Chengtian Temple Pagoda

In the middle of Chengtian temple stands an ancient pagoda in the clouds, which is called "West pagoda". It is the tallest brick pagoda among more than 100 existing pagodas in Ningxia. It is also the only ancient pagoda in Ningxia that has recorded the beginning of its construction.

The gate of Chengtian temple is opened to the East, which is different from that of most temples in the Central Plains. This may be related to the worship of the east or the sun by Xixia people. After entering the gate, there are five Buddha Hall, pagoda, Weituo hall, reclining Buddha Hall and other main buildings on the east-west axis. Each building is connected with a small door and a wall. It is a courtyard of courtyard style. There are very simple brick carvings on the small door. On the 60 meter high Chengtian temple tower, you can see the old city of Yinchuan through the window. Around the Chengtian tower, there are six old locust trees more than 400 years old, which are matched with the exquisite carvings on the screen wall, full of the flavor of simplicity.

Chengtian Temple Pagoda

Chengtian Temple Pagoda is an octagonal brick Pagoda with dense eaves. It is 64.5 meters high, 0.5 meters higher than the Dayan Pagoda in Xi'an. The tower is built on a square platform with a height of 2.6 meters and a side length of 26 meters.

Chengtian temple tower, east of the tower gate, can enter the tower room through the 4.8-meter ticket road.

A brief introduction to the pagoda

Chengtian temple tower, located in Chengtian temple in Xingqing District, Yinchuan City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, was built in the first year of chuisheng (1050). It is reported that after the death of Li Yuanhao, the founding emperor of the Western Xia Dynasty, his son ascended the throne at a young age. In order to protect his son's "boundless longevity", the Empress Dowager prayed for the stability of the Li family and the Western Xia Dynasty. Chengtian temple and pagoda were built.

Chengtian temple sits in the West and faces east, which is composed of two courtyards. The front courtyard is five Buddha Hall and Chengtian Temple Pagoda; the back courtyard is Weituo hall and reclining Buddha Hall. In ancient times, Chengtian temple had contacts with "Eastern celebrities" and "Western talents", which were full of incense and visitors. Like the Huguo temple in Wuwei and Wofo temple in Zhangye, it is a famous Buddhism in Xixia.

Cultural relics protection

On May 25, 2006, Chengtian Temple Pagoda, as an ancient building of the Qing Dynasty, was approved by the State Council to be listed in the Sixth Batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

Layout structure

Chengtian temple tower, the tower room is a square space, each floor of the interior is a wooden floor structure, there are wooden ladders circling up. On the first to second floors of the tower, there are door and window niches, and on the third, fifth, seventh and ninth floors, there are north and south door type open windows. The pomegranate shaped iron handles on the eaves of each layer are hung with iron bells, which tinkle when the breeze blows. Over the 11th floor of the tower, there are five layers of angular teeth bricks, on which there are eight pointed top brake seats, on which there are peach shaped green glass tower brakes. 4、 The sixth, eighth and tenth floors are equipped with east-west multi door windows, and the eleventh floor is equipped with four bright and four dark round windows. The shape of the whole tower is straight and straight, showing a conical style, simple and simple. ? 11 floors of tower body.

Chengtian Temple Pagoda is a square space, with no window openings on the first to third floors; on the fourth to tenth floors, arched window openings are alternately set on each floor. The even number of floors is east-west, the odd number of floors is north-south, and the top floor is surrounded by large round windows, which is very bright. There are wooden ladders in the tower, which can spiral up to the top. You can have a panoramic view of the ancient city and the fortress from the window. In autumn, you can see the Yellow River at the junction of heaven and earth.

Historical records

Chengtian Temple Pagoda is the only ancient pagoda in Ningxia that has recorded the beginning of its construction. According to the Ming Dynasty "Hongzhi Ningxia new annals" records: "Chengtian Temple Pagoda in Chengtian temple, built by the pseudo Xia (Xixia), 13 levels, there are residual steles can be tested." According to the newly built stele for burying Buddha's parietal bones in Chengtian Temple by the Empress Dowager of Xia, after the death of Li Yuanhao, the founding emperor of the Western Xia Dynasty, the Empress Dowager Wu Zang's family built Chengtian temple and Chengtian Temple Pagoda in 1050 for the sake of Li Liangzuo, the little emperor of "youdengchenji". The Buddhist bones presented by monks in the western regions were stored in gold coffins and silver coffins under the tower foundation. In 1055, the third year of Fu Sheng Cheng Dao in the Xixia Dynasty, the Tripitaka, which was given by the Song Dynasty, was placed in the temple. After the completion of the pagoda temple, Uighur eminent monks were invited to sit on their seats and give lectures. The Empress Dowager and the emperor often listened to them on the spot. The temple is full of incense and monks. It is as famous as Liangzhou Huguo temple and Ganzhou Wofo temple. It is one of the famous Buddhist holy places in Xixia. It is called "sister tower" with Lingwu river tower.

Chengtian Temple Pagoda was damaged by fire and earthquake in Yuan and Ming Dynasties. In the early Ming Dynasty, only one pagoda existed alone. Later, the 16th son of Zhu Yuanzhang, Ming Qingjing Wang Zhu, rebuilt the temple and built more temples. Chengtian Temple became one of the eight scenic spots in Ningxia in the Ming Dynasty. The earthquake of November 24, 1739 destroyed all the pagodas and temples. The Chengtian Temple Pagoda, which was rebuilt in 1820, retains the basic shape of the original Xixia pagoda.

Cultural heritage

Today, Chengtian Temple Pagoda has been well protected by the people's government, and has been designated as a key cultural relics protection unit in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. The temple has built a museum, built an exhibition room of ancient buildings, and collected many precious cultural relics of Ningxia history, nationality, military and other aspects, which has become an important place for people to watch and play. Chengtian Temple Pagoda is now the location of Xixia Museum. There are many small restaurants around the street. Some famous dishes are Yinchuan's specialties. Generally, there are some bigger restaurants. One of them is stewed sheep chop suey: Stewed sheep chop suey, with unique flavor. Its production method is: with sheep viscera, head hoof meat, after careful washing, into the boiling water pot cooked, fished out, cut into silk. Add chopped shredded pork into the original soup, add onion, ginger, minced garlic, chili oil, monosodium glutamate and coriander to make the mashed lamb. The red one is chili oil, the green one is green onion and coriander powder, and under the oil color is milk white soup. You can drink a mouthful of fresh soup and eat a mouthful of minced food, which is not greasy and fragrant. Its second-hand mutton: Guoqiang and laomao are the most famous, but the taste is passable. Of course, the best is to go to Wuzhong. The third is sweet and sour Yellow River carp, and the fourth is steamed lamb. These snacks are very special.

Surrounding scenic spots

West China Film and Television City, Hequan lake, Yongning,

Great wall of Ningxia, rock paintings of Helan Mountain,

Nanguan Mosque

Address: No.121, Limin street, Xingqing District, Yinchuan City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region

Longitude: 106.27023721132

Latitude: 38.463339661646

Tour time: 1 hour

Traffic information: take bus No.9, 10, 16, 18, 24, 25, 602 in the city

Ticket information: the ticket is 3 yuan per person and 15 yuan extra for climbing the tower

Opening hours: 9:00-17:30 in summer, 9:00-17:00 in winter, Tuesday Sunday (closed on Monday)

Chinese PinYin : Cheng Tian Si Ta