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MOUNT JIZU: THE CREATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF A SACRED SITE IN SOUTHWEST CHINA (15TH-20TH C.)
Huang, Lu
Huang, Lu
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2025-05
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Religion
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https://doi.org/10.34944/v3f7-pp32
Abstract
This dissertation is the first comprehensive study of the religious, ethnic, and social history of “Chicken-foot Mountain” (Skt.: Kukkuṭapāda; Chi.: Jizu shan; Tib.: ri bya rkang can), a sacred site located in China’s Yunnan Province. Although known as “Nine-Curves” in earlier times, Mount Jizu came to be identified as Kukkuṭapāda in Ming-era texts. In Buddhist legend, Kukkuṭapāda is the place where Mahākāśyapa, the Buddha’s senior disciple, is keeping Śākyamuni Buddha’s robe and awaiting the future Buddha Maitreya. As a result, Mount Jizu holds symbolic significance across various Buddhist linguistic traditions. It is especially revered in the Chan tradition, as Mahākāśyapa is regarded as its first patriarch, having received a “mind-to-mind” transmission directly from Śākyamuni Buddha. This dissertation investigates how Mount Jizu was transformed into a Buddhist center in Southwest China through the involvement of Ming officialdom, local gentry, and native chieftains. The development of Mount Jizu reflects not only the Ming state’s broader efforts to integrate Yunnan into the Chinese empire but also its strategic importance to diverse stakeholders, including local Bai leaders, Dai chieftains from Dengchuan, and Naxi chieftains from Lijiang. Increased interaction among Yunnan, inland provinces, and neighboring regions spurred pilgrimage and leisure travel by Chinese, Tibetan, Bai, and Naxi visitors, establishing Mount Jizu as a nexus in transregional and transnational Buddhist networks. This dissertation explores the creation of Mount Jizu as a sacred site on a multicultural frontier and examines how its shared veneration transcended boundaries, fostering interactions among diverse ethnic, political, and social groups.
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