Wanfo pagoda

Wanfo pagoda

Wanfo pagoda is also known as flower arrangement pagoda, Xinghua Temple Pagoda and Cishi Temple Pagoda (because there is Xinghua temple in Song Dynasty and Cishi temple in Yuan Dynasty), commonly known as Mengcheng brick pagoda. Wanfo pagoda is located in the southeast corner of Mengcheng County, Bozhou City, Anhui Province. It was built in 1102, the first year of song Chongning. The whole tower is an octagonal 13 storey brick tower with a height of 42.2 meters, a perimeter of 24 meters at the bottom and a diameter of 8 meters. It is named after more than 8000 Buddha statues embedded inside and outside the tower. There is a temple on the east side of the tower, which is called Xinghua temple, so the earliest tower is called Xinghua tower.

The Wanfo pagoda is not very big, but it has beautiful shape, varied structure and relatively complete preservation. It is a work of tower building technology integration of South and North China. Since 1977, the cultural relic Department has carried out comprehensive maintenance on the Wanfo pagoda, including strengthening the foundation, closing the cracks, repairing the seriously damaged Buddha bricks, adding lightning rod at the top of the pagoda, and restoring the original appearance of the pagoda. In 1981, the Wanfo pagoda was included in the dictionary of Chinese places of interest. In 2006, it was announced as the Sixth Batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council.

Historical evolution

The first year of song Chongning (1102) began to build the tower. There is a temple on the east side of the tower, which is called Xinghua temple. Therefore, the earliest tower is called Xinghua tower.

In 1356, a new temple named Cishi temple was built in the west side of the pagoda. It was rebuilt in Hongwu year of Ming Dynasty, also known as Cishi Temple Pagoda.

In the 1950s, three statues dedicated to Guan Yu, Guan Ping and Zhou Cang were destroyed.

In 1977, the cultural relics department carried out a comprehensive repair of the Wanfo pagoda, including strengthening the foundation, closing the cracks, repairing and inlaying seriously damaged Buddha bricks, adding lightning rods at the top of the pagoda, and restoring the original appearance of the pagoda.

In 1981, the Wanfo pagoda was included in the dictionary of Chinese places of interest.

From 1981 to 1984, the State Administration of cultural relics allocated 135000 yuan for the complete maintenance of the Wanfo pagoda.

In 1988, as the main building of children's amusement park, Wanfo pagoda was opened to the public.

Architectural features

structure

Wanfo pagoda is composed of three parts: underground palace, pagoda body and pagoda brake. The four walls of the underground palace are inlaid with stone carvings, and there is a stone tablet in the Northern Wei Dynasty. The Wanfo pagoda has 13 floors, 38.6 meters high and 24.3 meters at the bottom. There are 8 doors on each floor, 4 true and 4 false. The doors and windows below the 1st to 7th floors are the same. The doors and windows above the 8th floor are changed layer by layer, and the top and bottom are staggered. The eaves of each floor are decorated with various patterns. The top of the pagoda is equipped with iron bells, and the eaves of each corner are hung with bells. The Tasha is made of iron. It is equipped with a compound bowl, five phase wheels, a treasure cap and a vase. The body of the pagoda is made of water milled green bricks. There are more than 1300 pieces of ochre, yellow and green glazed bricks inside and outside the pagoda. Each brick is carved with three Buddha statues, including Sakyamuni, JIAYE on the left and Ananda on the right. There are also a few pieces with only one Buddha statue, totaling more than 6000.

characteristic

The Wanfo pagoda has four characteristics: first, it is octagonal in plane. The first floor of the pagoda is very high. The lower part is solid and the upper part is trapezoidal. The main door is opened in the upper part of the north side of the pagoda. Second, the tower is of pavilion type, with flat seats on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors, supported by inverted lotus petals instead of Dougong, which is both beautiful and concise. Third, the internal structure of the tower has changed a lot, such as through the core type, corridor type, wall folding type, solid type and so on. Fourth, the inner and outer walls of the pagoda are covered with Buddha bricks, which is the most typical example of the pagoda in Song Dynasty. Wanfo pagoda has no platform and base. The first layer of leaning column is melon ridge type, and the second and third layers of leaning column have column heads. The door openings and heads are in the shape of GUI angle, and the bucket arches are in the shape of double flower arches. The window patterns of the pagoda are rhombic, vertical, oblique and turtle back patterns.

