A Famous Historical Mountain of Buddhism, the Holy Land of Yushun Culture
-- Qianfo Mountain Scenic Area, Ji’nan

  Qianfo Mountain Scenic Area is located in the south of Ji’nan central urban area, which is one of the three major scenic spots in Ji’nan. Before Zhou Dynasty, it was called Li Mountain. It was said that Yushun used to cultivate virgin land and farm at the foot of the mountain, so it was also called Shungeng Mountain. In years of Kaihuang of Sui Dynasty, many sculptures of Buddha were carved in accordance with the shape of the mountain and Qianfo Temple was built. That was the beginning of Qianfo Mountain. In 1959, it was built as a park. In 1995, it was listed as Provincial Scenic Spot. It was listed as a national scenic area of China in 2017 and was rateed as AAAA National Tourist Attraction in 2005. Qianfo Mountain Scenic Area covers an area of 165 hectares, with the highest point of 285 meters above the sea level. The mountains and hills are undulating and the scenery is beautiful. Liu E, a famous litterateur in Qing Dynasty, had described in Travel Notes of Laocan, “it looks like a great painting of Zhao Qianli of Song Dynasty, who drew a screen tens of miles long.” Qianfo Mountain has a long history and culture. With Yushun culture, Buddhist culture and natural ecology as its core content, Qianfo Mountain is the only famous mountain in the world where Buddhist culture and imperial culture coexist in a dual way. It is known as “a famous historical mountain of Buddhism and the holy land of Yushun culture”. Qianfo Mountain is one of the birthplaces of Yushun culture. Shun had once cultivated at the foot of Qianfo Mountain and had been well-known everywhere. In the scenic area, there are Lishan Courtyard, Shun Temple, Sansheng Hall, Dashun Stone Figure Garden, Tracing of Li Mountain and other cultural landscape of Shun culture; the origin of Qianfo Mountain Buddhist culture can be traced back to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, which has left rich Buddhist cultural landscapes such as Xingguo Temple, Qianfo Cliff sculptures, Maitreya Garden and Ten-thousand Buddha Cave; Qianfo Mountain has superior natural environment and numerous ancient and famous trees. There are many natural scenic landscapes such as chrysanthemum appreciation in Qianfo Mountain, grasping beautiful scenes of Li Mountain, cherishing the past in the pagoda tree of Tang Dynasty, Danxia in the south foot of the mountain, exploring sceneries in Ciyun and so on; the traditional folk culture of Qianfo Mountain has distinctive characteristics, such as folk culture temple fair in the third day of March of the lunar calendar, the mountain fair in Double Ninth Festival in the ninth day of September of lunar calendar and other intangible cultural heritages. Qianfo Mountain Scenic Area has profound cultural heritage, rich natural resources and significant regional value. It is a rare natural mountain landscape located in the urban area in China, and also an excellent resort for Ji’nan citizens to have leisure and fitness. It is known as “urban balcony”, “natural oxygen bar” and “ecological paradise” of Ji’nan City. Located on the mountainside of Qianfo Mountain, Xingguo Temple is a veritable ancient temple of thousand years, as well as one of the 142 key temples of Chinese Buddhism in China. There are Mahavira Hall, Guanyin Hall, Maitreya Hall and Duihua Pavilion in it. More than 130 Buddha sculptures from Years of Kaihuang of Sui Dynasty are preserved in Qianfo Cliff on the south side of the temple. On the cliff, there are Longquan Cave, Jile Cave, Qianlou Cave and Lvzu Cave from west to east. Lishan Courtyard is located on the east side of Xingguo Temple, which used to be a courtyard combining Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. At present, there are Shun Temple, Sansheng Hall, stone inscription of Shundian in it, which is the main place to promote Shun culture. At the northern foot of the mountain, there is Ten-thousand Buddha Cave, which brings together the essence of China’s four grottoes. There are 28,888 Buddhist sculptures of various sizes in the cave, and tourists can appreciate the style and color of sculptures made in the Northern Wei, Tang and Song Dynasties. The main sculpture of Maitreya Garden at the eastern foot of the mountain is 30 meters high and covered with gold. Its size is so large and its momentum is so majestic that it is known as “the largest Buddha in the north of the Changjiang River”. In addition, there are other scenic spots and historical sites such as Tanghuai Pavilion, which is famous for Qin Qiong’s tethering horses, “Qiyanjiudian” ancient memorial gateway, whose name comes from “ancient China is like nine points of smoke and dust, and the vast ocean is like a pool of water poured into a cup”, Yunjingchanguan ancient memorial gateway, whose name comes from “when the road turns round, the winding path leads to secluded places”, Yilan Pavilion, which can overlook the beautiful spring city and the small mountains, Qianlong imperial stele, and Diyimihua Stone Inscription, etc. In recent years, Qianfo Mountain Scenic Area has made great progress. In 2011, the municipal government invested special funds to improve the environment of Qianfo Mountain, strengthen the effect of ecological greening landscape, highlight the two cultural mainlines of Buddha and Shun, and comprehensively improve the overall landscape and cultural grade of Qianfo Mountain Scenic Area. In 2013, Qilu Inscription Culture Garden, the first inscription culture theme park in Ji’nan which collected the achievements of Shandong inscription culture, was built at the south foot of the mountain. Since 2014, in order to vigorously promote Shun culture, Shun cultural scenic spots such as Nanfeng Pavilion, Siqin Pavilion, Qingyun Pavilion and Tracing of Li Mountain have been built successively, forming a Shun culture tour line with spring city cultural characteristics composed of ten Shun cultural scenic spots. It has become a tourist attraction with complete functions and large scale integrating history, culture and scenery, and is deeply loved and welcomed by tourists.