Kang Xi emperor (康熙皇帝) entered while he came to look for his father, Shun Zhi, is called “the dragon gate” (龍門). Furthermore, Zhen Hai temple is said to have some of the best fengshui on Mount Wu Tai.

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