Cultural relics

stone carving

The four walls of the underground palace of the ten thousand Buddha pagoda are inlaid with stone carvings, and there is a stone tablet in the Northern Wei Dynasty. The body of the pagoda is made of water milled green bricks. There are more than 1300 pieces of ochre, yellow and green glazed bricks outside the pagoda. Each brick is carved with three Buddha statues, including Sakyamuni, JIAYE on the left and Ananda on the right. There are also a few pieces with only one Buddha statue, totaling more than 6000. These Buddha statues are relics of the Song Dynasty, and some are added by later generations. The heart of the fourth tower, commonly known as the "small temple", is dedicated to three statues of Guan Yu, Guan Ping and Zhou Cang, which were destroyed in the 1950s.

inscriptions on a tablet

There are two inscriptions in the Wanfo Pagoda: one on the fourth floor, which was carved in the first year of Chongning (1102); the other on the eleventh floor, which was carved in the fifth year of Chongning (1106). Judging from the time interval between the two inscriptions, the whole tower has 13 floors, four years apart from the fifth floor to the eleventh floor. With the construction of the foundation and the Tasha, the whole tower has been built for about ten years.

Research value

historical value

The Wanfo pagoda is built by the method of northern brick pagoda. It is well preserved and its structure is full of changes. It is a work of the integration of tower building technology in the South and north of China. It is an important song pagoda. From the perspective of historical value, as the material evidence of historical evolution, the ten thousand Buddha pagoda is of great historical and academic value for studying the evolution and changes of social development ideas and concepts in the Wohe River Basin since the Northern Song Dynasty.

artistic value

The modeling of the ten thousand Buddha pagoda is magnificent and handsome, which is a direct reflection of the superb level of architectural technology and social aesthetic concept in the Northern Song Dynasty. As one of the few octagonal pavilion style brick pagodas, the ten thousand Buddha pagoda has coordinated volume, rigorous structure, and heavy block surface. After thousands of years, it stands tall and has a high degree of firmness. At the same time, the building materials include masonry, wood, ceramic glaze, cast iron, etc., and the building technology includes masonry, inlay, carving, firing, casting, carving, etc. the point line surface structure is not only compact, but also full of changes, which is a comprehensive reflection of the architectural level at that time. In addition, the flying eaves, jingling wind bells, wonderful painting and calligraphy, vivid Buddha statues and profound doctrines of the ten thousand Buddha pagoda have an amazing artistic charm.

Scientific value

Wanfo pagoda involves sociology, physics, architecture, aesthetics, archaeology and other aspects. It is an organic combination of natural science and social science, and has high comprehensive research value.

protective measures

In 1961, the people's Committee of Anhui Province declared the ancient pagoda of Mengcheng as a provincial cultural relic protection unit.

In 2006, it was announced as the Sixth Batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council.

In 2013, Anhui Provincial Bureau of cultural relics approved the project report on the protection planning of Mengcheng Wanfo Pagoda in Anhui Province (No. 134 of Anhui cultural relics protection), and approved the establishment of the protection planning of Mengcheng Wanfo pagoda.

In 2014, the Cultural Relics Bureau of Mengcheng County took the following measures to strengthen the protection of Cultural Relics:

1. Monitoring equipment was installed around the Wanfo pagoda and in the cultural relics storehouse of the county in time to test the lightning protection facilities of the Wanfo pagoda.

2. The safety inspection of immovable cultural relics in key towns should be carried out by means of regular or irregular combination, key inspection and general inspection, so as to find out problems and solve them in time.

3. Anhui Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Center was entrusted to formulate the project report of Wanfo pagoda protection plan. It also entrusts units with cultural relic protection qualifications to formulate the plan for the protection of cultural relic of Wanfo pagoda and the plan for the maintenance of Wanfo pagoda.

Tourism information

Address: Baota Middle Road, Chengguan Town, Mengcheng County, Bozhou City.

Admission: free.

Transportation: take bus No.2 and No.7 to the Wanfo pagoda.

Address: Baota Middle Road, Chengguan Town, Mengcheng County, Bozhou City

Longitude: 116.561126

Latitude: 33.263029