Standing at the peak of Lingjiu Mountain and to the north of the Xiantong Temple, Bodhisattva Temple is one of the five famous places for practicing Zen in Wutai Mountain. It’s said that Wutai Mountain is the place where Bodhisattva Fangshu once practiced austerity and the Bodhisattva Temple is the place where Bodhisattva once lived. Thus, the temple is also known as Zhenrong Yard or Wenshu Temple. It was built in the Northern Wei Dynasty and later renovated in successive dynasties. After the Yongle Period of the Ming Dynasty, Mongolian and Tibetan disciples came to Wutai Mountain. The abbot of Tibetan Buddhism lived in Bodhisattva Temple, making Bodhisattva Temple the most famous temple for accommodating lamas. Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty visited Wutai Mountain several times, lived in the Bodhisattva Temple. The emperors wrote words on the plaque and composed inscription for the temple. Immediately following, the temple was rebuilt. The extant buildings were structures from the Qing Dynasty. Its architecture style and style of wood carvings are similar to those of the imperial palace. Standing on the peak of the mountain, the temple was built with 108 stone steps of stairway and three arch-structures. Inside the gate, there stand such main structures as Tianwang Hall, Drum Tower, Bodhisattva Palace and Daxiong Palace. On both sides of the temple stand auxiliary halls, and on its back are yards for practicing Zen, and circular corridors. They are all complete and well-arranged. Bodhisattva Palace is an architectural complex with multiple wooden layers; Daxiong Palace is shored up by porches and pillars. They are all covered with colorful glazed tiles. Though standing the test of time, they remain glamorous as they were in the past. Among them, the blue is the most attractive. The stone tablet with inscriptions composed by Emperor Kangxi stands in front of the foreyard. The stone tablet with inscriptions composed by Emperor Qianlong is situated in the east yard. It’s a stone structure in the shape of a rectangle, 6 meters high and 1 meter wide in each side. The inscriptions are carved in the tablet in Chinese, Man, Mongolian and Tibetan characters.
