峨嵋金頂新貌

2006年金秋十月，我忙里偷閑利用會后余暇去了樂山，一為看朋友，二為看大佛。樂山的朋友說，你既然遠道來到了樂山，就應該去趟峨嵋山，登上金頂看看。

提起峨嵋金頂，突然想起20多年前我的父親曾經在金頂手“托”太陽照了一張照片，給我印象極深。于是在朋友鼓勵下我立馬響應，直奔峨嵋金頂。

天高氣爽，車行不久，司機朋友就說，今天天氣真好，在這兒就能遠眺峨嵋山金頂。我隔窗望去，果然遠處山巒疊嶂，一座最高的山峰之顛，輝映著熠熠紅光，司機朋友說，那就是金頂！

金頂是峨嵋山佛教文化的精華所在，為普賢菩薩的道場。山上的寺廟始建于東漢，唐宋之后日趨興盛，至明清臻于極盛。當時梵宇琳宮、大小寺廟以及寮舍等建筑計五百余間，可容千人同時進食。金頂之巔的“金殿”，則為明萬歷年間妙峰禪師創建的銅殿，殿高8米，寬4.8元，深4.3米，上為重檐雕瓦，環以繡棕鎖窗，瓦柱及門窗四壁，全為摻金的青銅焊成，屋頂檐瓦餾金，中供普賢菩薩，旁列萬尊小佛，門壁上還雕刻全蜀山川道路圖，建筑工藝之精湛令人嘆為觀止。金殿建成后，當一輪朝陽照射山頂之時，金殿便迎著太陽閃爍著紅光，迢耀百里，峨嵋金頂的得名即由來于此。遺憾的是，峨嵋金殿在清代被一場大火燒毀，留存下來的只有一道銅碑，上鐫集王羲之字的《大峨山永明華藏寺新建銅殿記》和集褚遂良字的《峨嵋山普賢金頂記》，同時還留下幾扇窗門現存華藏寺中。

銅殿被毀后，清代光緒年間心啟和尚又在原址建以磚殿，新中國成立后國家曾撥專款對金頂進行維修，但在十年動亂時期，金頂再度遭劫，某單位占用了金殿，把廟宇充作柴油機發電機房，致使1972年4月引發了一場大火，無情的烈焰將金殿、華藏寺全部燒毀，廟宇中的銅門、銅壁、銅碑、銅塔、銅爐、銅鏡、銅瓶、象牙佛、錫蓮燈、以及古代名人字畫等8972件文物均化為灰燼，廟中的永德和尚也在大火中蒙難。

2003年金頂終于迎來了新世紀的曙光。在四川省建設以峨嵋山為中心的“中國第一山”國際旅游區的宏大規劃下，確定了恢復重建華藏寺及塑造十方普賢圣像的核心工程，此舉得到了國家建設部、文物局和聯合國世界遺產保護組織的支持。經過建設者們1000多個日日夜夜的艱難奮戰，工程終于勝利完成，峨嵋之巔金光重觀，昔日的“光明之頂”重新展現出撼人心魄的魅力！2006年6月18日金頂舉行隆重的開光儀式，來自海內外的高德大僧、諸山長老和各界嘉賓3000余人參加了這個宏大典禮。

小車一路盤旋而上，終于登臨到海拔3077米的峨嵋金頂。拾級而上，首先映入眼簾的是金頂上最具特點的四面十方普賢圣像。圣像的十張佛面顯得端凝、祥和，折射出萬道金光！圣像通高48米，鑄此銅像的總重量達660噸。站在佛像前遙望四野，只見起伏的群峰連綴成一朵龐大的蓮花之狀拱衛著金頂，由金殿、銀殿組成的華藏寺和臥云庵全都籠罩在祥云繚繞之中。此時此刻，我看到頭頂是悠悠藍天，腳下是藹藹白云，向下腑視更是千里田園，岷江、大渡江、青衣江似白練縈繞在山腳之側，更有貢嘎山橫亙天際。山風颯颯，遠山近樹似乎正在合奏一支無限風光的協奏曲！

待到西邊太陽快要落山之時，突然有人興奮地喊到：“云海！云海！”眾人循聲望去，果然以遠山為岸、近山為島的云海正“波濤”洶涌地朝我們腳下的山崖滾滾而來。我突然涌起騰云的欲望，恨不得跨過圍欄，蹦到云端上去體驗一下孫悟空騰云駕霧的感覺，多虧圍欄上的安全提示語句讓我猛然恢復理智。人說峨嵋山精華由日出、云海、佛光、圣燈四大奇觀組成，此番上金頂，我無緣看到佛光，但看到了如此壯美的云海，心愿足矣！

