Stone pagoda of Guanyin Temple

At the foot of Wansong mountain, Zhouhu village, Longshan Township, Ruian City. Formerly known as thousand Buddha pagoda, it was built in 1068-1071, the first year to the fourth year of Xining in the Northern Song Dynasty. Imitation wooden pavilion style, solid, made of pyrophyllite, the plane is hexagonal. The original height is 7 layers, and the top layer collapses after the collapse. The existing 6 layers are 7.8 meters high. The width of each layer of the tower body is equal, and it does not shrink layer by layer. In addition to the collapse, there are 472 existing Buddha statues of different sizes, all of which are in the sitting position. 68 inscriptions of the Song Dynasty are engraved on all the layers, faces and parts of the pagoda, leaning on the wooden and pillar, and sitting on the Xumi seat of the Buddha.

Stone pagoda of Guanyin Temple

The stone pagoda of Guanyin temple is located at the south foot of Wansong mountain in Ruian City. The stone pagoda of Guanyin temple was built in the Later Zhou Xiande period (954-960). It has a grand scale and five entrance hall. The temple is rebuilt in the late Qing Dynasty, with two steps forward and backward and three rooms wide. It is a pavilion style wooden tower, which has important reference value for the study of Song Dynasty architecture and Buddhist carving art. In 1963, it was listed as the second batch of cultural relics protection units in Zhejiang Province. In 2013, it was listed as the seventh batch of key cultural relics protection units in China.

Stone pagoda of Guanyin Temple

Overview of stone pagoda

The stone pagoda of Guanyin temple, formerly known as thousand Buddha pagoda, was built in 1071. The column is hexagonal, with three sides hidden, and the upper corner is laid as one. The bucket is round and the line starts from the wrong angle. The Chinese arch of the column head jumps out on three sides. There are three systems of appendix and forehead. Fill the shop for one, four shop for single copy. According to the records of Rui'an county annals, Guanyin temple was built in the Later Zhou xiandejian.

The stone pagoda was built in the first year of Xining in the Northern Song Dynasty. All of them are carved and stacked with stones, imitating the pavilion style wooden tower. The leaning column, the pillar, the forehead column and the first arch are all vividly carved. Each layer of the pagoda is divided into three parts. In the Ming Dynasty, the door of the pot was carved, and in the next, the Buddha statues were carved. Excluding the collapsed seventh layer, there are 472 existing Buddha statues. Moreover, there are 78 inscriptions on statues, of which the one with the largest number of words is the one on June 21, the first year of Xining, which provides us with the exact basis for the date of building the pagoda and has important reference value for the study of architecture in Song Dynasty.

architectural style

The waist eaves cover the simple board tile, and the two wings use the old angle beam and the young angle beam. Tile rafters, flyers and corner beams are clearly carved. It is 42 cm above the eaves. Gentle slope, showing early style. There are traces of column holes on the flat seat (there should be railings in those years), and there are round holes on the warping part of the beam, which are used to hang Fengling. In the Ming Dynasty, there were carved Baomen niches with large Buddha statues inside, and six small niches with small Buddha statues inside. There are 472 Buddha statues on the top floor of Chen Dynasty, all of which are in the sitting style. There are 68 inscriptions of the Song Dynasty on all levels of the body of the stone pagoda of Guanyin temple, some of which are leaning on the pillars and the arms, and sitting on the Xumi seat of the Buddha, with a total of more than 2500 words. Among them, the inscription on the seat of Xumi Buddha on the first side of the first floor is engraved on June 21, 1068, the first year of Xining. It is a standard form of Song Dynasty that the base is made into xumizuo, the waist is carved into a vertical door, and the bottom is made into Guijiao. Xumishan's sword is strong and smooth.

Design structure

The stone pagoda of Guanyin temple is an eight storey stone and wood structure building, which imitates the wood Pavilion style. It is solid and built by Yela stone and rock, and the plane is hexagonal. The original seven stories, about 14 notes high, but later the top collapsed, leaving only six stories, each with the same width, not shrinking layer by layer, contrary to the normal song tower. Octagonal cone, the largest at the bottom, 2.8 meters in diameter, and then layer by layer see small, the top of the tower is gourd shaped spire. The width of each layer of the tower is equal, and each layer is divided into three parts. The outer part of the tower is connected with green stones and stone slabs. At the junction of each layer, the eaves are 0.15 meters out. At the junction of the fifth layer, eight crescent shaped stones are inserted into the angle of the junction, which is upward in the shape of an ox horn and extends out of the tower for 0.25 meters.

The first layer is 1.1 meters wide at the bottom, 0.9 meters wide at the top and 2 meters high. The upper layers are gradually reduced. 1、 On the east side of the second floor, there are door openings which are wide on the outside and narrow on the inside. They are inlaid with stone plates and extend from the inside of the tower to the outside. They are 0.8 meters wide on the outside, 0.6 meters wide on the inside and 1.5 meters high for people to go in and out. There are four steps of stone steps in the lower door opening, with a stone pedestal (the statue has been destroyed), which is 0.55 meters higher than the tower base, 2 meters in the bottom of the tower, and 5.5 meters in the vertical space. Inside, there are five wooden columns in the shape of five flowers, which are combined together with bolts as supports (the wooden columns are now rotten and serious). The middle one, with a diameter of 0.35 meters, goes straight into the seventh floor, and the surrounding four, with a diameter of 0.23 meters, goes straight into the fifth floor.

The exterior of the tower is whitewashed and painted (now unrecognizable). There is a stone tablet on the right side of the lower floor near the door opening. The preface of the pagoda and the name of the donor are engraved on it. Due to severe wind erosion, the handwriting is difficult to distinguish. The stone pagoda of Guanyin temple is beautiful in construction and strong in structure. Although it has been eroded by wind and rain for more than 200 years, it still stands intact on diaozui slope. The bamboo around the tower is evergreen and the scenery is beautiful.

