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The Twin Pagoda Temple (), officially known as Yongzuo Temple (), of Taiyuan,
The East
The pagodas are the tallest set of twin pagodas in China. They are both eight-cornered, with the lowest floor being comparatively taller than the rest, the size of the upper floors progressively decreasing. The West Pagoda is 54.78 meters tall, with the lowest floor’s circumference being 4.16 meters. The pagoda’s eaves are painted with emerald green glaze. The East Pagoda is 53.3 meters high, and the lowest floor’s circumference is 4.36 meters. On top of the East pagoda are three magic gourds (宝葫芦), with the upper two parts being made of copper.
The Twin Pagoda Temple (), officially known as Yongzuo Temple (), of Taiyuan, Shanxi Province
Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level ...
, China, is a temple containing two 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, ...
s dating from the Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...
.
History
The East 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, ...
was built in 1597, and the West one in 1612. In charge of the pagoda’s construction was a high ranking monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
, named Fodeng (佛灯). By the 20th century, deterioration since construction had caused the East pagoda to slant from its center of gravity by 2.87 meters. In 1995, experts set about trying to correct the slant. They removed earth from underneath the pagoda and successfully corrected the pagoda's tilt.
Pagodas
The pagodas are the tallest set of twin pagodas in China. They are both eight-cornered, with the lowest floor being comparatively taller than the rest, the size of the upper floors progressively decreasing. The West Pagoda is 54.78 meters tall, with the lowest floor’s circumference being 4.16 meters. The pagoda’s eaves are painted with emerald green glaze. The East Pagoda is 53.3 meters high, and the lowest floor’s circumference is 4.36 meters. On top of the East pagoda are three magic gourds (宝葫芦), with the upper two parts being made of copper.
Temple
The temple contains approximately 260 stone steles, as it is the location where stele from temples in the area that are no longer extant were moved. The temple grounds also contain many peony trees, one of which dates from the Ming Dynasty.Zhao (2007), 66.Notes
References
*Xu Xiaoying, ed. ''Zhongguo Guta Zaoxing''. Beijing: Chinese Forest Press, 2007. *Zhao Yu, ed. ''Shanxi''. Beijing: Chinese Travel Press, 2007 {{coord, 37, 50, 51, N, 112, 35, 48, E, region:CN-14_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Pagodas in China Buddhist temples in Taiyuan Ming dynasty architecture Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Shanxi Buildings and structures in Taiyuan