Secluded Temple Pagoda

Secluded Temple Pagoda is located in shazidong village, Northwest Mountain Area of Lingshou County, Hebei Province, 55 kilometers away from the county seat. The mountains are emerald and the environment is quiet. According to the inscriptions, the temple was built by Gao Rui, king of Zhao county in 557, the eighth year of Tianbao in the Northern Qi Dynasty. It was destroyed in the early years, and only one square tower, stele, building and stone Buddha statue were left. Square tower plane is square, built on a square stone foundation, 7 levels, about 20 meters high. There is an arch gate in the south of the first floor. Above the second layer, the surface width and height gradually decrease. The eaves of each layer are made of water caltrop teeth. There are 17 small stone Buddha statues of white marble in each layer. With the reduction of the tower layer by layer, the carvings are exquisite. They are precious stone carvings of the Northern Qi Dynasty. The top of the tower is supported by a lotus, which is quite unique. In 1991, it was repaired and maintained the simple and beautiful style of the ancient pagoda in the Tang Dynasty. On June 25, 2001, as an ancient building of the Tang Dynasty, the secluded Temple Pagoda has been approved by the State Council to be listed in the fifth batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

Secluded Temple Pagoda

Secluded Temple Pagoda is located in shazidong village, Northwest Mountain Area of Lingshou County, Hebei Province, 55 kilometers away from the county seat. The mountains are emerald and the environment is quiet. According to the inscriptions, the temple was built by Gao Rui, king of Zhao county in 557, the eighth year of Tianbao in the Northern Qi Dynasty. It was destroyed in the early years, and only one square tower, stele, building and stone Buddha statue were left. In 1991, it was repaired and maintained the simple and beautiful style of the ancient pagoda in the Tang Dynasty.

On June 25, 2001, as an ancient building of the Tang Dynasty, Youju Temple Pagoda has been approved by the State Council to be listed in the fifth batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

A brief introduction to the pagoda

The secluded Temple Pagoda, 55 kilometers northwest of the county, is located in the north of shazidong village. It sits in the north, faces the south, backs Cuifeng, faces Qingliu, has beautiful scenery, is quiet and elegant, so it gets its name.

According to the inscriptions of the temple, it was built in 748 for the dead father, mother, uncle, brother, concubine and his own merits by the envoys of the Northern Qi Dynasty, Sanqi, Dingzhou, and Zhaojun. The secluded residence pagoda is square in plane and built on a square stone foundation. It has seven levels and is about 20 meters high. There is an arched gate in the south of the first floor, from which you can enter the square tower.

Above the second floor, the surface width and height gradually decrease. There are 17 small stone Buddha statues in each floor, and with the reduction of the tower layer by layer, the carvings are fine. They are precious stone carvings of the Northern Qi Dynasty. At the top of the tower, the lotus is used to support the tower brake, which can be described as unique. In 1956, it was announced as a key cultural relics protection unit in Hebei Province. In 1991, it was repaired and maintained the simple and beautiful style of the ancient pagoda in the Tang Dynasty.

Design structure

The pagoda of the secluded temple is made of limestone stones and is made of single layer. The tower is square outside and round inside, simple in shape, moderate in proportion, solid and simple. It is not only different from the traditional Pavilion pagoda of the Han nationality, but also different from the Lama pagoda (bottle pagoda) introduced from India into China in the Yuan Dynasty. The pagoda was originally located near Xiufeng, a famous temple in the south of the Yangtze River. It faces south from the north and is 11.2 meters high. It is divided into three parts: the base, the body and the pagoda.

Facing south, there is a fire like gate. The gate is 2.1 meters high and 0.72 meters wide. On the front of the gate, there are four characters of "ancient pagoda Chongxing" and "Amitabha" on both sides.

A couplet is engraved on both sides of the gate of the pagoda of the secluded residence temple. The first couplet is "building the pagoda for all living beings", and the second couplet is "developing the Bodhi Heart and becoming Buddhism together". The tower room looks like a round shaft wall, with small top and wide bottom. The bottom diameter is 2.14 meters, the top diameter is 1.65 meters, the wall height is 3.75 meters, and the lower part is equipped with a Xumi seat with a height of 0.74 meters.

In the middle of xumizuo, there is an inscription on the Pagoda: "the story of chengjue jingshe", which provides clues for the research of the construction age. On the left side is engraved "Wu Deqian, a stone maker of Wumen, made by Kunzhong", on the right side is engraved "Yuandao Zhiyuan tonggouyuan", and on the upper part is decorated with "Tiaocao Ruyi headdress". Xumizuo is surrounded by ten layers of Wukang stones and is carved with rows of small relief Buddha statues. The Buddha statues are 4.5cm high and 3.5cm wide, only the size of an egg. Each of them has a clear robe and distinctive facial features, and sits on a lotus seat. Each row of these statues has an average of 180 statues, a total of 60 rows, a total of 10800 statues, from which the name of "secluded Temple Pagoda" comes.

