Dongxi Temple Pagoda

The East Temple Pagoda and the West Temple Pagoda are one of the earliest ancient pagodas in Yunnan. According to the literature, the people who built the pagoda are "Nanzhao nongdong, Jiedushi, Wang cuoding, and the great craftsman Yuchi Gongtao." Dongsi pagoda was originally built in Changdong temple, which is called Changle pagoda. It is commonly known as Changle temple, which is called Dongsi pagoda, so it is named Dongsi pagoda. The height of the pagoda is 40.57 meters, the base is a regular quadrilateral, and the side length is 12 meters. The tower is a hollow brick tower with square rows and dense eaves, with a total of 13 levels. There is a gate on the south side of the bottom floor of the pagoda. From the second floor, there are ticket holes on all sides of the eaves. Each hole has a small niche with a stone Buddha statue inside. At the top of the tower, there are two golden winged birds, each of which is about 2 meters high. It is said that the four golden chickens will crow in winter and spring when the wind is strong. They can be heard from far and near. In August 1979, the top of the tower was blown down by a storm. When the top of the tower was repaired, the "secret" of chicken crowing was discovered. It turns out that the golden rooster is made of copper. There is a copper tube with holes at both ends in the corner of the mouth. There are metal reeds in the tube. The head, neck and abdomen of the chicken are all empty. Whenever the strong wind blows, the copper tube in the chicken's mouth swings through the air in the abdominal cavity and makes a sound like a crow. Later, as time went on, the copper pipe was filled with sand and the reed gradually rusted, so the Golden Rooster would never crow again. It is said in the Buddhist Sutra "a tale of exploring the mysteries" that the golden winged bird can subdue the dragon. Yunnan is mountainous, with mountain torrents breaking out and flooding. Therefore, golden winged birds are placed on the top of ancient pagodas in Yunnan to prevent flooding. West Temple Pagoda was originally built in Huiguang temple, commonly known as Huiguang temple, so it is called West Temple Pagoda. The tower is a square dense eaves type 13 level hollow brick tower. It is 35.54 meters high, with three layers of tower foundation, 2.38 meters high and 12.5 meters wide at the bottom. The gate of nanbiquanmen passes through the tower. Inside the tower, there is a circular wooden ladder to reach the top of the tower. Above the second floor, there are niches or caves with red sand stone Bodhisattvas sitting in them. At the top of the tower, there is a golden chicken made of copper in each corner.

Dongxi Temple Pagoda

At the beginning of the 21st century, a new pedestrian street connecting the East Temple Tower of Shulin street in the East and the West Temple Tower of Dongsi street in the West has been built in the south of Kunming city. On both sides of the street stand 26 stone street lamps modeled after those made in the last years of daoguangding in the Qing Dynasty (1847). On the east side of the street are bronze sculptures such as "horse driver", "watchman", "bowl mender", "eggs tied for sale" and "playing chess". In the middle of the street, an antique building was built in the South Corridor.

General situation

Kunming is known as the "bastion of democracy". From 1946 to 1948, the walls of loucheng were recently covered with anti imperialist and anti Jiang poems and essays, which people called "the wall of democracy".

In 1950, the fourth corps of the second field of the Chinese people's Liberation Army entered Kunming city through the building of nirvana.

On both sides of the street, there are wooden buildings with traditional Kunming style.

At the beginning of the 21st century, a new pedestrian street connecting the East Temple Tower of Shulin street in the East and the West Temple Tower of Dongsi street in the West has been built in the south of Kunming city.

On both sides of the street stand 26 stone street lamps modeled after those made in the last years of daoguangding in the Qing Dynasty (1847). On the east side of the street are bronze sculptures such as "horse driver", "watchman", "bowl mender", "eggs tied for sale" and "playing chess".

In the middle of the street, an antique building was built in the South Corridor. Recently, the building was originally located at the south end of Zhengyi road. It is the South Gate Tower of brick city in Ming Dynasty and has been demolished.

historical background

In the Yuan Dynasty, Wang Sheng, a Kunming poet, regarded the "twin towers" as one of the eight sceneries of Kunming.

In Shi Jin's poems describing the scenery of Kunming in the early Ming Dynasty, "the twin towers in the south of the city are high and steep, and the mountains in the north of the city are like surging waves.". Guo Wen's poem also has "the lake potential wants to float the twin towers, the mountain shape like embraces the five Chinese."

In the Qing Dynasty, sun ran, the author of the Daguanlou couplet, wrote the poem Daguanlou: "when you listen to the singing of bamboo branches, when you are drunk, the shadow of the tower suddenly floats." Qian Nanyuan said in the poem "a Gu Temple" that "the wind blows the West Temple Pagoda all night, and the frost keeps ringing."

Before Ming Dynasty, the East and West pagodas were called twin pagodas in the literature. The East Temple Pagoda and the West Temple Pagoda are one of the earliest ancient pagodas in Yunnan. According to the literature, the people who built the pagoda are "Nanzhao nongdong, Jiedushi, Wang cuoding, and the great craftsman Yuchi Gongtao."

However, there are several different records about the construction age of the Pagoda: "the rebuilding of the East Temple Pagoda and the Changle Temple record" records that "the two pagodas in the south of Wuhua, East and West, rise into the sky, and it is said that they were founded in the reign of Zhenguan of Tang Dynasty (627-649)" According to the reconstruction of Wenbi Pagoda in Dongsi and the inscription of Zhongshou Sanfang, the pagoda was built at the top of Wang Cuo, the Jiedu envoy of Nanzhao nongdong, and it was the third year of Wenzong's reign (827-839)

According to Ni Mo's Dian Yun Li Nian Zhuan, "in the first year of emperor Wenzong of Tang Dynasty (827), fengyoushanshan built the East Temple Tower, which is 150 feet high; the West Temple Tower is 80 feet high." Yunnan Tongzhi, written by Wanli in Ming Dynasty, is believed to be built in the early period of Zhenyuan (785-805).

