Yunyan Temple Pagoda in Suzhou

Yunyan Temple Pagoda in Suzhou

Located on Huqiu mountain, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, Yunyan Temple Pagoda is commonly known as Huqiu pagoda,

There is a saying that "Huqiu pagoda first, Suzhou city later".

The Yunyan Pagoda in Suzhou was built in 959, the sixth year of Zhou Xiande after the Five Dynasties, and completed in 961, the second year of Jianlong in the Northern Song Dynasty.

Yunyan Temple Pagoda in Suzhou is an octagonal wooden structure attic style brick wooden eaves Pagoda with 7 floors and 48.2 meters in height. The tower body is composed of outer wall, back corridor and tower core.

Yunyan Temple Pagoda in Suzhou is a typical representative of the multi-storey brick pagoda of the south of the Yangtze River in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties. It is the earlier existing brick pagoda of the south of the Yangtze River. It represents the form characteristics of the early brick pagoda of the south of the Yangtze River. Its style characteristics are the unique style of the south of the Yangtze River imitation wooden pagoda system, and it is a living fossil in the evolution process of the south of the Yangtze River Pavilion pagoda.

On March 4, 1961, Yunyan Pagoda in Suzhou was announced as the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council of the people's Republic of China.

Historical evolution

The Yunyan Pagoda in Suzhou was built in 959, the sixth year of Zhou Xiande after the Five Dynasties, and completed in 961, the second year of Jianlong in the Northern Song Dynasty.

From 1127-1130 of the Song Dynasty to 1860 of the Qing Dynasty, the Yunyan Temple Pagoda in Suzhou experienced seven fires. The wooden structure, such as the eaves of the pagoda and the wooden Dougong, had been destroyed, which had little influence on the brick pagoda.

The Yunyan Pagoda in Suzhou was repaired in 1344, 1403-1424, 1426-1435 and 1628-1644.

In 1638, the seventh floor of Suzhou Yunyan Temple Pagoda was demolished and rebuilt. The position of this floor moved slightly to the opposite direction of inclination, in order to change the center of gravity and correct the deviation. Its appearance is different from other six layers.

In 1860, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom captured Suzhou and set it on fire.

In 1956, the Yunyan Temple Pagoda in Suzhou was overhauled. From the top to the first floor, it was reinforced with three reinforced concrete hoops, and the floor was fastened with cross bars. The damaged part of the pagoda body was completely repaired, making the cracked pagoda body a solid whole.

In 1977, the cultural authorities of Jiangsu Province and Suzhou City found that the northeast corner of Suzhou Yunyan temple tower was inclined 2.54 meters to the north and East due to the increasing inclination.

In 1978, Suzhou City set up the repair project headquarters, put forward the scheme of Suzhou Yunyan temple tower reinforcement project, started construction in December 1981, strengthened the base of the tower, and completed the maintenance project in 1986, fundamentally eliminating the risk of tower settlement and tilt.

In 2010, the tower of Yunyan temple in Suzhou was seriously inclined. The angle of the center line of the tower deviated from the plumb line was 3 ° 59 ', which was the first inclined tower in China.

Architectural features

structure

Yunyan Temple Pagoda in Suzhou is an octagonal wooden structure attic style brick wooden eaves Pagoda with 7 floors and 48.2 meters in height. The tower body is composed of outer wall, back corridor and tower core.

For years, the wooden eaves and the iron brake on the top of the tower have been destroyed, and the existing parts are mainly brick.

Due to the uneven settlement of the foundation, the top of the tower is gradually eccentric, reaching more than 2.34 meters.

The pagoda body and flat seat of Suzhou Yunyan temple are made of brick, and the external eaves are made of brick and wood. Each corner of the outer wall is built into a cylinder, and each side is divided into three by eaves columns, one of which is the tower door, and the left and right two are brick mullion windows.

On the top of the column, there is a horizontal banner with Dougong on it, supporting the eaves of the tower at the waist, and above it are Dougong and flat balustrade. There is a corridor from the outer wall tower gate to the cloister; inside the corridor is the tower center, octagonal, with doors opening from East, West, North and South; from the tower gate, you can walk into the center of the tower through the corridor, and the plane of the chamber is square except the second and seventh octagonal. How to use the size of the top of each layer of the tower to make the tower of Suzhou Yunyan Temple no longer incline? The outer wall of the square room cloister in the center of the tower leans against the column, the eaves column leans against the column, and the corridor is built into rectangular, square and octagonal caissons with different Dougong and bricks.

The brick structure of Suzhou Yunyan Temple Pagoda mostly imitates the wood structure. The main building material is brick. In addition to the brick tower wall, other components such as column, architrave, pot door, mullion window and bucket arch are also made of brick. They are made of lime mixed with sand. Bamboo nails are inserted in the mortar joint. The bamboo nails are thick and sharp at the top and sharp at the bottom, and the hat is wrapped with hemp thread. They are used to tighten the plaster and the brick surface, and at the same time strengthen the strength of the mortar joint Resistance to pressure.

