Fànjìng Shān

Mount Fanjing, the highest peak of the Wuling range in Tongren, Guizhou, rises 2,570 metres. Its name shortens Fantian Jingtu, the Brahma Pure Land, and Chinese Buddhism holds it as the bodhimanda of Maitreya, the future Buddha.

Buddhism reached the mountain in the Song, when Xiyan Temple was founded in 965. The early Ming made it a Buddhist centre and named it Fanjing; after local tusi warfare, the court incorporated the region into Guizhou in 1413.

The Bozhou rebellion of Yang Yinglong wrecked the shrines in 1599, and in 1618 the Wanli emperor charged the monk Miaoxuan with restoring the Gold Peak. Under the Qing, the Kangxi reign enlarged the network to forty-eight hermitages, drawing pilgrims from Sichuan, Huguang and Jiangnan. Twin halls of Sakyamuni and Maitreya crown the New Gold Peak; repairs in 1822 and 1832 renewed the Maitreya sanctuary.