Wutai Shan in Shanxi is one of the earliest Sacred Mountains in China. Along with the change of political circumstance and the development of Buddhism, it gradually became a country-wide sacred land recognized by the Buddhist circle from a local religious center in the Northern Dynasties.However, during the Northern Song, its development in the Northern Song was far more inferior to its spectacular in the middle period, particularly in Tang. It was no longer close to the political center, but changed into a fastness at the frontier between Liao and Song. As a Buddhist sacred land at the frontier, it did not completely decline due to its reputation inheriting from the past, but its domestic religious influence did not continually enhance either even though it had world-wide esteemed reputation and significance.The development of Wutai Shan in the Northern Song reveals that the development of religion is highly associated with the contemporary political and social circumstances. In addition, Buddhism in Wutai Shan in this period also transformed the worship of Sacred Mountains in China.
