ina, P'u-hsien Bodhisattva revealed himself to a
wandering official in that wonderful thing known as "Buddha's Glory,"
and from this time on, Mount Omei became the centre from which the light
of Buddhist teaching was spread abroad over the entire country.

The land now belongs to the Church, and there are not many people on the
mountain besides the two thousand monks scattered about in the different
monasteries which occupy every point where a flat spur or buttress
offers a foothold. Each has its objects of interest or veneration, and I
believe that to do one's duty by Omei, one must burn offerings before
sixty-two shrines. Judging by the determined look on some of the
pilgrims' faces, they were bent on making the grand tour in the shortest
time possible; in fact, they almost raced up the breakneck staircases.
To save expense, some make the whole ascent of one hundred and twenty li
from Omei-hsien in a day. Even women on their bound feet sometimes do
this, I am told. I would not believe it on any authority had I not seen
for myself the tramps these poor crippled creatures often take.

As I was in no hurry, we stopped for the night at Wan-nien Ssu, or the
"Monastery of Ten Thousand Years," one of the largest on the mountain
and with a recorded history that goes back more than fifteen hundred
years. We were made very welcome, for the days have passed when
foreigners were turned from the door. Their patronage is eagerly sought
and also their contributions. After inspecting our quarters, which
opened out of an inner court and were spacious and fairly clean, I
started out at once to see the sights of the place, for daylight dies
early in these dense woods. Like all the rest Wan-nien Ssu is plainly
built of timbers, and cannot compare with the picturesque curly-roofed
buildings one sees in the plains below. Indeed, it reminded me of the
Tibetan lamasseries about Tachienlu, and it is true that thousands of
Tibetans find their way hither each spring, and the hillsides reecho
their mystic spell, "Om mani padme hum," only less often than the
Chinese, "Omi to fo."

Behind the building where I was quartered is another, forming part of
the same monastery, and within is concealed rather than displayed the
treasure of the place, and indeed the most wonderful monument on the
mountain, a huge image of P'u-hsien enthroned on the back of a life-size
elephant, all admirably cast in bronze. Although dating from the ninth
century, the wond