The stream under the tower is long and clear with pleasant scenery. After the implementation of the responsibility system in rural areas, the responsible land of the farmers is close to the tower base. Now the tower base is nearly 2 meters higher than the responsible land. The tower base is loose and the whole tower body is slightly inclined. If it is not maintained, the tower will collapse in a few years.

"Three gates" of Guanyin Temple

Guanyin Temple faces south. It is more than 50 meters long from east to west and more than 80 meters long from north to south. Its front is the mountain gate, also known as the "three gates", namely, Wuxiang gate, empty gate and Wuzuo gate,

The origin of Sanmen

Its architectural style belongs to the mountain exhausting style with double eaves. The "three doors" started from the emperor of Han and Ming Dynasties. In feudal society, only the imperial palace had three doors, and other officials could not have three doors. On both sides of the "three doors" were four powerful stone lions, which represented the spread of justice and destruction of evil. The steps in the middle of the "three doors" were decorated with rolling dragon stone carvings, which were called "royal way". The five dragons above turned clouds and spewed fog, which implied that the five dragons held saints This is a Leichi that ordinary people can't cross. Only the emperor can set foot on it.

Three doors and layout

In the west of the three gates of Guanyin temple is the drum tower, and in the East is the bell tower. In the morning and dusk, the clock and drum start and stop at the same time. In the morning and dusk, the long night is broken and the police sleep is broken; in the curtain, the Quzhou is faint and the taste of the dark is sparse.

Tianwang Hall

The first hall behind the "three gates" is called the "Heavenly King Hall". "Tianwang hall" is dedicated to Maitreya, who is always smiling and bared. On both sides of Maitreya, there is a couplet: "if the big belly can accommodate the world's difficult things, the kind face will smile at the world's ridiculous people.". This couplet is humorous and rich in Buddhist philosophy. It tells the world to have a spirit of tolerance, to have a mass of things that can accommodate the world, and to be intolerant will lead to all kinds of diseases and disasters.

Shi Wuwei Temple

Behind the "Heavenly King Hall" is the main hall of Guanyin temple, which is called "Shiwuwei Buddha Hall". In front of the hall are two stone steles. The beast under the stele is called Pang (the same sound as "closed system": big tortoise). According to legend, if you touch Pang's head, you will never worry about it. In the East is the memorial tablet of Guanyin temple, which records the history and story of Guanyin temple; in the west is the wordless monument for the great philanthropist of Jintang. In the main hall, Guanyin Bodhisattva is worshipped. He sits in a gentle and solemn manner, with "Dragon Girl" and "good money boy" standing on both sides;

The east side of the main forest hall is the eastern three saints hall, and the west side is the western three saints hall. There are also retreat squatters, abbot squatters, monk squatters, and Zhaitang for monks to practice, live and eat.

Five characteristics of stone pagoda

Ancient history

The stone pagoda of Guanyin temple has a history of nearly one thousand years. It is magnificent and rare in China.

ingrained

The stone pagoda of Guanyin temple has experienced the baptism of the earthquake of magnitude 8.5 in 1668, and it is not crooked, just like the new pagoda.

The tower is magnificent

The stone pagoda of Guanyin temple is magnificent in shape, with water color, mountain light and white cloud tower shadow, which makes visitors marvel at it. The scenery of mountains and water complement each other.

Tower Tour

The stone pagoda of Guanyin temple can be seen and climbed. Tourists can not only enjoy the beautiful scenery, but also exercise in their spare time.

Lost in legend

The stone pagoda of Guanyin temple is full of moving myths and legends, which has multiplied the pleasure of traveling.

The stone pagoda of Guanyin temple is one of the main scenic spots in Zhejiang Province. Gu Qian's thirty six scenes in Ming Dynasty called it "the ancient pagoda pierces the clouds"; Huang Shenjin's twenty four scenes in Qing Dynasty called it "the pagoda shadow reunion". Can help people daydream. On the top of the tower, you can see that the surrounding mountains are getting shorter, and even the white clouds on the top of the mountain are rippling at your feet. Climbing again, the pagoda is like a bamboo shoot. This kind of scene is called "shanbaita, tabaishan" by local people, and it is also called "mountain does not press tower, tower does not press mountain". It attracts thousands of Chinese and foreign tourists.

Stone pagoda Tourism

Main landscape

The main landscape and facilities around the stone pagoda of Guanyin temple include: Xizhao Pavilion, Miaoyin terrace, Huiwen Pavilion, magnified Guangming Pavilion, Ruyi Garden Tourist Center, Ou Xiangju restaurant, etc. as a scenic spot, the stone pagoda of Guanyin Temple adds a unique style to the ancient city, which attracts people from all over the world to visit and admire it. The stone pagoda of Guanyin temple is famous for its unique charm. The dragon, sparrow and other patterns carved and cast on the base and body of the tower are exquisite and lifelike, which has become a great spectacle to decorate the scenic spots of Beigu mountain. It is said that when Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty was going down to the south of the Yangtze River, he once visited here and wrote "the Yangtze River is like an inkstone pond wave, when he mentioned gold coke as an ink mill.". A stone tower can be used as a pen, and the sky can write a few lines of poetry. Emperor Qianlong's poems not only add some color to Beigu mountain, but also reflect the extraordinary atmosphere of Beigu mountain at that time.

Traffic guide to Guanyin Temple

Transportation of stone pagoda of Guanyin Temple

Wenzhou passenger transport center has a shuttle bus to Ruian. After getting off, the opposite side is wansongshan

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