The geographical coordinates of the Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple in Dali City, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province: N25°42′32.38″ north latitude, E100°08′53.01″ east. Altitude: 2033.59 meters.

Dali Chongsheng Temple, from 713 to 741 AD, experienced successive expansions and reached its peak during the Dali Kingdom of the Song Dynasty. It was "seven miles square, 890 houses, and 10,000 Buddhas" There are 1,400 statues, made of 45,500 hu of copper, with a scale of three pavilions, seven floors, nine halls and one hundred buildings. It enjoys the reputation of "Buddha Capital".

"The moon over the Erhai Lake reflects the snow on the Cangshan Mountains, and the wind blows the flowers from Xiaguan." This is a true portrayal of the beautiful Dali. I can't remember how many times I have been to Dali. Last year, I heard about the restoration and reconstruction of Dali. I was overjoyed. We couldn't hold back our yearning, but we were troubled by trivial matters and couldn't make the trip. It wasn't until March this spring that we were lucky enough to walk on flowers and came to Dali again. We hurried to Chongsheng Temple and fulfilled our wish.

Chongsheng Temple is the only Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia with a golden light, and is known as the "Buddha Capital". It was given the golden light by 108 eminent monks invited from all over the world.

Layout/Dali Chongsheng Temple?

In the gentle breeze and drizzle, we opened the aura-filled temple of Dali Chongsheng Temple, known as the "Giant Temple in South China" Gate, in order to savor the style of the royal temple in the past.

When we walked into Chongsheng Temple, we couldn't help but be impressed by its majestic, solemn and beautiful layout. To appreciate Chongsheng Temple, you must appreciate its profound historical and cultural heritage. Chongsheng Temple was a royal temple and a political and religious center during the ancient times of Nanzhao and Dali. In history, nine kings of Dali became monks here. In Jin Yong’s famous martial arts work "The Eight Parts of the Dragon", Duan The "Tianlong Temple" where the royal family became a monk is today's Chongsheng Temple.

History/Dali Chongsheng Temple? Editor

Chongsheng Temple was once famous for its five important artifacts: three pagodas, the Nanzhao Jianji Bell, the rain-coated Guanyin statue, and the Holy gold statue and "Buddha Capital" plaque. Today, only three pagodas of the five major artifacts remain, and Chongsheng Temple, a famous temple of the generation "Nanzhong Giant Temple", and the other four major artifacts were destroyed by wars and natural disasters in the past. In 2005, Dali Tourism Group spent 182 million yuan to restore and rebuild Chongsheng Temple. The rebuilt Chongsheng Temple covers an area of ??600 acres. It is adjacent to Yingle Peak of Cangshan Mountain in the west and Erhai Lake in the east. It is 2199 meters above sea level, 1136 meters long from east to west, and wide from north to south. 352 meters, with a construction area of ??20,080 square meters, accounting for about one-sixth of the construction area of ??the ancient Chongsheng Temple. Master Shenghui, executive vice president of the Chinese Buddhist Association, is invited to preside over the abbot.

We followed the central axis of this largest Chinese Buddhist temple in China and visited the Dapeng Garuda Square, the Mountain Gate, the Dharma Protector Hall, the Maitreya Hall, the Eleven-faced Guanyin Hall, the Mahavira Hall, and the Cuoye Guanyin Pavilion, Shanhai, Daguan Ten Archways and wood carving art in the temple, etc.

The three pagodas of Chongsheng Temple were first built during the period of Nanzhao King Quanfengyou (824-859 AD). The large pagoda "Qianxun Pagoda" was built first, with a height of 69.13 meters and a square dense eaves style. Brick tower, up to 16 floors. Later, the south and north small towers were built, both 42.19 meters high. They are a pair of octagonal brick towers, both with 10 levels. The three pagodas are integrated into one, majestic and have a simple national style. In addition to the Buddhism preaching that it can lead to Buddhahood, there is another important reason for building the three pagodas. Dali was known as "a land full of floods" in ancient times. The ancient book "Jinshi Cuibian" records: "It is said that dragons respect pagodas and fear Peng. Dali used to be Longze, so it was built here." It is said that when three pagodas were built in ancient times, a layer of earth was used to build one pagoda. After the pagoda was repaired, the earth was dug out layer by layer to reveal the pagoda. Therefore, there are sayings of "piling earth to build a pagoda" and "excavating earth to reveal a pagoda." The bridge built when the tower was built is as high as a hill and more than 10 miles long. When the pagoda was built, there was insufficient transportation capacity, so goats were used to carry bricks. Yinqiao Village in Dali today was called "Pagoda Bridge Village" in ancient times. According to ancient records, the construction of the three pagodas "spent 7.7 million craftsmen, spent more than 40,000 gold, and took eight years to complete."

After the construction of the three pagodas, the large-scale Chongsheng Temple was built. After several generations of expansion, it reached its peak during the "Dali Kingdom" period of the Song Dynasty. According to the "Unofficial History of Nanzhao": Chongsheng Temple is "seven miles square, covering more than 100 acres, with 890 houses, 11,400 Buddhas, and 45,500 hu of copper"; It has the scale of "three pavilions, seven floors, nine halls and one hundred buildings".

