Stupa

The pagoda is located in Yangping village to the north of Xiaguan, 3 kilometers away from Xiaguan. It is 30.07 meters high. It is a hollow square brick Pagoda with 13 levels of dense eaves. It stands in front of the Buddha Temple (now only the temple houses are reserved in the temple, and the statue of Buddha has been destroyed year by year since 1937. The pagoda is named after the temple). Snake bone pagoda, also known as "Buddha pagoda", is said to have been built by Zhang Luochi, an envoy sent by the king of worry free in the West India. This is the work of Buddhist believers. There is no historical evidence to prove it. Snake bone pagoda is one of the precious relics of the Tang Dynasty in Yunnan, which is of great value to the study of ancient history and culture. At the same time, it is also a historic site for tourists in Dali. Today, the snake bone pagoda attracts millions of tourists with its simple and vigorous style and beautiful myths and legends.

Stupa

The pagoda is located in Yangping village to the north of Xiaguan, 3 kilometers away from Xiaguan. It is 30.07 meters high. It is a hollow square brick Pagoda with 13 levels of dense eaves. It stands in front of the Buddha Temple (now only the temple houses are reserved in the temple, and the statue of Buddha has been destroyed year by year since 1937. The pagoda is named after the temple).

brief introduction

It is located in front of fotu temple in the north of yangpi village, Xiaguan Town, Dali City, at the foot of Xieyang peak of Cangshan Mountain in Dali City, adjacent to yangnanxi in the north, three kilometers away from Xiaguan in the South and about 500 meters away from national highway 214 in the East.

Buddhist Temple Pagoda, now commonly known as snake bone pagoda, is named after the story of "Bai hero Duan Chicheng killed a python". According to the Nanzhao unofficial history, "in 820 A.D., in addition to the Erhe river monster, the Tang Xianzong built a dragon Pagoda with a height of 12 Zhang. According to baiguji, there was a demon snake in the Erh River, which was named Bojie. The city was flooded by heavy rain. If the King shows that he can destroy it, he will reward the library. If the snake swallows it, the snake will also die. If the water breaks down, the king will build a temple to control it. The snake bone and skin ash pagoda are called the Spirit Pagoda. "

essential information

The tower is 30.7 meters high and is a thirteen level square brick tower with dense eaves. The tower foundation is a square base of two-story platform. The side of the lower platform is 19.7 meters long and 1.2 meters high. It is built with rubble and laid with stones. The inner wall of the tower is a cylinder structure, leading to the 12th level. The shape of the whole tower is beautiful and majestic. Its architectural style and skills are roughly the same as those of Qianxun tower in Chongsheng temple. Because of the long time, the body of the tower inclines to the northeast, the top of the tower is 1.18 meters away from the center, and the eccentric angle is 2 ° 14 ′ 25 ″. During the maintenance, 52 pieces of cultural relics, such as tower model, Guanyin statue, diamond pestle, bronze mirror, 26 pearls of various colors and 80 seashells, were unearthed from the top of the tower and the west of the first eaves. When the lintel of the tower gate was demolished, a number of scriptures were unearthed on the left and right sides. Most of them were from the Yuan Dynasty, and a few manuscripts may have been as early as the early days of Dali.

According to the architectural style of the pagoda, the unearthed cultural relics and the extant records of rebuilding Buddha pagoda, this paper makes a comprehensive research on the construction age of the snake bone pagoda. It is believed that the construction age of the pagoda should be close to that of the Qianxun Pagoda in Chongsheng temple. It should be the Nanzhao period of Tang Dynasty (737-938 A.D.).

After being repaired and measured in 1981, the "snake bone pagoda" was named "fotu Temple Pagoda". The existing main hall, North and South Wing rooms and hall in the west of the pagoda are Qing Dynasty buildings. On May 25, 2006, it was announced as the Sixth Batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council.

