The Story of Mount Jiuhua: Why is the Guardian Deity of Mount Jiuhua, a Sacred Site of Ksitigarbha, the Taoist Wang Lingguan?

Mount Jiuhua Story:

Mount Jiuhua is a sacred site of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. Why is its guardian deity the Taoist Wang Lingguan?

China has four great Buddhist mountains: Mount Wutai in Shanxi, Mount Putuo in Zhejiang, Mount Emei in Sichuan, and Mount Jiuhua in Anhui. They were once the bodhimandas of Manjushri, Avalokiteshvara, Samantabhadra, and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattvas respectively.

Mount Jiuhua, anciently known as Mount Lingyang or Mount Jiuzi, is one of the “Four Great Buddhist Mountains of China.” Located in Qingyang County, Chizhou City, Anhui Province, it has long been hailed as “the foremost mountain in the Southeast.” Legend has it that it was renamed “Mount Jiuhua” after Li Bai’s poem “Gazing at Mount Jiuhua on the Way to Qingyang for Wei Zhongkan” from the Tang Dynasty: “Once on the Jiujiang River, I gazed afar at Jiuhua Peak. The celestial river hangs like green water, with nine lotuses gracefully emerging.”

From the foothills to the Tianhai Peak, Mount Jiuhua is dotted with ancient renowned temples and numerous cultural relics and historic sites. It still houses 78 ancient temples such as Huacheng Temple, the Moon Body Treasure Hall, Huiju Temple, and the Hundred-Year Palace, along with over 1,500 Buddha statues. It also preserves more than 1,300 cultural relics, including imperial edicts issued by the Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, scriptures, jade seals, and ritual implements. Among China’s four great Buddhist mountains, Mount Jiuhua is renowned both domestically and internationally for the dual honors of “the world's finest incense offerings” and “the foremost mountain in the Southeast.”

The reason Mount Jiuhua became a famous sacred site is that Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva once propagated the Dharma and benefited sentient beings there.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is a disciple of Shakyamuni Buddha, a great adept with supreme supernatural powers. Over countless eons, he has continuously made vows to liberate all suffering beings, especially those in hell. He is considered to embody the virtues of “great filial piety” and “great vows,” and is thus respectfully called “The Great Vow Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.”

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva’s Dharma-expounding site is at Mount Jiuhua in Anhui. According to records such as “The Song Biographies of Eminent Monks” (volume 20), Ksitigarbha was born as a prince of the Silla kingdom (present-day Korea) with the surname Kim and the name Gio Gak. After renouncing the household life, he came to China during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang dynasty, lived on Mount Jiuhua for decades, and after his passing, his body remained incorrupt and was enshrined in a pagoda in full body.

Skanda Bodhisattva, also known as Skanda Deva, is the chief guardian of Shakyamuni Buddha. Because Ksitigarbha made the great vow “If the hells are not empty, I will not become a Buddha,” he attracted Skanda Bodhisattva to come and serve as his protector.

But now, at Mount Jiuhua, the guardian deity of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva’s bodhimanda is not Skanda Bodhisattva but the Taoist Wang Lingguan. Why did Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva not allow Skanda Bodhisattva to continue as his protector?

It is said that in ancient times, a top scholar (zhuangyuan) visited Mount Jiuhua. He heard that the enshrined statue was Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva’s physical body and, because he did not believe in Buddhism, he committed an act of ignorance. He pricked the Bodhisattva’s physical body with a needle to see if it would bleed. As soon as he pricked it, blood flowed out. The scholar was terrified and fled Mount Jiuhua in haste…

A Buddhist sutra states: “If any being draws blood from a Buddha, slanders the Triple Gem, or disrespects the sacred scriptures, they will fall into the Avici Hell, where for millions of eons it will be difficult to find a way out.”

When Skanda Bodhisattva saw someone being disrespectful to Ksitigarbha, he wanted to punish him. Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva forbade it, saying it was enough to teach him a lesson, as everything is due to causes and conditions and karmic retribution.

Skanda Bodhisattva, eager to catch up with the top scholar, did not listen carefully to Ksitigarbha’s words. Using his supernatural powers, he saw that the scholar, along with his entourage, was already over twenty li (about ten kilometers) away. So Skanda Bodhisattva hurled his vajra (thunderbolt) into the air and let it fall, crushing the top scholar into a pulp. This was actually the result of karmic retribution.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva felt compassion and drove Skanda Bodhisattva away from Mount Jiuhua. However, a bodhimanda cannot be without a guardian, so he summoned the Taoist Wang Lingguan to serve as the guardian deity.