In the 18th year of Tang Zhenyuan (802 AD) during the Nanzhao Kingdom, King Yongqiang and Prince Shunanda of Piao Kingdom (now Myanmar) went to the Three Pagodas accompanied by Nanzhao King Yimouxun. People pray and offer incense at Chongsheng Temple, so the three pagodas of Chongsheng Temple have become the "Buddha Capital" respected in Southeast Asia and South Asia. During the Dali Kingdom, Duan Siping, the first king of Dali Kingdom, loved Buddhism. "Nanzhao Unofficial History" said that Duan Siping was "a good Buddha, building temples and casting thousands of Buddhas every year." In 1056 AD, King Yeduo of Xingluo (now Thailand) went to Chongsheng Temple twice to welcome the Buddha's tooth, and King Duan Silian of Dali presented it with the Jade Buddha. Due to its strong advocacy, Dali Buddhism is very popular. Among the twenty-two generations of kings of Dali, nine became monks and became monks in Chongsheng Temple. They are: the second generation Wang Duan Siying, the eighth generation Wang Duan Sulong, the ninth generation Wang Duan Suzhen, the eleventh generation Wang Duan Silian, The thirteenth generation Wang Duan Shouhui, the fourteenth generation Wang Duan Zhengming, the fifteenth generation Wang Duan Zhengchun (also the father of Duan Yu in "The Eight Parts of the Dragon"), the sixteenth generation Wang Duan Heyu (also the middle paragraph in "The Eight Parts of the Dragon") Honor), the seventeenth generation Wang Duan Zhengxing.

Among them, the second generation king Duan Siying went to Chongsheng Temple to become a monk one year after taking the throne. Although these kings also loved Buddhism, it was mainly a way out after they failed in the struggle for the throne. Therefore, there are records in the history books of "abdicating the throne to become a monk" and "avoiding the throne to become a monk". The Buddhist classic "The Great Initiation Ceremony Volume" of the Dali Kingdom, copied from the Ming Dynasty, records the complex scenes of the king's initiation ceremony. So many kings became monks, which is a unique and strange phenomenon in the history of world Buddhism. As a result, pilgrims from the mainland and Southeast Asia and South Asia were attracted to "pilgrimage" to Chongsheng Temple. Chongsheng Temple became a "royal national temple" respected by Southeast Asia and South Asia. Xu Xiake, a geographer of the Ming Dynasty, recorded in "Dian Travel Diary": "This temple is located at the foot of the tenth peak (Cangshan). It was built in the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty and was named Chongsheng Temple. The first three towers stand... The towers are surrounded by towering pines. Entering from the mountain gate in the west, there is a bell tower facing the three towers. It is very majestic. Behind it is the main hall, with various steles listed behind it... Behind it is the standing statue of Guanyin, made of bronze, which is more than three feet high... From the following levels, there are Jingtu Temple and others. It is famous for its five important artifacts: the three pagodas, the Nanzhao Jianjia Bell, the bronze statue of Avalokitesvara, the "Buddha Capital" plaque inscribed by a eminent monk in the Yuan Dynasty, and the golden statue of the Three Saints of the Ming Dynasty. The incense is more prosperous, and its reputation is spread in South Asia and Southeast Asia.

Attractions/Dali Chongsheng Temple?

The Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple were announced by the State Council as one of the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units as early as March 1961. From 1978 to 1981, the state allocated funds to repair and strengthen the three towers, which lasted three years. During this repair and reinforcement, two important discoveries were made: first, the foundations of the three pagodas were not stone foundations but earth foundations; second, more than 680 precious cultural relics such as Buddha statues and manuscripts of Buddhist scriptures were cleared out. This is the most discovered so far. A rich and most important batch of cultural relics from the Nanzhao and Dali Kingdom periods. These cultural relics have become historical materials for studying the history of Nanzhao and Dali. During the Nanzhao and Dali periods, religious cultures such as Tibetan Buddhism, Indian Esotericism, and Zen Buddhism (in the Central Plains region) met and merged in Dali. Therefore, Dali is called "the ancient capital at the crossroads of Asian cultures" by sociologists. Three Towers Reflection Park. It was derived from Jishuitan, a reservoir built during the Great Leap Forward in the late 1950s in the 1980s. The park covers an area of ??27 acres, with more than ten acres of water area. The park faces north and faces south, backed by the Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple, one kilometer away. It is named after the pond in the park that can very clearly reflect the majestic silhouette of the Three Pagodas. A crystal clear mirror is inlaid and made that can show off the beauty of the beauty, adding a lot of beauty and elegance to the beauty of the three towers standing in the sky. The buildings in the garden have couplets and screen walls that reflect the Bai folk residences, and there are inscribed poems and rhymes. The marble pavilion monument has a shadow shaking the Yangbo Pavilion in the water. There are many exotic flowers and plants such as camellia, Burmese osmanthus, and osmanthus planted in the garden. It is an excellent place for tourists to recite poems and couplets, watch flowers and plants, or take photos with the beautiful scenery of the Three Pagodas in the water. It is not only wonderful during the sunny day, but also wonderful at night when the moonlight is like water. The excellent scenery of the three towers reflecting the moon can be called the real "Three Towers Reflecting the Moon". The reflection of the Three Pagodas, which encompasses and integrates the iconic symbols of Dali - the Three Pagodas, the blue sky and white clouds, the sun, moon and stars, the snowy scenery of Cangshan Mountain and the flowers of the four seasons, has amazed the world and added color and fame to Dali. The beautiful scenery attracts countless Chinese and foreign guests to visit and take photos. It has been printed on many pictorials, book covers, stamps and postcards. Over the years, it has won Dali a great reputation and has contributed to Dali and even Yunnan. China has won a lot of reputation... The Chongsheng Three Pagodas and the Three Pagodas Reflection Park complement each other and complement each other. They complement each other and add luster to each other. They are important cultural landscapes and beautiful symbols that best represent the image of Dali.

1. The Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple

The Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple are 14 kilometers away from Xiaguan and located at the foot of Yingle Peak in Cangshan Mountain 1.5 kilometers north of Dali. They are majestic and majestic. It is one of the scenic spots in Cang'er.

The base of the three pagodas of Chongsheng Temple is square, surrounded by stone railings. The four-corner columns of the columns are carved with stone lions. There is a stone screen wall in the middle of the east side with the four characters "Yongzhen Mountains and Rivers" written on it. Each character is 1.7 meters long, the writing is vigorous and powerful, and the momentum is majestic. Looking up from the bottom of the tower, I saw the tower standing in the clouds. The clouds moved and the tower stood there, seeming to be on the verge of toppling. The main tower of the three towers is called Qianxun Tower. It is a square 16-story dense-eaves tower with a base width of 9.9 meters and a height of 69.13 meters. There is a copper compound bowl on the top of the tower and a pagoda brake on it. It is the same Tang Dynasty pagoda as the Big and Small Wild Goose Pagodas in Xi'an. Typical buildings of the era.

It is said that the three pagodas of Chongsheng Temple were built during the Baohe period of Nanzhao. More than 600 important cultural relics from the Nanzhao and Dali periods were discovered on the top of the pagoda. The two small towers in the south and north are located behind the main tower. The distance between the two towers is 97.5 meters and 70 meters away from the main tower, forming a tripod of three towers. Both towers are made of eight-dendrobium-shaped eaves hollow bricks, with a maximum of 10 levels. 43 meters high.

2. Three Pagodas Reflection Park

The majestic Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple also spawned a Three Pagodas Reflection Park in the 1980s.

The park covers an area of ??27 acres, with a water area of ??more than 10 acres. The park faces north to south, with the Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple about one kilometer behind. It is named after the pond in the park can clearly reflect the majestic appearance of the Three Pagodas. The buildings in the garden include couplet screen walls that reflect Bai folk residences, marble stele pavilions with poems and rhymes, and Yangbo pavilions with shadows shaking in the water.

There are many exotic flowers and plants such as camellia, Burmese osmanthus, and rhododendron planted in the garden. Visitors are in the Three Pagodas Reflection Park, reciting poems and couplets, admiring flowers and plants, concentrating on the Three Pagodas in the water, or taking photos to commemorate the beautiful scenery. The reflection of the three towers is not only wonderful in the bright sunny day, but also wonderful in the night when the moonlight is like water.

There is a Dali Stele Pavilion about 5 meters high on the west side of the pool. After passing the pavilion and walking along the winding corridor for a few meters, you can reach the Yangbo Pavilion in the water. The pavilion has six corners, carved beams and painted pillars, and vermilion pillars, which complement the clear water and blue sky, making people feel relaxed and happy. There is a small island on the south side of Yangbo Pavilion. On the island is a pair of lifelike white cranes. The reflections in the water and the moving shadows of people complement the Yangbo Pavilion.

In the southwest of the park, various exotic flowers and herbs such as camellia, Burmese osmanthus, and rhododendron are widely planted, making it a garden within a garden. The paths in the park are all paved with marble, and the moss on the roadside is as green as dye. The park is full of green trees, cool and refreshing, and the birds are chirping.

The most distinctive feature of the Reflection Park is that the water is as green as jade, as clear as a bottom, calm in the waves, and as flat as a mirror. The reflections of the three towers are clear and breathtaking. Different angles lead to different reflection shapes, making it the best place to take photos of the Three Pagodas. In winter, the entire Cangshan Mountain is covered in silver, and the reflection of the Three Pagodas is even more beautiful and charming. Just as Yang Bingzhen of the Qing Dynasty praised in his "Reflection of the Three Pagodas", "The Buddhist capital is the most beautiful place in the middle hall, and the three pagodas shine by themselves. The reflection of the Canglu Lake is reflected in the illusion of the King of Space."

The Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple and the Three Pagodas Reflection Park complement each other and complement each other, thus becoming an important cultural landscape that best represents the image of Dali.