Songyue Pagoda

Coordinates: 34°30′06″N 113°00′57″E / 34.50167°N 113.01583°E / 34.50167; 113.01583
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Songyue Pagoda
嵩岳寺塔
The Pagoda in 2015
Religion
AffiliationBuddhism
Location
CountryDengfeng, Zhengzhou, Henan
Songyue Pagoda is located in Henan
Songyue Pagoda
Location in Henan
Geographic coordinates34°30′06″N 113°00′57″E / 34.50167°N 113.01583°E / 34.50167; 113.01583

The Songyue Pagoda (

World Heritage List along with other nearby monuments as part of the 'Historic Monuments of Dengfeng in “The Centre of Heaven and Earth”' site. [4]

Background

The spread of

Buddha at its core.[2][3][5]

Style and shape

Detail of the pagoda

The pagoda has had a changing shape over time from its Indian Buddhist origins to its form in China. The unique many-sided shape of the Songyue Pagoda suggests that it represents an early attempt to merge the Chinese architecture of straight edges with the circular style of Buddhism from the Indian subcontinent. The perimeter of the pagoda decreases as it rises, as this is seen in Indian and Central Asian Buddhist cave temple pillars and the later round pagodas in China.[2]

The Songyue Pagoda is unique in form, being twelve-sided. The tower is 40 m (131 ft) high and built of yellowish brick held together with clay mortar.[6] It is the oldest surviving pagoda and was built at a time when, according to records, almost all pagodas were composed of wood.[3][5]

The pagoda has a low, plain brick

lotus flowers and the pillar capitals have carved pearls and lotus flowers. After the first story there are fifteen closely spaced roofs lined with eaves and small lattice windows. The pagoda features densely clustered ornamental bracked eaves in the dougong style ornamenting each story. Inside the pagoda, the wall is cylindrical with eight levels of projecting stone supports for what was probably wooden flooring originally.[3] Beneath the pagoda is an underground series of burial rooms to preserve cultural objects buried with the dead. The inner most chamber contained Buddhist relics, transcripts of Buddhist scriptures and statues of Buddha.[7]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b Yetts, 124.
  2. ^
    ISBN 0-300-09559-7
    .
  3. ^ a b c d "Songyue Temple Pagoda in Dengfeng of Henan Province". china.org.cn. Retrieved 2007-09-11.
  4. ^ "Historic Monuments of Dengfeng in "The Center of Heaven and Earth"". UNESCO World Heritage Center.
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-0-471-26892-5
    .
  6. ISBN 0-300-09559-7
    .
  7. ^ "Structures of Pagodas". china.org.cn. Retrieved 2007-09-11.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pagoda of Songyue Temple.
  • Yetts, Perceval W. "Writings on Chinese Architecture," The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs (Volume 50, Number 288, 1927): 116–131.
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