At the eastern foot of Mount Cangshan, near Lan Peak, Dali Lingshan Monastery stands beside the cold, rushing waters of Baishi Creek. This creek is one of the eighteen major natural streams flowing down the mountain. During the Dali Kingdom period, from 937 to 1253 AD, the monastery served as a resting point for travelers heading to the royal Wuwei Temple.

Human hands left their marks here centuries ago. Archaeologists excavated molded clay devotional tablets, known as Shanyeni, from the monastery grounds. These tablets date to the mid-to-late Dali Kingdom. Potters pressed wet clay into molds, leaving their fingerprints alongside artistic styles from the Song Dynasty, Tibetan Buddhism, the Tang Dynasty, Nanzhao, and Tubo.

The physical structures connect different philosophies. The main hall features entrance doors with wood carvings of the Confucian Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars. Visitors can feel the deep grooves cut by ancient chisels into the wood. A hundred meters away sits the affiliated Three Holy Treasure Temple. Nearby, the natural world asserts itself. A massive boulder called Poshijian, or the Broken Sword Stone, appears cleanly split in two.

Today, wind chimes ring in the mountain breeze, and the deep resonance of the morning bell echoes through the valley. Abbot Jingjie continues a living tradition by cultivating rare local camellias, including the Tongzimian, Hentiangao, Manao, and Zipao varieties. These heavy, colorful blooms last through the first lunar month, brightening the winter courtyard. Visitors still walk the paths, wade in the cool creek waters, and listen to the nearby waterfall, experiencing the same mountain sanctuary that welcomed travelers a thousand years ago.