According to Dai jiongsun's Kunming county annals, it was founded in 808, the third year of Yuanhe in Tang Dynasty.

According to Ruan Yuansheng's Nanzhao unofficial history, "the East Temple Tower was built in 854, the eighth year of Xuanzong's reign. It was 150 feet high, and the West Temple Tower was 80 feet high. It was built by Yuchi Gongtao, a great craftsman.

In the 13th year of the Republic of China, it was recorded in the records of Kunming City: "the eastern and Western temples and pagodas It was started in the third year of Taihe (829) of emperor Wenzong of Tang Dynasty and completed in 30 years.

Wang cuoding, who built the tower, was a powerful minister of Nanzhao. When he was appointed as the governor of nongdong, it was the first year of Yuanhe (806) of emperor Xianzong of Tang Dynasty.

In 829, Wang cuoding invaded Sichuan, plundered his children, and tens of thousands of people returned to the south.

In 859, Wang CuO died. When the West Temple Pagoda was repaired from 1983 to 1984, the Tang brick with the title of "the section of the brick building section on the 25th day of the first month of the tenth year of the Apocalypse (849)" was built on the body of the pagoda, which provided material evidence for the reliable age of the pagoda.

In the records, Ruan Yuansheng's Nanzhao unofficial history and Kunming annals in the 13th year of the Republic of China recorded the time when the pagoda was built.

Introduction to scenic spots

East Temple Tower

Dongsi pagoda was originally built in Changdong temple, which is called Changle pagoda. It is commonly known as Changle temple, which is called Dongsi pagoda, so it is named Dongsi pagoda. The height of the pagoda is 40.57 meters, the base is a regular quadrilateral, and the side length is 12 meters.

The tower is a hollow brick tower with square rows and dense eaves, with a total of 13 levels. There is a gate on the south side of the bottom floor of the pagoda. From the second floor, there are ticket holes on all sides of the eaves. Each hole has a small niche with a stone Buddha statue inside.

At the top of the tower, there are two golden winged birds, each of which is about 2 meters high.

It is said that the four golden chickens will crow in winter and spring when the wind is strong. They can be heard from far and near.

In August 1979, the top of the tower was blown down by a storm. When the top of the tower was repaired, the "secret" of chicken crowing was discovered. It turns out that the golden rooster is made of copper. There is a copper tube with holes at both ends in the corner of the mouth. There are metal reeds in the tube. The head, neck and abdomen of the chicken are all empty.

Whenever the strong wind blows, the copper tube in the chicken's mouth swings through the air in the abdominal cavity and makes a sound like a crow.

Later, as time went on, the copper pipe was filled with sand and the reed gradually rusted, so the Golden Rooster would never crow again.

It is said in the Buddhist Sutra "a tale of exploring the mysteries" that the golden winged bird can subdue the dragon. Yunnan is mountainous, with mountain torrents breaking out and flooding. Therefore, golden winged birds are placed on the top of ancient pagodas in Yunnan to prevent flooding.

Natural and man-made disasters and reconstruction of Dongsi pagoda

In 1833, the Kunming earthquake completely collapsed the Dongsi pagoda. In 1856, Changle temple was also destroyed by war. From 1883 to 1887, the East Temple Pagoda was rebuilt in the ninth to thirteenth year of Guangxu period. "Because of the low old foundation and the thin soil, it was moved to the East within a few hundred steps." according to the style of the West Temple Pagoda, the shape and structure of the pagoda still retains the architectural style of the Tang Dynasty, and are the same as those of Qianxun pagoda and Hongsheng pagoda of Chongsheng Temple in Dali. In 1983, it was listed as a key cultural relic protection unit at the provincial level. After that, a park was built around the tower.

The West Temple Tower

West Temple Pagoda was originally built in Huiguang temple, commonly known as Huiguang temple, so it is called West Temple Pagoda. The tower is a square dense eaves type 13 level hollow brick tower. It is 35.54 meters high, with three layers of tower foundation, 2.38 meters high and 12.5 meters wide at the bottom. The gate of nanbiquanmen passes through the tower. Inside the tower, there is a circular wooden ladder to reach the top of the tower. Above the second floor, there are niches or caves with red sand stone Bodhisattvas sitting in them. At the top of the tower, there is a golden chicken made of copper in each corner.

Natural and man-made disasters and reconstruction of xishita

In 1499, the Kunming earthquake caused the West Temple Tower to topple more than half, and in 1503, the East Temple Tower was rebuilt. From 1667 to 1673, it was repaired again. The earthquake in 1833 destroyed the Tasha and tilted the tower. In 1856, Huiguang temple was destroyed by war. From November 1983 to September 1984, the West Temple Pagoda was repaired. In 1985, a cultural and entertainment park was built around the West Temple Tower. In 1983, it was listed as a key cultural relic protection unit at the provincial level.

Traffic information

When you get to Kunming, you can walk there, or you can take No.2 or No.3 bus to Jinbi Road and walk along Shulin street for about 10 minutes.

Address: Shulin street and Dongsi street in the south of Kunming City, Yunnan Province

Longitude: 102.711865

Latitude: 25.029063

Tel: 0871-5172522

Tour time: half a day

Ticket information: 25 yuan

Opening hours: 7:00-20:00

Chinese PinYin : Dong Xi Si Ta