Chuxiong City, Mouding County, Huafoshan Scenic Area
Huafoshan This place is relatively niche, no tickets, fresh air, good scenery! Not many people. It's very worth going.
Huafoshan's original name is unknown. It is said that at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the leader of the Yaozhou peasant uprising retreated to Dingyuan County (the ancient name of Mouding County) after losing, and set up camp here, known as Zijiu Camp. After the failure of the Zijiu uprising, the name of Zijiu Camp evolved into a mountain name, which was once called. As for the origin of the name "Huafoshan", there is a legend related to Buddhism.
In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Buddhism was prevalent in the central Yunnan region. In Dingyuan County, the number of Buddhists was increasing, and some monks and laymen who had achieved in studying Buddhism appeared. Liangguan Village in Juntun Township, Mouding County, was just an ordinary small mountain village at that time, but because of a famous Wuzhu Zen master, it was known to the world and recorded in history. Wuzhu Zen Master's surname is Deng, his name is Hongru, and his alias is Xugu. He traveled from his hometown to Zijiu Camp, lived in Baiyunwo, and built Baiyunwo Temple. The origin of the two words "Baiyun" is said to be that Wuzhu Zen Master sincerely sought Buddha in this remote and cold mountain, practiced diligently, and finally deeply understood the "good fruit" of Zen and Buddhism. It is said that because Wuzhu Zen Master sought Buddha with all his heart, Buddha specially showed his spirit. At that moment, a piece of white cloud slowly floated over, and there was an ancient Buddha in the white cloud, coming leisurely and quietly. Since then, Wuzhu Zen Master's face was full of red light, his spirit was radiant, and he studied Zen and Buddhism more devoutly. In order to verify his own cultivation and whether Buddha had special grace for him, he bathed in fasting and planted a camellia in Wulongtan of Baiyunwo. His verification method was to insert the camellia branches in a regular manner, and silently recite beside the tree: "I swear by the withering and flourishing of the tea flowers, to prove the success or failure of my Tao." Soon a miracle happened, Wuzhu's inverted camellia, the branches and leaves were lush, the flowers were full of branches, and the flowers were bright. From this, a new variety of camellia in the Huafoshan area was derived, with nine stamens and eighteen petals, shaped like a lion's head, bright in color, and robust and thick. The story of the inverted camellia aroused people's strong interest, and many good men and women went to see it one after another. After watching it, they all praised it, and praised the Zen master's practice. "This tree alone does not decay", "The flowers open every year", the flesh and blood of people can't compare with nature after all, Wuzhu died, the tea flowers that can "prove Buddha" that are widely praised by people, still often open without defeat. Since then, people have forgotten the actual existence of the peasant uprising leader Zijiu, and have deep affection for the "Buddha" that was "proven" by Wuzhu but still elusive, so Zijiu Camp was also evolved into "Huafoshan".