Youguo Temple () is a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

complex located northeast of

Kaifeng Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nort ...

, in

Henan province Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

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 was built 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 ...

(960–1279 CE). The design features the

Iron Pagoda The Iron Pagoda () of Youguo Temple (), Kaifeng City, Henan province, is a Buddhist Chinese pagoda built in 1049 during the Song dynasty (960–1279) of China. The pagoda is so-named not because it is made of iron, but because its color resemble ...

towering in the center of the complex, in a style that flourished in Chinese Buddhist temple architecture through the 11th century.

History

The original temple was magnificent in scale with 280 halls and 24 monasteries. Kaifeng was the capital city of the

Northern Song dynasty Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

, and the temple was an important place that the emperors of the dynasty visited often. The

imperial examination The imperial examination (; lit. "subject recommendation") refers to a civil-service examination system in Imperial China, administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureaucrats by ...

s were held at the temple, and applicants from throughout the Chinese empire came to take civil service exams.

Pagodas

The temple's original pagoda was a mammoth octagonal wooden tower of thirteen stories. The eminent architect

Yu Hao Yu Hao (, 970) was a Chinese architect, structural engineer, and writer during the Song Dynasty. Legacy Yu Hao was given the title of Master-Carpenter (Du Liao Jiang) for his architectural skill.Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 81. He wrote the ''Mu J ...

had designed and engineered it. In 1044, it was hit by lightning and burned to the ground.

Iron Pagoda

Emperor Renzong of the Northern Song dynasty ordered its replacement. It was designed to resemble the original wooden pagoda but built of glazed bricks so the tower would be fire-resistant and enduring. The 55-metre-high

, built in 1049, is a solid core, octagonal brick tower with an inner spiral stone staircase and outside openings to allow light and air flow. The architectural style features densely positioned ''

dougong ''Dougong'' () is a structural element of interlocking wooden brackets, one of the most important in traditional Chinese architecture. The use of dougong first appeared in buildings of the late centuries BC and evolved into a structural net ...

'' in the

eave The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural styl ...

s (''miyan'') and multiple storeys (''louge''). The glazed bricks, brown in color, gave the new tower its name, the Iron Pagoda. The exterior features more than fifty different varieties of brick and 1,600 intricate and richly detailed carvings, including those of sitting

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 ...

, standing monks, singers and dancers, lions, dragons and other legendary beasts as well as many fine engravings. Under the eaves are 104 bells that ring in the wind. The foundation rests in the

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel when ...

of the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Standard Beijing Mandarin, Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system in the world at th ...

. Inside the Iron Pagoda are

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

s of the Chinese classical novel, the

Journey to the West ''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the greatest Classic Chinese Novels, and has been described as arguably the most popu ...

. In 1847 the Yellow River overflowed its banks and the Youguo Temple collapsed, but the Iron Pagoda survived. Historically, the pagoda has experienced 38 earthquakes, six floods and many other disasters, but it remains intact after almost 1000 years.

References

{{coord missing, Henan Buddhist temples in Kaifeng Pagodas in China Buddhist monasteries in China Buildings and structures in Kaifeng Song dynasty architecture 13th-century Buddhist temples 13th-century establishments in China History of Kaifeng Religion in Kaifeng Tourist attractions in Henan

External links

KAIBAO MONASTERY
Architectura Sinica Site Archive

History

Pagodas

Iron Pagoda

See also

References

External links