Stupas and Pagodas 2008-5-29 14:57:19
Stupas appeared in China with the import of Buddhism and, during a long history of well over a thousand years, have become a valued part of the national Buddhist art.
"Stupa", a word from ancient Sanskrit meaning a square or round tomb or a "soul shrine", was mentioned by old Chinese works under no less than half a dozen varying translations. In modern times, people call all tower-like Buddhist structure ta, which includes all types of stupas and pogodas.
At the beginning, the stupa was a reliquary for keeping the relics or ashes of a saintly Buddhist. It is said that bead-like crystals of white or some other colour were often found among the ashes after cremation, and they are called shelizi or "holy relics".
Buddhists believe that when Sakyamuni, founder of the faith, was cremated, 84,000 beads of holy relics were found. They were shared among the kings of eight nations, who built stupas to house them for worship. This was generally thought to be the origin of stupas or pogadas. Subsequently they were built not only to bury the relics or ashes of venerable monks but also to safe keep holy scriptures and various ritual implements. They are therefore also called fota (Buddha's pagodas) or baota (treasure pagodas) and are objects of homage.
A Chinese proverb says, "To save a life is a holier deed than to build a stupa of seven storeys." Pagodas are mostly of seven or thirteen storeys. This is because odd numbers were supposed to be masculine and auspicious in China, but this has nothing to do with the teachings of Buddhism.
Architecturally speaking, Chinese pagodas have special features of their own. A pagoda may be built of any of a number of materials--stone, brick, wood, glazed tile, iron or gold. In plan figure, it may be round, square, hexagonal or octagonal. In architectural style, it may be in one of a variety of forms, which will be discussed in the following pages.
Chinese pagodas, in short, are a significant part of the country's cultural heritage. With their beautiful shapes, bas relief carvings, dougong brackets and upturned eaves, they no longer serve religious purposes alone but are exquisite tourist attractions as well.
1. The Close-Eaved Pagoda
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This is an earliest style of Chinese pagodas, typified by the Pagoda of Chongyuesi Temple in Dengfeng County, Henan Province. Built in A.D. 523 in the Northern Wei Dynasty, it is also one of the oldest existing pagodas in the country.
The twelve-sided, 41-metre-tall pagoda is built entirely of blue bricks. The body is girdled round by 15 closely-arranged eaves, which get smaller in beautiful proportions towards the tapering top. The inside of the pagoda is a structure of 10 floors, its octagonal rooms linked up by wooden stairs.
The Chongyuesi Pagoda is of great value in the history of Chinese architecture. Constructed in an age long before the reinforced concrete was dreamed of, the all-brick structure, despite the ravages of wind and rain over 1,400 years, is still standing erect in testimony to the high level of skills at the command of the unknown ancient builders.
2. The Tower Pagoda
(Â¥¸óËþLouge Ta)
This is the most common type of pagodas seen in China, which visitors may climb up for a brid's eye view of the surrounding country.
The world-famous Wooden Pagoda in Yingxian County, Shanxi Province, is a typical tower-like pagoda. Built in 1056 during the Liao Dynasty, it is the tallest and oldest of its kind in the country. Standing on a two-tiered stone terrace and true to its name, the structure, 67.13metres tall and 30 metres across at the bottom, is all wood. The ground storey has double eaves, so the 5-storeyed octagonal building has altogether 6 eaves. The interior of the pagoda consists of nine floors, with four of them hidden from outside view.
Structurally, the pagoda was erected by stages with separate sets of columns, beams and purlins in between every two storeys. Joining these together are dougong brackets of 50-60 kinds, which hold the huge wooden structure together in an integral piece, strong and magnificent, without the help of a single piece of metal. Visitors can scale the pagoda by the wooden stairs inside, which lead up to the top floor.
It is estimated that more than 3,500 cubic metres (or about 3,000 tons) of timber must have been used to build the pagoda.
The 900-year-old Wooden Pagoda, during its long life, has been weathered by the elements, shelled on by warlords' firearms, and shaken by strong earthquakes. Though slightly tilted, it still stands majestic today—an architectural marvel not only for China but for the whole world.
3. The Diamond-Throne Pagodas
(½ð¸Õ±¦×ùËþJingang Baozuo Ta)
This type of religious architecture has its origin in India and is not often seen in China. Prominent examples are the group of pagodas in Beijing's Zhenjuesi Temple, popularly known as Wutasi (the Five-Pagoda Temple) because of them,
