Spring Outing Memoir | Hebei Dingzhou Kaiyuan Temple Pagoda The ancient pagodas of China
| Hebei Dingzhou Kaiyuan Temple Pagoda The ancient pagodas of China. The Dingzhou Pagoda, located in Dingzhou City, is adjacent to the Dingzhou Museum. During the Song Dynasty, it was used for defense against the Khitan by utilizing the pagoda to observe enemy movements, also known as the 'Enemy-Watching Pagoda'. Since the pagoda was built within the Kaiyuan Temple, it is commonly referred to as the 'Kaiyuan Temple Pagoda'. It was initially constructed in the fourth year of Xianping during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of the Northern Song Dynasty (1001), when Emperor Zhenzong decreed the building of the temple and the pagoda to enshrine the Buddhist scriptures and relics brought back from ancient India by monks of the Kaiyuan Temple. It was completed in the second year of Zhihe during the Northern Song Dynasty (1055), taking over fifty years to build.
The Kaiyuan Temple Pagoda stands 83.7 meters tall, with an octagonal pavilion-style architecture, dignified and imposing in appearance. The pagoda has eleven levels, each proportionally tapering from bottom to top. The structure of the pagoda consists of an outer shell encircling an inner core, with stairs spiraling up through the core to reach the levels of the pagoda. Inside, a large number of Song Dynasty murals and artworks are preserved.
After experiencing more than ten earthquakes, lightning strikes, and other natural disasters, it still stands firm to this day, a marvel of ancient architecture. It is also the tallest ancient brick pagoda still existing in our country.
It was restored in 1988. What is seen today is the pagoda after restoration. Sixty climbing spots are open to the public every day. The Kaiyuan Temple Pagoda at night is even more splendid under the illumination of lights.
🎫Ticket: 10 yuan, 30 yuan for climbing the pagoda.
📍Address: Inside Kaiyuan Temple, east side of the South City Gate, Dingzhou City, Hebei Province
Max Kirlin I
Visited Dingzhou Citywalk·The First Stop·Dingzhou Kaifeng Pagoda last year with my parents
Considering their knees, I didn't take them up. This second visit was to see the inside. All the statues inside the pagoda are gone, many inscriptions have been stolen, and the faces of the figures in the murals have been damaged...
Okay, let's talk about something happy. Aside from the modern scribbles on the walls (what? you call this happy?! :P~), there are also many inscriptions by literati and poets, some of which have been protected by the management with glass covers. During the climb, I encountered several groups of tourists. It's common to see young boys interested in photographing ancient relics, but surprisingly, a few young girls were also carefully appreciating the murals and inscriptions with their cameras...
In the southwest corner of the courtyard, there is an inverted 'Monument to the Construction of a New Order in East Asia,' a solid proof of the Japanese invasion back in the day.
Entrance is 10 yuan, and climbing the pagoda is 30 (since it's Citywalk, I guess all tickets are full price^_^).
@l3x@nd3r Y0ung
China's number one tower! Dingzhou Kaiyuan Temple Tower!
This tower, known as the number one tower in China -- Dingzhou Kaiyuan Temple Tower, was originally called the Enemy Tower, which was built during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of the Northern Song Dynasty. Dingzhou in the Northern Song Dynasty was located between the Liao and Jin countries and was a military stronghold. It was built to prevent the invasion of the Liao and Jin countries and took more than 50 years to complete. Since the tower was built inside the Kaiyuan Temple, it was later called the Kaiyuan Temple Tower.
The tower is 11 stories high and 83.7 meters tall. The plane is octagonal, and the tower structure is a brick-wood mixed structure. 'Cut all the Quyang wood and build the Enemy Tower.' It can be seen that the manpower and material resources spent on building this tower at that time can be imagined.
China's Buddhist pagodas are all odd-numbered, and it was later learned that odd numbers are auspicious numbers in Buddhism. Generally five, seven, eleven, thirteen stories. At present, the Kaiyuan Temple Tower is only open to the seventh floor. As the height increases, the tower body gradually shrinks, and the stairs gradually ease. When I reached the seventh floor, I was panting. Each floor of the tower has connected corridors, four main doors, and four windows. You can see the street scenery and the situation of nearby houses.
GlobeTrotterPro777
Dingzhou Kaiyuan Temple Pagoda
Dingzhou Liaodi Pagoda, commonly known as 'Kaiyuan Temple Pagoda', is located inside Kaiyuan Temple on the east side of the South City Gate in Dingzhou City, Hebei Province. In the fourth year of Xianping of the Northern Song Dynasty (1001), Emperor Zhenzong of Song ordered the construction of the temple and pagoda to enshrine the Buddhist scriptures and relics brought back from ancient India by Monk Lingneng. The construction was completed in the second year of Zhihe of the Northern Song Dynasty (1055), taking 55 years. As Dingzhou was a military stronghold close to both the Liao and Song dynasties, the Song Dynasty used this pagoda to observe enemy movements, hence the name 'Liaodi Pagoda' (or 'Observation Tower').
The Dingzhou Kaiyuan Temple Pagoda is an octagonal tower building and is one of the tallest ancient brick towers in China. The tower is dignified and majestic, with eleven levels, each level shrinking in proportion from bottom to top. The internal structure of the tower is that the outer tower body surrounds the inner tower body, and the stairs spiral up from the heart of the inner tower body to the top of the tower. The tower body is connected from the inside to the outside, forming a unique structure of a tower within a tower.
The Dingzhou Kaiyuan Temple Pagoda is a Buddhist pagoda that integrates architectural art, Buddhist culture, and calligraphy and painting art, and occupies an important position in the history of ancient Chinese architecture.
Kaiyuan Temple Pagoda