Tower of mercy

Tower of mercy

In Taiwan Province, Hunan Province and Fujian Province, there are Ci'en pagoda.

Ci'enta, Nantou County, Taiwan Province

brief introduction

Located at the top of Qinglong mountain in Yuchi Township, Nantou County, Taiwan Province, the tower was completed in January 1971. The top of the tower is 1000 meters above sea level, which is the highest point of Sun Moon Lake. From the top of the tower, we can see that the Sun Moon Lake, Lalu Island (Guanghua Island), Xuanzang temple and the tower are all on the same axis. It is a Chinese pagoda style building with nine floors. The two-story building on the top of the tower is Lady Wang's mourning hall, with a quiet environment and stone tables and chairs for people to rest.

origin

The Ci'en pagoda, built in 1971, was built by Jiang Zhongzheng to express his gratitude for his mother's kindness. The plaque of "Ci'en pagoda" at the entrance of the pagoda is his personal letter, and the throne of Jiang Mu Wang Caiyu is in the palace style building in front of the pagoda. Standing at the edge of the lake at an altitude of 954 meters, the nine storey pagoda is just 1000 meters high. You can look at the Moon Lake on the left and the sun lake on the right. You can have a panoramic view of the lake. It is one of the landmarks of the Sun Moon Lake. At the beginning of the construction of the tower, all the building materials were transported by ship, and then transported to the sabaran mountains in floating cages. In front of the tower, the trees and flowers are sparse, the lawn is broad, and the environment is quite quiet. There is a 700 meter long hiking trail nearby, which is a good place to enjoy the forest bath and watch the stars.

Architectural features

Ci'en pagoda is located on the shabalan mountain with an altitude of 954 meters. When the pagoda was first built, all construction materials were transported across the surface of the Moon Lake by ship, and then transported up the mountain by flow cage. The project is quite arduous. The height of the pagoda is only 46 meters, and the top of the pagoda is just 1000 meters above sea level. After completion, the tower towered into the sky, just like a famous landmark of Sun Moon Lake.

The plaque on the entrance gate of the pagoda is inscribed by Chiang Kai Shek. Inside the pagoda is a huge bronze bell, which has been hung since its completion.

On the top of the mountain where the pagoda is located, there is a vast area of open space and lawn, with plum, cypress and other flowers and trees planted, as well as stone tables and chairs for visitors to have a rest.

Ci'enta, Ninghua County, Fujian Province

brief introduction

Ci'en pagoda is an ancient pagoda in Ninghua, also known as Shuinan pagoda. It was built in the Northern Song Dynasty when the pagoda was demolished during the cultural revolution and is now rebuilt.

history

The ancient pagoda of Ci'en used to be the first of the eight scenic spots in Ninghua city. During the blooming season of rape, people rush to the cangmiao temple in the suburbs for an outing. When they climb up and look far away, they can only see smoke and rain

Flying eagles, rosy clouds and yellow flowers, Ci'en tower stands in the middle of the city, towering and magnificent. A colorful spring landscape painting is refreshing

Ninghua county was built in the 13th year of Kaiyuan in Tang Dynasty (725). In Tang and Song Dynasties, with the further spread of Buddhism, the pagoda building as a symbol of Buddhism was also widely used. The pagoda was built in unfair Buddhist land, in the urban world, and even in many places as a symbol of state and county. Therefore, there is a saying that "no pagoda can make a state and county". The construction of Ci'en pagoda started in the Tongguang period of later Tang Dynasty (923-926), with a history of 1000 years Years of history. The pagoda is of blue brick structure, with seven octagonal stories and a height of 20 square meters. Arches are set in four directions on each story. The exterior decoration is simple and typical

development

Ci'en pagoda is a rare ancient pagoda, a symbol of ancient civilization. It is also a historical witness that Hakka ancestors moved southward during the Tang and Song Dynasties, bringing the prosperous Central Plains culture to the border areas of Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi. Although it has been eroded by wind and frost and attacked by thunder and lightning, it is still as old as ever. As a famous tower, it has been included in the collection of ancient and modern books of Beijing History Museum. After the founding of new China, the ancient pagoda was valued and protected by the people's government. In 1958, it was listed as a provincial cultural relic protection unit by the Fujian Provincial People's Committee. However, during the ten-year catastrophe of the cultural revolution, the Millennium pagoda suffered a lot. In 1970, the Ninghua Qie Revolutionary Committee was ordered to demolish them in the name of "breaking the four old" and "preparing for war and air defense".

In recent years, with the deepening of Hakka studies, Ninghua has lifted her mysterious veil on the stone wall, which is understood and recognized by more and more people. There is an endless stream of Hakkas at home and abroad who come to Ninghua to visit their ancestors. After making pilgrimages to worship their ancestors and enjoying the natural and cultural scenery of the ancestral place, they deeply regret that the Millennium pagoda no longer exists. In order to meet the needs of economic and cultural exchanges with foreign countries, add a tourist attraction suitable for Hakka traditional culture and a pagoda suitable for modern people's sightseeing and tourism needs, the project implementation will rely on the spontaneous and voluntary fund-raising of the people to complete.

