Wuhua Temple Pagoda

Wuhua Temple Pagoda

Wuhuasi pagoda is located in the north of three villages in Yiyang County and the West Bank of Lianchang river. It is the oldest existing brick Pagoda in the Yellow River Basin. It has high academic value in architecture, painting and sculpture. Eroded by thousands of years of wind and frost, the tower is slightly inclined, but it still stands. It is known as the "Leaning Tower of Pisa" in Luoyang by the local people

. The building age of the tower is unknown, and it was selected as the seventh batch of national key cultural relics protection units in 2013.

Introduction to ancient pagoda

Wuhuasi pagoda is located in the north of three villages in Yiyang County, on the Bank of Lianchang River and at the foot of Han mountain. Other buildings of Wuhua Temple no longer exist, only this tower. The actual construction date of Wuhua Temple Pagoda is unknown. According to Yiyang County annals, it is recorded as "Tang Ji song pagoda". Experts speculate that Wuhua Temple Pagoda is a Song Dynasty building, and some Tang Dynasty building materials were used in the construction process. In 2013, wuhuasi pagoda was selected as the seventh batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

Architectural features

Standing on the West Bank of Lianchang River, Wuhua Temple Pagoda is the oldest existing brick Pagoda in the Yellow River Basin. It has high academic value in architecture, painting and sculpture. The tower is nine steps high, 11 Zhang, 9 feet and 9 inches. It is of green brick structure and octagonal eaves. The perimeter of the bottom is 31 meters. The outer lower layer of the tower is built with stone strips, with more than one or two layers. Each layer is first led out with a layer of bricks. On the line, there are inclined bricks. On the top of the line, there are 12 layers of laminated plastic eaves. The outer edge is about 1 meter. There are false doors on the south side of the first, third, fourth and sixth floors. On both sides of the doors are carved reliefs of warriors or Bodhisattvas. This kind of decoration is very rare on the general tower and has high research value.

The brick and stone structure, octagonal eaves of the ancient tower, the bottom circumference of 31 meters, outside the lower layer of the tower to build stone. A piece of wood protrudes from the inclined angle of each layer. In ancient times, there was a bell hanging on it. Unfortunately, the wood is rotten, and the bell is no longer there. "The wind blows and the bell rings" can only become the scenery in memory. The first, third, fourth and sixth floors of the tower are equipped with false doors in the south, and the second floor is the real door. Both sides of the door are decorated with brick relief portraits of warriors or Bodhisattvas. The knife technique is refined and the lines are smooth.

Historical changes

According to the villagers of Sanxiang East Village, the scale of Wuhua temple was relatively large, and the shape of the temple gate was the same as that of Shaolin Temple. After the founding of the people's Republic of China, Wuhua temple was demolished in the movement of building schools and water conservancy infrastructure. Now other buildings of Wuhua temple have disappeared, leaving only a lonely ancient pagoda. The construction age of Wuhua Temple Pagoda has become a mystery. There are only four words in Yiyang County annals, "Tang Ji song tower".

Religious circles and architectural scholars identified it as a Song Dynasty building, mainly based on the use of sleeper in the tower (also known as cross wood, mixed in the green brick structure, playing a role of fixation and partial support), and this kind of building technology did not appear before the Song Dynasty. He speculated that wuhuasi pagoda was built in Song Dynasty, but in the process of construction, it probably used some building materials from Tang Dynasty, because wuhuasi pagoda was built on the site of Lianchang palace in Tang Dynasty.

In order to effectively protect this "national security", Yiyang County made special surveying and mapping in 2010 to carry out protective restoration of Wuhua Temple Pagoda (mainly to correct the tilt). Now, the Hanshan Cultural Park, including the Wuhua Temple Pagoda, is under construction, and the Wuhua Temple Pagoda will be better protected. "Hanshan Cultural Park covers an area of 2300 mu, including Wuhua Temple Pagoda, Lihe Cultural Park in the East and north of the pagoda, Liuxiu Temple of Emperor Guangwu of Han Dynasty, as well as Buddhist hall and other buildings."

Use of tower

Wuhua Temple Pagoda is a Buddhist pagoda built to hold Buddhist relics. In the three towns, it is said that: "the things on my body were stolen. Later, I came back. In order to prevent theft, I built something and buried it under the tower. The above sentence is a typical Buddhist Scripture expression, "things on the body" refers to the Buddhist bone relic.

The name of the pagoda of the five flowers temple comes from the Buddhist saying of the Dharma patriarch, "I originally came here to save my lost feelings by preaching the Dharma. One flower blooms five leaves, and the result is natural.". The reason is that the local spread, Dharma patriarch had traveled to Luoyang, the Eastern Wei Tianping three years (AD 536) died in Luobin, buried XIONGERSHAN, now Yiyang County.

Magnificent ancient pagoda

As the saying goes, "there is a tower in the three townships, seven or eight feet away from the sky." The pagoda of Wuhua temple is elegant, simple, powerful and straight, standing on the Bank of Lianchang river. Beautiful sunny sky, majestic spectacular, if the clouds wrapped in fog, another charm. Celebrities, dignitaries and scholars of all ages often visit here, leaving many poems and essays. Li Zhun, a famous contemporary writer, traveled here in 1984 and wrote a poem: "the ancient pagoda is full of smoke and water, the mountains are lonely and majestic, people say Guangwu temple, and the former Lianchang Palace". He took a picture under the pagoda to commemorate it.

Address: No.3 Township, Yiyang County, Luoyang City

Longitude: 111.79943284131

Latitude: 34.440707615883