Sui relic pagoda

Sui relic pagoda

Sui relic pagoda is a cultural relic protection unit of Changsha City. Located in the south of Qingfeng gorge, Yuelu Mountain, Changsha City, on the right front of aiwan Pavilion. According to legend, Yang Jian, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, in order to appreciate the kindness of monks and nuns, ordered the construction of Buddhist pagodas in famous mountains all over the country to collect the relic.

brief introduction

Changsha cultural relics protection unit. Located in the south of Qingfeng gorge, Yuelu Mountain, Changsha City, on the right front of aiwan Pavilion. It is said that Yang Jian, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, in order to express his gratitude for the support of monks and nuns, ordered the construction of Buddhist pagodas in famous mountains all over the country for the collection of relic

. The tower was built in the second year of Renshou (602) of Sui Dynasty and was destroyed in the Five Dynasties. In the early years of the Republic of China, Lushan Temple monks found the site and rebuilt the pagoda. In 1957, stone guardrails were added outside the tower. It was destroyed in the cultural revolution. In recent years, it has been restored as it is. The tower is made of granite, which looks like a monk's hat. It is divided into three layers. The bottom layer is the tower base, which is made of xumizuo type, the four corners of which are made of banana leaf, and the relief statue of Lishi. The middle layer is made of a whole block of granite, and the two ends are cut like a spindle. The upper layer is a monk's hat like stone, which is 3 meters high and 1.3 meters long. In front of the tower, there is a granite stele, 1.6 meters high and 0.5 meters wide. On the front, it is engraved with "Sui relic pagoda" and on the back, it is engraved with "Gongshe Bodhi". After the Fenglin bridge, you can see an ancient pagoda shaped like a monk's hat. The base of the pagoda is square and made of granite. The side length of the pagoda is about 2 meters and the height of the pagoda is 12 meters. There are five reliefs in the four corners and the front. The front is a Buddha statue. The pagoda is divided into three layers. The bottom layer is xumizuo, with a relief statue of the warrior. The middle layer is carved into a circle with a whole block of granite, and the two ends are divided. The upper layer is in the shape of a monk hat. A granite stele is erected in front of the pagoda, with "Sui relic pagoda" engraved on the front, and "Gongshe Bodhi" engraved on the back.

Basic structure

There are two layers in the tower base: the first layer is carved with the lotus pattern, and the second layer is carved with feifeng, lotus and other patterns. The eight sides of the tower base are carved with sea water patterns, and carved with dragon, Phoenix, bird, beast, fish, shrimp, crab, turtle and other patterns; or flying in the clouds; or wandering in the mountains and forests; or ups and downs. The image of the posture, very realistic. Xumizuo is a lotus seat, on which there is a waist binding altar. On the corner pillars are carved Vajra, Lishi, Lilong and monsters to inherit the body of the tower. The eight sides of the altar are carved with a picture of Sakyamuni's eight phases becoming Tao, which in turn includes the birth of a mother, birth under a tree, becoming a monk beyond the city, asceticism in the snow mountain, subduing the demon army, becoming Tao under a tree, the story of Lu Yuan, and extinction in the crane forest. These sculptures show the legendary life of Sakyamuni Buddha with artistic techniques. The conception of each picture is imaginative. The characters' modality, realistic depiction, costumes and utensils, mountains and trees and other backgrounds are skillfully arranged. This group of relief can reflect the relic tower's religious function. Between xumizuo and the tower body, there are three lotus trays, and the petals are engraved with precious patterns, reflecting the artistic characteristics of Chinese traditional patterns. The tower body is composed of five layers of dense eaves tower rooms: the first layer tower room. There are statues on eight sides. The first, the third, the fifth and the seventh are the four heavenly kings. (the king of heaven is in armor and has a dignified image. And engraved with the names of the sculptors: Wang Wenzai, Ding Yangui and Xu Zhilian. On the second side, there is the statue of Puxian riding on the horse. On the fourth and eighth sides, there is a plate door (the door is tightly closed, and there are shop heads and door studs on the door). On the sixth side, it has been destroyed. According to the research, it should be Manjusri. Second floor to fifth floor tower room. Each of the four floors and eight sides is carved with two stone niches, each with a Buddha sitting in it. There are 64 small Buddha statues, which symbolize the world of Thousand Buddhas. The dense eaves on the top of the tower are in the shape of tubular tiles, with six layers of stacked stones decorated with lotus petals, Tassels and cloud patterns, which means covered bowls, wheels and beads of fire.

Historical records

Song shanjuefan wrote the story of the pagoda of the courtyard induction Buddha: Yang Jian, Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty, was born in Daxing temple in Tongzhou (today's Dali County, Shaanxi Province) in June of the seventh year of Emperor Wu of Liang Dynasty. When he was a child, he was tyrannical. Some nuns named Zhixian told Yang Zhong, Yang Jian's father, that this son was blessed by heaven and could not be raised at home When he was 0 years old, he was asked to go home. The nun gave him hundreds of pieces of relic and said, "this is a blessing for the common people.". In order to thank monks and nuns for their support, Yang Jian, emperor of Sui Dynasty, ordered 52 prefectures in the second year of Renshou (A.D. 602) to draw pagodas in famous mountains and blessed areas, and to collect relic statues under the pagoda, so the pagoda was named Sui relic pagoda. It is said that the tower was built in the second year of Renshou (602) of the Sui Dynasty. Yuelu Mountain is one of them. It was destroyed in the Five Dynasties. In the early years of the Republic of China, Lushan Temple monks found the site and rebuilt the tower. In 1957, a stone fence was added outside the tower for protection.