Ci'enta, Yueyang City, Hunan Province

brief introduction

Ci'en tower stands in the southwest corner of Yueyang City on the East Bank of Dongting Lake. It was built in the Kaiyuan period of Tang Dynasty (731-741). The existing tower is rebuilt in Song Dynasty, with brick and stone structure and seven octagonal solid. The tower is 39 meters high and the iron phase wheel at the top weighs about 2 tons. From the second floor, there are small niches on each floor. The pagoda is one of the earliest existing ancient pagodas in Hunan.

legend

There are many legends about the origin of the tower of mercy, but only one of them is selected here. It is said that in ancient times there was a young girl whose father died of illness. Due to the poverty of her family, she wandered in Yueyang and was unable to bury her father, so the girl had to sell herself to bury her father. Her filial piety moved a Juren, who paid for the burial of the old man and took the woman with her daughter. Later, the woman married a good family and was extremely rich. In order to thank Ju Ren for his kindness, a stone pagoda was built to let future generations remember this kindness and virtue. Therefore, this tower is also called "Ci'en tower".

Related information

Ci'en Temple

Ci'en Temple is a Chinese Buddhist temple. Located in the southern suburb of Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. It was first built in the ninth year of kaihuang (589) of Sui Dynasty and was initially named wuliou temple. In 648, the 22nd year of Tang Zhenguan, Prince Li Zhi recommended Mingfu to his mother, empress Wende, and expanded it into dacien temple. Xuanzang moved from Hongfu temple to this temple as his seat and presided over the Buddhist scripture translation hall. In the third year of Yonghui (652), Xuanzang asked to build a big wild goose pagoda to store Buddhist scriptures in the temple. This temple is the ancestral court of the FA Xiang sect of Chinese Buddhism.

Tang Ci'en pagoda

Xuanzang, a Buddhist scholar in Tang Dynasty, was a world-famous master. His tomb is in the Xingjiao Temple of dulingyuan in dulingyuan, Chang'an District, Xi'an.

The scale of the newly built Xingjiao temple is relatively large. The following records can be seen from the "stele of four Zhi of Xingjiao Temple" in the temple: "the site of dangchaqi temple is four Zhi, reaching Weicun in the East, jiangpo in the west, Guanqu in the South and yuanleng in the north." That is, it is the same as the place name around Xingjiao temple. We can judge the original scale. On the stele, there are "temple land, grain as usual", "ten mu of covered canal land for collecting lessons, and three hectares of permanent residence in the temple..." This also shows that there were quite a lot of land rented by temples at that time. Therefore, the temple got its name and was the most famous of the Eight Temples in the Tang Dynasty. Tang Zhongzong was posthumously named Xuanzang as "master dabianjue". Since then, the Tang style square Pagoda in the courtyard has been called dabianjue pagoda. In the following years, Emperor suzong of Tang Dynasty paid a visit to Ci'en pagoda and wrote the word "Xingjiao". Since then, the title of Xingjiao temple has been handed down to the present day. It ranks among the first batch of key cultural relics protection units in China.

The West courtyard of Xingjiao temple is the courtyard of Ci'en pagoda, surrounded by ancient cypresses and curling with Buddhist Chants. In the courtyard of Ci'en pagoda, there are three tombs. The highest one in the middle is Xuanzang pagoda. The pagoda is Z3 meters high and has five floors. The plane is a typical square of Tang Dynasty. The bottom floor is 5 meters on each side. The facade of the pagoda is made of imitation wood. The shape of the whole pagoda is dignified and beautiful. After thousands of years of baptism, the pagoda can still remain intact, which is also a blessing in the history of Chinese architecture, because it has become the oldest brick Pagoda with imitation wood structure.

On the wall of the North facade at the bottom of the tower is Tang Wenzong's "Ta Ming of Tang Sanzang dabianjue master", which is about the life of Xuanzang. On the south side of the first floor is an arched cave with a statue of Xuanzang. The two pagodas next to Xuanzang pagoda are the spiritual pagodas of Xuanzang's disciples jueji and Yuance. The architectural form is similar to Xuanzang tower. It is a three story brick tower, about seven meters high. To the south of the two towers, there are brick inscriptions with the words "Jishi tower" and "Jieshi tower". The Yuance pagoda was built in Song Dynasty after the peep pagoda.

To the north of the three pagodas is the temple, in which is preserved the incomplete picture of Xuanzang's collection of Buddhist scriptures. Xuanzang is on his way to collect Buddhist scriptures. He is carrying a bag with Buddhist scriptures on his back. Above the collection is an oil lamp for walking at night. It truly represents the moving image of Xuanzang's long journey not far away. The original painting of Xuanzang's negative collection can be traced back to the Song Dynasty and is now stored in the National Museum of Tokyo, Japan. In addition, the hall also has two disciples of Xuan Zang line carved like and like praise.

About one hundred years after the completion of Xingjiao temple, "there is no master in the pagoda, no monk in the temple, and tourists hurt their eyes." (preface to pagoda inscription) that is, after 769 ad, the temple gradually declined.

In history, Xingjiao temple has been repaired for many times. The first time was in changqingzhong (821) of emperor Mu Zong of Tang Dynasty, which was presided over by monk Fabao Tanjing. Then in the second year of Dahe (828), Seng Yilin maintained Xuanzang pagoda, and the third time in the fourth year of Yuanfeng (1081). Knowing that the dragon in the capital, Duke Lu passed through Xingjiao temple, boarded Shaoling yuan, and saw the beautiful scenery of Zhongnan. He asked Yan Jing, the main monk of the temple, to add Yufeng Pavilion. By Wannian county magistrate Chen zhengju for "yufengxuan Ji". Later, there were many repairs in the song, yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. During the reign of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty, all the buildings in the temple except the three pagodas were destroyed by war. By 1921, Xingjiao temple had no walls and no architectural remains. There were only three left in the distance

Chinese PinYin : Ci En Ta