In addition to the corner beams of the eaves of the pagoda, wooden bones were also found at the corners of the brick wall and the outer wall of the pagoda, which extended to the Dougong. The wooden bones were hidden in the brick body.

characteristic

Yunyan Temple Pagoda in Suzhou is a kind of brick and wood sleeve structure.

The double sleeve structure is adopted, and the wooden ladder is set in the corridor between the two sleeves. The tower body shrinks from the bottom to the top layer by layer, forming a slightly bulging curvilinear outline with beautiful shape.

Suzhou Yunyan temple tower is an inclined tower, inclined to the northeast. According to preliminary measurement, the top of the tower has deviated more than 8 meters from the bottom center. According to the preliminary analysis of the current situation and data, the main cause of the tilt is the uneven settlement of the tower foundation. The Yunyan Temple Pagoda in Suzhou is built on a slope of high in the South and low in the north. There is more filling in the north and less filling in the south. The thickness is different, and the shrinkage degree is different after compression. As a result, the uneven settlement of the tower foundation causes the tower body to incline to the direction of settlement.

Cultural relics

overview

On March 30, 1956, during the restoration of the Yunyan Temple Pagoda in Suzhou, relief stone letters were found, in which there were gold-plated carved nanmu Sutra boxes, seven volumes of miaofe Lotus Sutra written in blue paper and real gold, as well as embroidery, silk and song brocade sutras. On May 5, in addition to copper coins, bronze mirrors and bronze Buddha statues, it was found that there were also iron cast gold painted pagodas, Tan niche treasures and Yue Kiln celadon lotus bowls.

Iron cast gold coated tower

The pagoda is made of iron and covered with iron and stone letters, similar to the shape of an Indian pagoda. It contains a Gold Vase with a relic in it. On the silk silk wrapped with the golden pagoda, it is written in ink that this is the relic of the Tathagata, who is one of the two disciples of Sakyamuni. His real relic is regarded as a Buddhist relic.

Tan niche

The tan niche is made of sandalwood. It is cylindrical on the outside and divided into three parts on the inside. It can be opened and closed with ropes, kinks and chains. There are three niches for the carved Avalokitesvara, shancai and Longnv. Although the head is as small as mung bean, it still has a clear and elegant face.

Celadon lotus bowl

Yue Kiln celadon lotus bowl, also known as "secret color porcelain", is celadon fired by the state of Yue in the Five Dynasties. It is rated by historians as "as thin as paper, as moist as jade, and as loud as a chime." It is now a national first-class cultural relic and is collected in Suzhou Museum.

Color painting

Suzhou Yunyan Temple Pagoda is painted with white gray powder and red and black on the brick surface. "Seven Zhu and six Bai" (the pattern of seven red and six white blocks) and Ruyi head are painted on the crossbar; comb flower is painted on the pot door; red and white and red and black colors are painted on the bucket arch; Ruyi head, comb flower, square rib, tuanko, raw flower and ball grid are painted on the ceiling and caisson. These paintings are one of the earliest architectural paintings in China.

History and culture

Legends and anecdotes

Suzhou Yunyan Temple Pagoda is built on Huqiu mountain in Suzhou. Huqiu mountain, also known as Haiyong mountain, is a small mound formed by igneous rock accumulation, with a height of more than 30 meters. It is said that at the end of the spring and Autumn period (6th century BC), King Helu of Wu was buried here after his death. Three days after his burial, a white tiger appeared on the mountain. From then on, people called this hill tiger hill.

In the Jin Dynasty, the brothers of situ Wangwei and Sikong Wangmin once built houses on Huqiu mountain. Later, the Wangs gave up their houses as temples, named Huqiu temple.

In the Tang Dynasty, it was renamed Baoen temple in Wuqiu to avoid the taboo of Li Hu, the grandfather of Li Yuan, the great ancestor of the Tang Dynasty. The pagoda was built in the temple. It is a square wooden pagoda, not the current Yunyan pagoda.

During the period from song to Dao (995-997), Baoen temple was rebuilt and renamed Yunyan temple.

Flying Poetry Club

According to plain essays reprinted in Hufu annals of the Qing Dynasty, Suzhou calligrapher Zhu Zhishan, Lu Jimin, Zhang Mengjin and Han Shouchun of the Ming Dynasty climbed to the top of the tower of Yunyan temple in Suzhou, but they saw that "the eight barren caves are natural, and all sounds come together", so they were very happy to drink. Han Shouchun took out his pen and paper and put forward to compose poems to record his travels. When they finished their poems, they were commenting on them one by one. The wind was blowing. They rolled the paper out of the tower and circled with the wind. When they were about to land, they were held by Eagles. They didn't know where to go.

Research value

Yunyan Temple Pagoda in Suzhou, as a typical example of multi-layer brick Pagoda with imitation wooden pavilion style in the south of the Yangtze River in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, its shape and style have two meanings for the evolution of the south of the Yangtze River pagoda style: one is the epochal, Yunyan Temple Pagoda is the earlier existing south of the Yangtze River Pagoda with imitation wooden pavilion style, which represents the form characteristics of the early imitation wooden brick pagoda; the other is the regional, whose style characteristics are unique The style of South China imitation wooden Pavilion tower system is similar to that of the same period

Chinese PinYin : Su Zhou Yun Yan Si Ta