The Pagoda of Bailin Temple ( or ), is located in

Zhao County Zhao County (Zhaoxian) (), a historic town called Zhaozhou () in the past, is located in the southwest of Hebei province southeast of the provincial capital Shijiazhuang, and south of Beijing. Its total land area is and total population is aroun ...

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and 0 ...

. It is an octagonal-based brick

Chinese pagoda A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, ...

built in 1330 during the reign of Emperor Wenzong, ruler of the

Mongol The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...

-led

Yuan Dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fift ...

Bailin Monastery

The Bailin Monastery (''Cypress Trees monastery'',Caifang Zhu (2003), ''Buddhism in China Today: The Example of the Bai Lin Chan Monastery''
/ref>) surrounding the pagoda, was built in the second century CE, and called ''Guan Yin Monastery''. Its most prominent abbot was the famous Chan master Zhaozhou (Joshu), who is well known for the Mu-koan. The temple was in ruin long before 1949. In 1988, Jing Hui was persuaded to take over the Hebei Buddhist Association, and start rebuilding Bailin Monastery. Jing Hui is a student and dharma successorThe Dharma Lineage of my Master: Grand Master JING Hui, Abbot of Bai-lin (Cypress Forest)
/ref> of Hsu Yun, but has also adopted the

Humanistic Buddhism Humanistic Buddhism () is a modern philosophy practiced by Buddhist groups originating from Chinese Buddhism which places an emphasis on integrating Buddhist practices into everyday life and shifting the focus of ritual from the dead to the li ...

Taixu Taixu (Tai Hsu) (), (January 8, 1890 – March 17, 1947) was a Buddhist modernist, activist and thinker who advocated for a reformation and revival of Chinese Buddhism by drawing upon eclectic domestic and foreign sources and ideologies. Biogra ...

Pagoda

The seven story pagoda stands at a height of about 40 m (131 ft), built on a stone foundation. The lower section of the pagoda is a brick

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, which features two rows of intricate carvings that include artwork of musicians, celestial guardians, animals, and peonies. The first story of this solid brick pagoda features a facade of doors and windows, as well as columns, rafters, and

brackets A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. Typically deployed in symmetric pairs, an individual bracket may be identified as a 'left' or ' ...

. Above this are seven tiers of eaves. The design style of this

era pagoda follows the tradition of the

Liao Dynasty The Liao dynasty (; Khitan language, Khitan: ''Mos Jælud''; ), also known as the Khitan Empire (Khitan: ''Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur''), officially the Great Liao (), was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that exi ...

and Jin Dynasty, which were Khitan and Jurchen dynasties that ruled northern China before Kublai Khan established the Yuan.

