ABSTRACT
This chapter examines a Tibetan-language pilgrimage guide titled Catalogue to the Supreme Realm: The Sacred Five-peaked Mountain composed by Lcang skya Khutuktu Rol pa'i rdo rje (1717–86). It highlights the cross-cultural experience and cosmopolitan scholarship of Rol pa'i rdo rje, an ethnic Monguor, a multilingual incarnated lama, a Beijing resident, a Tibetan Buddhist tantric master, and the National Preceptor of the emperor. It demonstrates that against this backdrop Rol pa'i rdo rje was able to create a pilgrimage guide quite different from the Chinese version, one that “maṇḍalized” Mount Wutai with cosmic power and tantric practices. Through maṇḍalization, Rol pa'i rdo rje incorporated Mount Wutai in the network of Tibetan sacred sites, inserted the history of the Gelug school into the history of Mount Wutai, and presented the Lcang skya reincarnation lineage as a shaping force of the mountain landscape. It reset the role of Tibetan Buddhism, especially the Gelug school and the Lcang skya lineage, as the ultimate force to consecrate the mountain and to legitimate the emperors.