次日六點起床，又匆匆趕往金頂觀日出。看著東方漸漸發亮，垂天之云由黑變灰，慢慢地又由灰變白，此時，東邊的天際露出一條粉紅色的亮線，心想是太陽快出來了吧？我一心期待著太陽噴薄而出的令人激動的時刻，可是東邊的云越來越厚了，太陽像一個害羞的大姑娘，最終沒有出來與大家見面。不過雖然沒有看到日出，但是曙光中的金頂及其四周千姿百態的美景仍讓人流連忘返：近處臥云庵內亮起了燈光，僧房內梵音陣陣，四面十方普賢圣像也頓時脫去了灰色的夜禮服，披上金似的新裝；遠處，云舒云卷，霧合霧散，磅礴大氣地變幻著各處種模樣，令人產生了無限遐想……

Golden Summit at Mount Emei

Yue Hong

I visited Leshan in Sichuan in October 2006 to see a friend and the Big Buddha Statue. The friend advised me to visit Mount Emei and see the Golden Summit since I had already traveled all the way to Leshan.

This reminds me of a photograph in which my father stood at the Golden Summit， stretching his hands with the morning sun perched on his open palm. It was more than 20 years ago. I still remember how the picture impressed me. Without hesitation， I set out gladly to visit Mount Emei.

It was a fine day. The taxi driver informed me that I was lucky to see the mount from afar. It was true. The soaring peaks loomed large from afar. The tallest one shone in red. The driver announced it was the Golden Summit.

The Golden Summit is said to represent the finest Buddhism culture. The patron bodhisattva of Emei is Samantabhadra， known in Chinese as Puxian. The first temple was built in the era of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 A.D.). From the Tang dynasty (618-907) onward， the buildings on the peak multiplied. In its peak period， temples， halls and monk lodgings numbered more than 500; the kitchen and the dining hall were big enough to cater to 1，000 people at the same time. The Golden Hall was erected in the Mind Dynasty (1368-1644). The 8-meter-tall hall shone in reds at the sunrise and people could see the shiny color presumably from 50 kilometers away in a fine morning. That is how the name of Golden Summit came into popularity.

The magnificent hall came down in a fire in the Qing Dynasty. The structure was rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty and after 1949， the government allotted funds for a refurbishment project. During the chaos of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976)， however， the hall was used to house a diesel generator. The generator sparked a fire in April 1972. The fire engulfed the Golden Hall and the rest of the Huazang Temple and destroyed 8，972 pieces of precious cultural antiques such as paintings， bronze articles， and calligraphic works.

The rebuilding project started in 2003. On June 18， 2006， the project was completed and over 3，000 people attended a ceremony in celebration of the event.

It was indeed my good fortune that day not only because the fine weather allowed me to see the Golden Summit from afar but also because the Golden Hall and the Huazang Temple as well as the Puxian Statue were all there for me to witness in splendor.

The taxi zigzagged all the way up to the summit at 3，077 meters above sea level. The first thing I saw， after picking up a flight of stone stairs， was a gilded statue of Puxian， which has ten faces. It is said that the 48-meter-tall statue was made of 660 tons of bronze. The undulating peaks around the statue looked like a giant lotus flower. The Golden Hall， Silver Hall and the rest of the Huazang Temple and the Sleeping Cloud Nunnery were all draped in soft white clouds. Beyond the clouds arched the blue firmament. At the foot of the peaks were three rivers meandering like thin belts and sweeping farming fields fading away into the horizon.

At the sunset moment， I heard someone shouting excitedly， \"The sea of clouds! The sea of clouds!\" I turned and gaped at the spectacle. Large chunks of clouds were surging toward the peak where I stood. For a moment， the sky below us was like the sea. Turbulent clouds converted distant peaks into a shore and nearby peaks into isles. The vista was so breathtakingly beautiful that I was all of a sudden seized by an urge to step over the guard rail and float into the clouds.But the safety warning on the guard rail halted me.

I rose early the next morning and got to the summit before dawn in order to see the sunrise. The east turned to gray first and then white gradually. The sky revealed a narrow line of pink. I prayed for the sun to break through the bank of clouds， but the clouds thickened. I was disappointed. However， the spectacle on the summit in the first morning light was still impressive: lamps twinkled from the Sleeping Clouds Nunnery， Buddhist music and human voices chanting a scripture wafted in the soft breeze， the statue of Puxian took off its gray gown and donned a golden robe， clouds in the distance churned， opening and closing constantly in a grand manner.

(Translated by David)