Cultural relic value

During the maintenance in May 1981, 52 cultural relics such as bronze Guanyin statues were found in the base of the pagoda, and 47 Yuan Dynasty scriptures were found in the upper part of the pagoda gate, providing material materials for the study of Buddhist art. In January 1983, the people's Government of Yunnan Province announced that it was the second batch of key cultural relics protection units in Yunnan Province.

legend

Li Yuanyang of the Ming Dynasty wrote "Jiajing Dali Fu Zhi", which recorded in the historical records: "the tomb of Chicheng, Duan Chicheng killed the boa, and later generations built a tower on the tomb to mark it, which is in the local language." According to the legends recorded in historical records, the name of "snake bone pagoda" has a long history.

Master an of dalihai East Road kills snake

When it comes to the snake bone pagoda, people who have lived in Dali for a long time will naturally associate with many sensational and strange records and legends about the snake. According to the records of the Qing Dynasty (Dian Shi), one night, master an, the host of Dali sea, saw more than 100 children playing on the sea near Luoji island. Knowing that he was a monster, he used magic. The next day, the child disappeared and more than 100 snake bodies were floating on the sea. Since then, the flooding in Erhai Lake has subsided.

Chicheng cuts boa

Among the numerous records and legends, the most popular and wonderful one is Duan Chicheng's story of beheading a python. It is said that during the Nanzhao reign, a huge Python appeared at the foot of Mt. ma'er in Cangshan, which was transformed by the cannibal demon "Bo Jie". The snake's head is like a lion, its body is like a dragon, its two green eyes are shining with cold light, and its mouth is full of blood. As long as the snake opens its mouth, people and animals dozens of feet away will be swallowed in a flash. Snakes often run to Erhai Lake to make waves, capsize the boat and submerge the farmlands, which makes the people along Erhai Lake have no livelihood. After the news of the Python's harm came to the Nanzhao palace, from the king to the civil servants and military generals, they were so scared that they could not find a way to subdue the python. In the end, they had to hang up the list to recruit talents and ask for the python chopping warrior.

In LvTao village under yingle peak of Cangshan Mountain, there was a young and valiant stonemason named Duan Chicheng. Seeing the harm of Python and the suffering of the people, he was determined to eliminate the harm for the people. He took off the list of talents, holding two-edged "wave sword" and 24 steel knives. He said goodbye to his parents and villagers who were crying to see them off, and rushed to the rolling Erhai lake alone.

The python was looking for food in the sea when someone came to him and opened his mouth to wait for a good meal. Duan Chicheng jumped into the snake's mouth, waved two sharp swords, rolled up and down in the snake's belly, picked left and right stabs, and stirred the snake's viscera to pieces. Python was killed and Duan Chicheng died bravely. After the flood subsided, the boa constrictor was brought up, the belly of the boa constrictor was cut open, Duan Chicheng's body was picked out, and was solemnly buried at the foot of ma'er peak in Cangshan Mountain. In order to forever commemorate this hero who killed his life for the people, people burned the snake bones into bricks and built a magnificent tower on Duan Chicheng's cemetery. This is the origin of the snake bone tower.

Although this ancient legend, which has been handed down for a long time, contains many fictional mythological colors, it reflects the ancient Bai People's desire and determination to overcome the evil disaster. The snake bone pagoda is also a monument to the Bai People's victory over nature.

The origin of legend

In ancient times, Dali was full of marshes and lakes. At the foot of Cangshan Mountain, there were numerous forests. In addition, the climate was warm and humid, and the food was rich, which provided excellent conditions for the growth of snakes. As a result, various kinds of snakes and legends about snakes came into being. So far, in Dali and surrounding counties, various types of Python are still seen from time to time. As for small Agkistrodon halys, it is even more common. The hardworking, brave and creative Bai people have paid a huge price to develop the barren land in such a beautiful new Dali! The snake bone pagoda is the witness of history.

Traffic routes

Transportation: you can take the bus to Xiaguan and Dali ancient city, and then walk to it.

Address: in front of fotu temple, Yangping village, north of Xiaguan, Dali, Yunnan

Longitude: 100.21499633789

Latitude: 25.581199645996

Tel: 0872-2316766

Tour time: 1-2 hours

Ticket information: 30.00 yuan

Opening hours: 09:00 ~ 18:00