The postcard-perfect scenery of Mount Jiuhua has attracted many Buddhist monks looking for a domain to preach their doctrines. In 719, or the 7^th year of the Kaiyuan Reign of the Tang Dynasty, Kim Gio Gak, scion of the imperial family of one of the three Korean Kingdoms came to settle down in a hermitage on Mount Jiuhua. He acquired a large following and was called the Cave-Dwelling Monk. In 793, on July 13^th (Chinese Lunar Calendar) of the 10^th year of Zhenyuan Reign of the Tang Dynasty, Kim died at the age of 99. People regarded him as the reincarnation of Ksitigarbha Buddhisattva. This Buddhisattva had a mission of delivering the suffering beings from the Hell of Torments and is known for his pledge:"Only after all the sufferers are delivered from misery could the truth of the Buddha be vindicated. I therefore vow never to become a Buddha before all the prisoners are released from the Hell." Mount Jiuhua thus became the domain of Ksitigarbha Buddhisattva and had then triggered a large scale of temple constructions on the mountain, lasting from the Song Dynasty through Qing Dynasty. As the saying goes,"Scattered in the clouds and mist of Mount Jiuhua are a thousand temples", the mountain is called "Celestial City of a Buddhist Kingdom". Today, 78 ancient temples still survive, with a total of 6,300 Buddhist statues and more than 2,000 Buddhist artefacts. Representative temples are the Ganlu, Qiyuan, Huacheng, the Hall of Sacred Remains, the Hall of Longevity, Minyuan Nunnery and the Temple of the Heavenly Terrace.

The Huacheng Temple is the oldest of all the temples of Mount Jiuhua. It is located at the hub of the entire mountain and surrounded by the Baiyun Mountain to the north, the Furong Ridge to the south, the East Cliff to the east and the Shenguang Ridge to the west. It was said that this temple was first built as the residence for Kim Gio Gak. Later the temple was inaugurated as the bodhimandala of the Ksitigarbha Buddhisattva in 781, the second year of the Jianzhong reign of the Tang Dynasty. The entire temple, looking venerated in a solemn design, rises layer upon layer according to the contour of the mountain slope. The front door of the temple opens on a stream, the farmland and a street, and the centre of the square is a crescent moon-shaped pool in which the captive fish are set free. The Tripitaka pavilion in the rear has been converted into an exhibition of more than 1,300 Buddhist cultural artefacts, which include 6,777 volumes of Buddhist scriptures given to the temple by the Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty, with the scriptures inscribed on pattra leaves, and a nine-dragon square seal of Kim.

As a Buddhist sanctuary and a national scenic resort, Mount Jiuhua is a Mecca for both tourists and pilgrims from around the world. This is particularly so on the birthday of Ksitigarbha Boddhisattva, July 13^th of the Chinese Lunar Calendar. Around that day every year, the mountain is the site of a temple fair. Monks and pilgrims congregate at the Pagoda of the Holy Body to stand vigil for the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, and Mount Jiuhua is enshrouded in the smoke of burning incense, the air is resounded with the chanting of incantations and the beating of drums, gongs and the tolling of bells.

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