Construction history

Before he ascended the throne, Yang Jian, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, had received a package of relic from a Buddhist monk. Later, he asked craftsmen to make an exquisite seven treasure chest and offer the relic in it. He also built a twin Pagoda in Kyoto, under which the relic was hidden.

June 13, the first year of Renshou (601) of Sui Dynasty, is the 60th birthday of Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty. He gathered several eminent monks to discuss the way of promoting Buddhism. At last, he ordered the construction of relic pagodas in Gaoshuang and clean places in 30 states of China

"I converted to the three treasures, revived the holy religion, thought of developing Bodhi with all the people in the four seas, and shared the good fortune, so that I could see the present and the afterlife, and make the good cause forever, and ascend the wonderful fruit together. I called on thirty people who were familiar with the solution and could preach. They each gave two waiters and one scattered official. They smoked 120 catties of Lu Xiang and five horses, and sent the relic to Zhuzhou to set up the tower for me and the emperor The empress, the prince, the princes, the grandchildren and other officials, all the people and the common people, quietly show their lives, walk and repent for seven days each. On the road day, they don't ask the same state and different states, and let people give alms. The money is limited to less than ten Wen, and can't be more than ten Wen. The money they give is used to build pagodas. If it's less, they don't serve as servants and use the Treasury materials. They lead the local states, monks and nuns to set up a fast for the relic. It's limited to the afternoon of October 15 Shi Han, below the general manager and the governor, above the county captain, from a non military plane, stopped for seven days. He specially inspected the road and made a brake. He was sincere and respectful, which was in line with my intention. "

On the morning of the pagoda rising in Beijing, there were 360 people in Daxing hall for the ceremony of welcoming Buddha's relic, but there was one more. The emperor looked around and saw a strange monk, wearing brown clothes, saluting with the monk. That is to say, don't disturb him. See you after the ceremony. After the ceremony, the strange monk suddenly disappeared, and the emperor said: there must be a response to the revival of Buddhism.

Emperor Wen put the relic into 30 gold bottles. The gold bottles were put into glass bottles and sealed with incense mud. After they were sent to 30 prefectures, they were placed in bronze letters and stone letters.

Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty felt it sincerely, so before and after the installation of Buddhist relics into the pagoda, there were a lot of auspicious signs in the sky and the earth.

Sui patriarch and relic pagoda

Monk Lang, a native of Hengzhou, has been a monk since he was a child. He is as humble as a valley. He is kind and kind. He has learned a lot and is subordinate to the public.

During the reign of Renshou of Sui Dynasty, he was ordered to send the relic to Guoguo Temple of lingjiu mountain in Guangzhou to build a pagoda to support him. Langshi assigned the base of the pagoda to Zhenshan on the West Bank. The mountain was deserted and inaccessible. When it was suitable to dig six feet, he got three stone letters. In the two letters, there were two bronze letters, two silver Buddha statues and two silver immortal statues. In the other letter, there were gold and silver bottles with the inscription "the first year of Yuanhui of Song Dynasty (Southern Dynasty, Liu Dynasty, Gong Dynasty)" Yuan 473). The old stele in the temple said: "in the first year of Yongchu of Song Dynasty (420), there was a monk's law in Tianzhu. From then on, when he passed by, he heard the chime of bells and the mountain was full of smallpox, so the temple was built on the spot. Later, a Buddhist monk asked nabama to live in the temple and said, "there will be a Bodhisattva Lord in this mountain in the future, who will build a pagoda with great Buddhism." Then I will write it Master Seng Lang, isn't he the one who is willing to come again.

Stele of relic Pagoda in Sui Dynasty

Buddhism originated in India. It was introduced to China in the Western Han Dynasty and kept abreast of Chinese Taoism. It became popular in the Eastern Han Dynasty and spread more widely in the Wei, Jin, southern and Northern Dynasties. At that time, due to the separatist rule of the princes, frequent wars, natural and man-made disasters, and short life, in order to obtain spiritual sustenance and relief, people believed in Buddhism, or molded Buddha statues, or built new temples and pagodas. In order to carry forward the Buddhism, they must apply it to writing. Therefore, Scripture carving, Scripture writing, inscription on statues, inscription on pagodas, and Scripture carving on pillars became popular. Religion and calligraphy were closely linked Together. When people engraved scriptures at that time, they would invite literati and good calligraphers to write literary elixirs. In the past 100 years, a large number of sutras, cliff inscriptions, tower inscriptions, temple steles, building columns, grottoes, statues and other objects found in Dunhuang's secret rooms have provided us with very precious materials for our study of predecessors' calligraphy. In the Sui Dynasty, although hemp paper could be used to write, the important events must be recorded in stone.

The inscription is quite mature, with square, broad and well proportioned characters. Although the strokes are not as clear as those of the Tang Dynasty, they are also mellow and mellow, showing the beauty of plain but not inflexible. The individual characters also contain some Zhuan and Li meanings, but generally speaking, this tablet is very close to the regular script of the Tang Dynasty, which can be said to be the pioneer of the regular script of the Tang Dynasty.

Address: Yuelu Mountain (near banshanting)

Longitude: 112.9372224

Latitude: 28.17971226

Chinese PinYin : Sui She Li Ta