Introduction to the Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple

The Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple are located 1.5 kilometers northwest of the ancient city of Dali, facing Yingle Peak of Cangshan Mountain to the west, Erhai Lake to the east, and about 1,500 meters from the foot of the mountain. There is Taoxi River flowing eastward at 336 meters to the south. There is Meixi River 76 meters to the north and the Yunnan-Tibet Highway to the east. The Three Pagodas are composed of three pavilions, one large, two small, and three.

The big pagoda is also known as the Qianxun Pagoda, and the local people call it the "Wenbi Pagoda". It is 69.13 meters high, 9.9 meters wide at the base, and has 16 levels. It is a typical hollow square brick with dense eaves in the Dali area. tower. The north and south small towers are both ten-level, 42.17 meters high, and are octagonal hollow brick towers with dense eaves. Three towers stand on a tripod, with Qianxun Tower in the middle and two small towers guarding it from the north and south. On March 4, 1961, it was announced by the State Council as one of the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

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Historical evolution

The three pagodas of Chongsheng Temple were first built during the period of Nanzhao King Quan Fengyou (824-859 AD). The big tower "Qianxun Tower" was built, 69.13 meters high. It is a square brick tower with dense eaves and 16 floors. Later, the south and north small towers were built, both 42.19 meters high. They are a pair of octagonal brick towers, both with 10 levels. In addition to the Buddhism preaching that it can lead to Buddhahood, there is another important reason for building the three pagodas. Dali was known as "a country with many floods" in ancient times.

It is recorded in the ancient book "Jinshi Cuibian": "It is said that the dragon nature respects the pagoda and fears the peng. Dali used to be Longze, so it was built here." It is said that when three pagodas were built in ancient times, a layer of cushion was used. The method of building a one-story pagoda with earth is that after the pagoda is built, the earth is dug out layer by layer to reveal the pagoda. Therefore, there are sayings of "piling earth to build a pagoda" and "digging earth to reveal a pagoda." The bridge built when the tower was built was as high as a hill and more than 10 miles long.

When the pagoda was built, there was insufficient transportation capacity, so goats were used to carry bricks. Yinqiao Village in Dali, which is now Dali, was called "Pagoda Bridge Village" in ancient times. Ancient books record that the construction of the three pagodas "spent 7.7 million craftsmen, spent more than 40,000 gold, and took eight years to complete." After the construction of the three pagodas, the large-scale Chongsheng Temple was built.

The specific dates of the construction of the three pagodas have been historically inconsistent. Generally speaking, they are as follows: ① Yuchi Jingde built it in Zhenguan of the Tang Dynasty (627-649); ② Gongtao and Hui built it in the first year of Kaiyuan of the Tang Dynasty (713). Made by Yi; ③ From the tenth year of Baohe to the first year of Tianqi (from the seventh year of Taihe to the fifth year of Kaicheng, 833 to 840) by the holy monk Li Xianzhe and others; ④ From the tenth year of Baohe to the ninth year of Tianqi It was made by Dr. Xu Zheng and others from 833 to 848 (the seventh year of Taihe in the Tang Dynasty to the second year of Dazhong in the Tang Dynasty).

According to the construction age of similar ancient pagodas in the Mainland, Yunnan should be later. Furthermore, combined with the relevant cultural relics and records in the original Chongsheng Temple and the Central Pagoda, it seems that the Central Pagoda should be built in Nanzhao. The Toyo period (reigned from 824 to 859) is most likely, and the two small towers are later than the middle tower. When it was built in the early days of the Dali Kingdom, the middle tower was built first, and then two small towers were added.

According to historical records such as "Unofficial History of Nanzhao" (Hu version, Wang version), "Baigu Tongji" and other historical records, when Chongsheng Temple and the main pagoda were built, the base of the temple was 7 miles away, and the holy monk Li Chengmei The wise man built three pagodas, 890 houses, 11,400 Buddhas, 40,590 kilograms of copper, more than 708,000 kilograms of work, and 43,514 kilograms of gold, silver, silk, silk and brocade.

During the reign of Emperor Wuzong of the Yuan Dynasty, there was an "imperial edict" to confer Shi Juexing as the abbot monk, protect the temple property, and exempt him from food taxes. It was also repaired in the Yuan Dynasty, so that "the palace verandas were revived, with three towers standing upright, golden and green, and as beautiful as the mountains (equal)".

In the Ming Dynasty, Li Yuanyang rebuilt it and it also had "three pavilions, seven floors, nine halls and one hundred buildings". At that time, there were five treasures in the temple: three pagodas, a giant bell, a bronze Guanyin, a stele of songs for enlightenment, and a plaque of the Buddha's capital.

When Xu Xiake arrived in Dali, he still saw "three towers standing in front of Chongsheng Temple, with towering pines on all sides. Entering from the mountain gate to the west, there is a bell tower facing the three towers, which is extremely majestic." Behind the tower It is the main hall, and behind the main hall is the "Yuzhu Guanyin Hall, which is a standing statue made of bronze and three feet high" ("Xu Xiake's Travels in Yunnan Travel Diary 8"). It is said that the bell in the temple was built in the "twelfth year of Jianji" (AD 871). "It is more than ten feet in diameter and as thick as a foot" and "its sound can be heard for eighty miles."

In the ninth year of Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1514), there was a major earthquake. The Qianxun Tower "cracked about two feet and looked like a broken bamboo", and then "reconstructed in ten days".

In the 1925 earthquake, the top of the tower fell and became more damaged.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the government attached great importance to the protection of the Three Towers and carried out large-scale repairs in 1978.

Protection Measures

The Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple were announced by the State Council as the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units in March 1961.

From 1978 to 1981, the state allocated funds to repair and strengthen the three towers, which lasted three years.

In October 1994, the Three Pagodas Cultural Relics Protection and Management Office of Chongsheng Temple was established, and then the Three Pagodas Park was established. Under the guidance of the guidelines of "building a national cultural state" and "protection first, rescue first, effective protection, rational utilization, and strengthening management", the provincial, state and municipal cultural departments carried out scientific planning for the Three Pagodas Park and raised funds themselves , invested more than 80 million yuan to restore and reconstruct the historical and cultural landscape, set up a tripod to commemorate the history of the Three Pagodas, built the Three Pagodas Cultural Relics Exhibition Hall, a night view lighting project, the Three Pagodas Reflection Pool, the Three Pagodas Garden Hotel, etc.

In April 2005, the large-scale restoration and reconstruction of Chongsheng Temple was completed, ending the nearly century-old history of "there are pagodas but no temple" in Chongsheng Temple's three pagodas. The planning and layout of Chongsheng Temple takes the protection of the three pagodas as the core, draws on the characteristics of the layout of world-famous temples, and integrates the essence of the architectural features of the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. According to the three axes of primary and secondary, eight towers, nine entrances and eleven Plan and build at different levels.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple