The Dragon-and-Tiger Pagoda () is a

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

brick and stone pagoda located in central

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

Province,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. It is considered a characteristic example of the pagoda style of the period.

Location

The Dragon-and-Tiger Pagoda is located in Nanshan, near Liubu Village, in

Licheng County Licheng County () is a county in the southeast of Shanxi province, China, bordering Hebei province to the east. It is under the administration of Changzhi Changzhi () is a prefecture-level city in the southeast of Shanxi Province, China, borde ...

, under the administration of

Jinan Jinan (), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized as Tsinan, is the Capital (political), capital of Shandong province in East China, Eastern China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is the second-largest city i ...

City, about 33 kilometers southeast of the city of Jinan proper. The pagoda stands near the site formerly occupied by the Shentong Temple ({{zh, c=神通寺, p=Shen Tong Si, meaning "Supernatural Power" Temple) and was erected as a burial monument to a monk. No records about the construction date of the pagoda are known to exist.

Structure

The pagoda is designed in a single-storey pavilion-style with a square cross-section. The total height of the structure is 10.8 meters. The base of the pagoda consists of a three-tier

Sumeru Mount Meru (Sanskrit/Pali: मेरु), also known as Sumeru, Sineru or Mahāmeru, is the sacred five-peaked mountain of Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist cosmology and is considered to be the centre of all the physical, metaphysical and spiritu ...

pedestal decorated with relief sculptures of lions and lotus flowers. On the pedestal rests the central pillar of the pagoda which is carved out of a single cube-shaped stone block with four meters edge length. Rectangular doors are carved into each side of the central pillar. Behind each of these doors, a carved

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

sculpture is positioned. The top of the pagoda consists of a richly decorated brick roof. The artistic and technical design of the roof suggest that it has been rebuilt during the

Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

. The pagoda is vividly decorated with

alto-relievo Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

tang-dynasty-style sculpture on the central pillar showing the Buddha,

bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...

s, celestial guards, flying

apsaras An apsaras or apsara ( sa, अप्सरा ' lso ' pi, अक्चरा, translit=accharā) is a type of female spirit of the clouds and waters in Hinduism and Buddhist culture. They figure prominently in the sculpture, dance, litera ...

es (on top of the doors), as well as the dragons and tigers which give the pagoda its name. Two other pagodas stand near the Dragon-and-Tiger Pagoda: The Four-Gates Pagoda (

Sui Dynasty The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and layi ...

) and the Minor Dragon-and-Tiger Pagoda. The latter also dates from the Tang Dynasty area and - although much smaller - shares many features of the Dragon-and-Tiger Pagoda. Also in the immediate vicinity of the Dragon-and-Tiger Pagoda is the Thousand Buddha Cliff into which over 200 religious statues as well as sculptures of noble people have been carved during the Tang Dynasty.

External links

short article by the China Internet Information Center

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070203132422/http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_travel/2003-09/24/content_33324.htm short article about the Pagoda and the nearby thousand Buddha Cliff on ChinaCulture.org Pagodas in China Tang dynasty art Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Shandong Buddhist temples in Shandong

Location

Structure

See also

External links