Lineage

# 达摩 Bodhidharma/Dá-Mó (? – ca 530) # 大祖慧可 Dà-Zǔ Huì-Kě (? - ?) # 鑑智僧璨 Jiàn-Zhì Sēn- Càn (? – 606) # 道信 Dà-yī Dào-Xìn (? – 651) # 弘忍Da-Man Hóng-Rěn (601 – 674) # 大鑒惠能 ''Dà-Jiàn Huì-Néng'' (638–713) # 南嶽懐譲 Nán-Yuè Huái-Ràng (677–744) # 馬祖道 ''Mǎ''-Zŭ Dào-Yī (709–788) # 百丈懷海 ''Bǎi-Zhàng Huái-Hái'' (720–814) # 黄檗希运 Huáng-Bò Xī-Yùn (? - 850) # 临济义玄 ''Lín-Jì Yì-Xuán'' (? - 866) # 興化存獎 Xīng-Huá Cún-Jiǎng (830 - 888) # 南院慧顒 Nán-Yuàn Huì-Yóng (? - 952) # 瘋穴延沼 Fēng-Xué Yán-Zhǎo (896 - 973) # 首山省念 Shǒu-Shān Shěng-Niàn (926 - 993) # 汾陽善昭 Fén-Yáng Shàn-Zhāo (947 - 1024) # 石霜楚園 Shí-Shuāng Chǔ-Yuán (986 - 1039) # 楊岐方會 Yáng-Qí Fāng-Hùi (992 - 1049) # 白雲守端 Bái-Yún Shǒu Duān (1025 - 1072) # 五祖法演 Wǔ-Zǔ Fǎ-Yǎn (1024 - 1104) # 圜俉克勤 Huán-Wú Kè-Qín (1063 - 1135) # 虎丘紹隆 Hǔ-Qiū Sháo-Lóng (1077 - 1136) # 應俺曇華 Yīng-ǎn Tán-Húa (1103 - 1163) # 密俺咸榤 Mì-ǎn Xián-Jié (1118 - 1186) # 破俺祖先 Pò-ǎn Zǔ-Xiān (1136 - 1211) # 無準師範 Wú-Zhǔn Shī-Fàn (1174 - 1249) # 淨慈妙侖 Jìng-Cí Miào-Lún (1201 - 1261) # 瑞巖文寶 Ruì-Yán Wén-Bǎo (? - 1335) # 華頂先覩 Húa-Dǐng Xiān-Dǔ (1265 - 1334) # 福林智度 Fú-Lín Zhì-Dù (1304 - 1370) # 古拙昌俊 Gǔ-Zhuō Chāng-Jùn (? - ?) # 無際明俉 Wú-Jì Míng-Wú (? - ?) # 太岡橙 Tài-Gāng-Chéng (? - ?) # 矣峰寧 Yǐ-Fēng-Níng (? - 1491) # 天目寶芳進 Tiān-Mù Bǎo-Fāng-Jìn (? - ?) # 野滃慧嘵 Yě-Wěng Huì-Xiāo (? - ?) # 無趣如空 Wú-Qù Rú-Kōng (1491 - 1580) # 無幻性沖 Wú-Huàn Xìng-Chōng (1540 - 1611) # 興善慧廣 Xīng-Shàn Huì-Guǎng (1576 - 1620) # 普明徳用 Pǔ-Míng Dé-Yóng (1587 - 1642) # 高菴圓淸 Gāo-ān Yuán-Qīng (? - ?) # 本智明戄 Běn-Zhì Ming-Jué (? - ?) # 紫柏真可 ''Zǐ-Bó Zhēn-Kě'' (1543 - 1603) # 端旭茹弘 Duān-Xù Rú-Hóng (? - ?) # 純榤性奎 Chún-Jié Xìng-Kuí (? - ?) # 慈雲海俊 Cí-Yún Hǎi-Jùn (? - ?) # 質生寂文 Zhì-Shēng Jì-Wén (? - ?) # 端員照華 Duān-Yuán Zhào-Huá (? - ?) # 其岸普明 Qí-Án Pǔ-Míng (? - ?) # 弢巧通聖 Tāo-Qiǎo Tōng-Shèng (? - ?) # 俉修心空 Wú-Xiū Xīn-Kòng (? - ?) # 宏化原俉 Hóng-Hùa Yuán-Wú (? - ?) # 祥青廣廣 Xiáng-Qīng Guǎng (? - ?) # 守道續先 Shǒu-Dào Xù-Xiān (? - ?) # 正岳本超 Zhēng-Yué Běn-Chāo (? - ?) # 永暢矍 Yǒng-Chàng Jué (? - ?) # 方來昌遠 Fāng-Lái Chāng-Yuǎn (? - ?) # 豁俉隆參 Huò-Wú Lóng-Cān (? - ?) # 維超能燦 Wéi-Chāo Néng-Càn (? - ?) # 奇量仁繁 Qí-Liàng Rén-Fán (? - ?) # 妙連聖華 Miào-Lián Shèng-Huá (? - ?) # 鼎峰果成 Dǐng-Fēng Guǒ-Féng (? - ?) # 善慈常開 Shàn-Cí Cháng-Kāi (? - ?) # 徳情演徹 Dé-Qíng Yǎn-Chè/虛雲 Xū-Yún (1840 - 1959) # 净慧老和 Jìng-Huì Lǎo-Hé (1940 - 2013)

Notes

References

Sources

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External links

Official Bailin Temple website
{{Yuan dynasty topics Religious buildings and structures completed in 1330 Pagodas in China Stupas in Hebei Buildings and structures in Shijiazhuang Buddhist buildings in Shijiazhuang Yuan dynasty architecture Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Hebei