The Renshou Pagoda of Kaiyuan Temple in Quanzhou features a Ming Dynasty Sun Wukong on a Song Dynasty tower

The Renshou Pagoda at Kaiyuan Temple in Quanzhou is quite interesting. On the dragon gate on the fourth floor, there is a relief of Sun Wukong. It's amusing to find the protagonist of the Ming Dynasty's 'Journey to the West' on a stone tower from the Song Dynasty. If I hadn't known since childhood that Sun Wukong wields a golden cudgel, I might have mistaken the object in his hand in the relief for a broadsword... 🏯 About Renshou Pagoda The western pagoda of Kaiyuan Temple was originally a wooden tower during the Five Dynasties period, and was rebuilt into a stone tower during the Southern Song Dynasty. It has weathered many years and is a five-story octagonal pavilion-style stone pagoda. 📸 Highlights ✅ Sumeru Base: Various mythical creatures, flowers and plants + strongmen supporting the tower ✅ Human reliefs: Found on every level of the pagoda, with bodhisattvas, monks, arhats, vajras, and of course, Tang Sanzang and the eldest disciple... ✅ The 'heart' character stone: The dot of the 'heart' character is at the bottom, located right beside the pagoda The main theme of Renshou Pagoda at Kaiyuan Temple is the equality of all beings. The pagoda's body features reliefs of all kinds of figures without any concept of hierarchy or status. Otherwise, how could there be a monkey among them? Back in the Song Dynasty, he wasn't yet the Great Sage Equal to Heaven...