001 Architecture Taishi Que The Taishi Que (pillar-gates) stand some hundred paces south of the Zhongyue Temple in Dengfeng, Henan, serving as the spirit-road gates before the temple of Mount Taishi of the Central Peak. They were first built in the fifth year of Yuanchu under Emperor An of Han (118 CE) by Lü Chang, magistrate of Yangcheng. The lintel bears a raised-seal inscription reading “Central Peak Taishi Yangcheng.” The front inscription praises the mountain spirit: “the mound earth…, the purest qi of Dai, spring gives birth to all things, clouds rise from an inch of skin.” A rear inscription was added in the fourth year of Yanguang. Together with the Shaoshi Que and the Qimu Que, they are known as the Three Han-Dynasty Que of Mount Song. Eastern Han Dengfeng City, Henan Province Taishi Que · Han Dynasty · Stone Que →
002 Architecture Xiuding Temple A Tang-dynasty biography records how Zhang Sengmeng gave up hunting after wounding a deer, and how he hid a tiger to save its life during a hunt by Emperor Xiaowen of the Wei—from which Tiancheng Temple arose. The temple bore in turn the names Chengshan Temple, Heshui Temple, and Xiuding Temple; at the Northern Zhou persecution of Buddhism it left the record that “this pagoda alone survived”; the Sui and Tang restored the temple, and Song and Yuan inscriptions still show the pagoda standing and the temple flourishing. These materials trace the name, ruin and revival, and repairs of Xiuding Temple in Anyang, Henan, and provide documentary clues for studying the extant Tang-dynasty square relief-brick pagoda. Northern Wei Dynasty Anyang County, Henan Province Xiuding Temple Pagoda · Xiuding Temple · Tiancheng Temple →
003 Architecture Fengxue Temple Fengxue Temple stands on Mount Fengxue northeast of Ruzhou, formerly Linru County, Henan. Also known as Baiyun and Qianfeng Temple, it was associated with Master Zhen and his pagoda inscription in the Tang Kaiyuan era. Yanzhao revived the abandoned monastery during the Five Dynasties, making it an important Linji Chan center. Surviving buildings include the Tang Seventh Patriarch Pagoda, the Jin Middle Buddha Hall, and the Ming Vairocana Hall. The Bell Pavilion, first built under the Northern Song and repeatedly repaired, houses an iron bell cast in 1125. Fengxue Temple and its pagoda cemetery joined the third national list of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level in 1988. This article brings together original historical passages from Dream Pool Essays, Compendium of the Five Lamps, Outline of the Buddhas and Patriarchs, Records of Central Plains Inscriptions, General Gazetteer of Henan, and Supplementary Gazetteer of Fengxue. Tang dynasty Ruzhou, Henan, China Buddhist architecture · Linji school · Tang brick pagodas →