There is a beautiful legend about the construction of the Seven Buddha Temple: the monks built seven giant Buddhas at the foot of the mountain. After the Buddha statue was built, one morning, the villagers discovered that the Seven Buddhas had suddenly moved from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain. It turns out that there are five caves at the foot of the mountain, and there are five dragons in the caves. Dragons are the guardians of Buddhism. When they saw the Buddha statue built at the foot of the mountain, they felt that they could not stand side by side with the Buddha statue, so they worked together to lift the Buddha statue to the top of the mountain. From then on, the mountain was named "Seven Buddha Mountain" after the Buddha. The temple built around these seven giant Buddhas is called "Seven Buddha Temple". Today's Qi Buddha Temple has a unique architectural style, is simple and solemn, grand and lofty, and has an extraordinary atmosphere. The entire temple takes advantage of the mountain, climbing up the stairs, rising layer by layer. Well-proportioned and retractable. Some are pierced or cut, some are filled or cut, some are wound or coiled, some are connected or connected; pavilions, courtyards and halls, terraces alternate with each other, facing each other along the ditch; mountain gate, Tianwang Hall, Seven Buddha Hall, white marble pagoda, Dharma hall, Tibetan palace Facilities such as Jing Tower, Feiyun Lan Yue Tower, Zhaitang, guest rooms and so on are all available. In particular, the Taixu Relic Pagoda in the pagoda courtyard at the foot of the mountain preserves the true body relics of Master Taixu; the Taixu Lecture Hall in the courtyard is also the only one in the country. Looking up from the square, it looks like the Lingxiao Palace, with castles in the sky appearing and disappearing amid the white clouds. Temples in other places are built from high to low, but here they are built from low to high, which cannot but be said to be a miracle. All the building materials in the temple are made of ancient bricks and stones collected from the private sector. Therefore, Qifu Temple is said to be the finest local Buddhist temple, and it is well-deserved.
Today's Seven Buddha Temple is built entirely in accordance with Buddhist rituals, and its scale is dozens of times larger than the original temple. The main hall has a solemn Buddha statue, and the side hall has a dignified holy face. It winds up from the foot of the mountain along the Seven Buddha Gates. The plaques of the seven gates were inscribed by the famous contemporary masters Dade Yicheng, Yongxin, Gentong, the Great Lama Hu Xuefeng, and Jieren. In the main Buddhist courtyard of the temple, there is a "Stele for the Reconstruction of Seven Buddha Temples" written by Master Yicheng Suo, the president of the Chinese Buddhist Association. The plaque in the temple was inscribed by the masters of contemporary Chinese calligraphy, Qi Gong and Liu Bingsen. There is also a plaque inscribed by the famous writer Jin Yong with the title "Seven Buddhas' Landscape". The name of the Seven Buddha Pagoda was inscribed by the world-famous monk Jingkong Master. Master Taixu's relic stupa, whose name was inscribed by Master Weixian, is a treasure of the temple. The waterside monastery in the temple is elegant and transcends the ordinary world, and is a wonderful place for meditation and mind purification. Due to the participation of eminent monks and celebrities, Qifo Temple has been endowed with extremely profound cultural connotations, and it can be called a masterpiece of temple culture. Qifu Temple has Buddhist culture research institutions: Shanxi Buddhist Culture Research Center Southeast Shanxi Research Base, Jincheng Buddhist Culture Research Association, Gaoping Buddhist Culture Research Association. Shanxi Province is an important center for research on Chinese Buddhist culture. The research institution established by Qifo Temple occupies an important position in the study of Buddhist culture in southeastern Shanxi.
The revival of Qifo Temple is to practice the concept of "Humanistic Buddhism" advocated by Master Taixu in the early 20th century. Buddhism, both at home and abroad, has always been related to the well-being of human society at that time. "Humanistic Buddhism" is an initiative that combines tradition and modernity. In different eras, they adhere to the original intention of Buddhism to "pay attention to the present life, which is the benefit and joy of teachings". Buddhism ranks repaying kindness to the country as the first of the four repaying kindness, advocating to encourage good and stop evil, and to calm people's hearts. The good and evil of people are determined by their hearts. If all hearts are good and love each other, then the world will be harmonious. These concepts are closely related to the current construction of a harmonious society in the country.
As for the 166 steps, there is no legend. If there is, it just means good luck and good luck!