Facing the gate of the pagoda, there is a Buddha statue about 30 cm high and 20 cm wide. Although it is not included, it is the head of the dragons here. This statue is Sakyamuni, the Buddha, to show that all Buddhas sit upright and listen to the Buddha's preaching. Tasha is a stone gourd shaped vase with a top of pearls. Under it are niches covered with lotus, phase wheels and four corners. The gate around the niches is engraved with a sitting Buddha, which is placed on a platform composed of eight layers of stones of different widths. It is said that Zhao Mengfu, the great calligrapher of the Yuan Dynasty and the governor of Huzhou, was full of praise when he saw the pagoda and happily wrote "the pagoda of secluded residence".

historical value

The secluded Temple Pagoda is one of the important pagodas in the Northern Qi Dynasty. The secluded residence temple was built by monk Biao of Dingguo temple, the official Temple of the Northern Qi Dynasty, together with the governor of Dingzhou, governor of Liuzhou and Gaorui, the king of Zhaojun. First, the temple was built by Seng Biao, and then Gaorui expanded and innovated to build a pagoda. With the tower as the center, the temple is the main building of the central axis line, which has been preserved up to now. The plane of the tower is square. It was founded in the Northern Qi Dynasty and rebuilt in the Tang Dynasty. The tower is built on a simple square pedestal, each side is 5.23 meters long, with seven stories of dense eaves, and the height is about 23 meters. The first floor is higher, with a semicircular stone arch in the south.

The door frame is carved out of the whole stone. The border and lintel are covered with lines engraved with lotus Huasheng boy, cloud dragon, golden winged bird and honeysuckle; and the Persian couplet is decorated around. The whole design of cloud dragon carving, clouds flying, Dragon God straightening, shows the superb artistic style of the Northern Qi Dynasty. The height of the tower decreases gradually from the second floor up to each floor, and the outer contour shrinks gradually, which makes the shape of the tower square cone, elegant, simple, straight and stable. It is a typical relic of the brick tower in the Northern Dynasty.

Tourism value

The secluded temples and pagodas are attracting more and more tourists, which play an important role in the social, economic and cultural development of Lingshou county

It can promote the development of the industry. Since 1994, there has been an endless stream of tourists who come here every day to study Buddhism or to travel. They have received countless Dharma learners from many countries in Asia, America and Europe, as well as from all provinces, cities and regions in China, and tourists are even more numerous.

Secluded Temple Pagoda, where beautiful scenery, such as forest. Tang and song poets Wang Bo, Du Fu, Fan Chengda and Qing Dynasty writer Li Diaoyuan all yearn for this place, leaving many famous works for later generations. There are charming charm everywhere; the secluded Temple Pagoda is close to the mountain and water; at the foot, the graceful Kaijiang river flows around the temple; at the back, on the towering top of the mountain, a fourteen level Ancient Song Dynasty pagoda made of rubble rises into the sky. Along the 186 steps of two meters wide stone terraces to the top of the mountain, you can have a panoramic view of the rich and vast fields and the prosperous and beautiful Zhongjiang City, as well as the cool wind on the mountain, which is enough to make people feel relaxed and happy and forget to return. Enter the mountain gate, the milky white open-air Buddha in the temple. An antique street with a width of 18 meters and a length of 400 meters leads directly to the color screen wall. On the front of the screen wall, four golden dragons hold the four corners of the sea in relief. In the sea, two powerful golden unicorns protect the huge golden Falun. Above Falun are eight big red characters of "Amitabha Buddha in the South"; below Falun are "Ruyi wheel Vajra Fazu court" written by master Shi Haikong in seal script; there are two big characters on the left and right of Falun, one is "Xianmi" and the other is "Yuantong", which indicates that the temple is a Taoist temple with both Xianmi and Yuantong.

On the back of the screen wall, there is a big word "Fu" in the center. Men, women, old and young who come here will never forget to touch the word "Fu" with their eyes closed. They all hope that the five blessings will come to the door from now on. The first hall in front of the secluded temple tower is the heavenly king hall. In front of the hall, there are four flower beds, eight green tasong trees and two rows of flourishing Fargesia. There are two powerful and kind stone lions more than two meters high, which give people a special sense of solemnity and quietness.

Up the twelve steps, the twelve Chinese zodiac signs on the stone railings on both sides are vivid. Children like the living treasure in the mouth of little lion most. They vie with each other to make it smooth and round. The ingenious layout in front of the heavenly king hall is amazing, and the Buddha statues in the heavenly king hall make you feel more excited.

Maitreya, who laughs heartily, makes you feel more cordial; Weituo Bodhisattva, who is powerful, makes you feel awe struck; the four heavenly kings, who are more than Zhang tall, some hold pipa, some carry sword, some catch earthworm, some catch silver rat, and all step on demons and ghosts. The Buddha statues here, regardless of proportion, shape, color and manner, are exquisite and impeccable. You will be full of praise when you look at them.

Documentation

According to Lingshou county annals, Gao Rui, the king of Zhao county in the Northern Qi Dynasty, selected Taihang as the winner, won the sun of Zhushan, and built Qilin temple

Seclusion Temple). Two hundred monk houses were set up, and more than 2000 monks were chosen to live there. When Qi died, the temple was deserted. After the prosperity in the Yuan Dynasty, Dade. After more than 1400 years of changes, the temple has long been abandoned, but a seven level square brick pagoda and some of its ancillary cultural relics have been completely preserved, including twenty-one white jade stone Buddha statues and a stone Sutra building with four ancient steles (Beiqi stele 2 and Yuanbei stele 2), three Buddhas including Sakya, Ayi and wuliangshou (Gaorui was the deceased father, mother, brother, wife and self-made). These Buddhist relics are of great historical and cultural value. Gao Rui was the son of Gao Chen, the emperor Gaohuan's younger brother of Shenwu emperor and Gaozu of the Northern Qi Dynasty. According to his biography, Gao Rui (536-570 A.D.)

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