001 Architecture Lingyan Temple In the Zhengguang era of the Northern Wei, the Chan master Fading came to Mount Fang and founded a place of Buddhist practice; in the Tang, a monastery was re-established beside the damaged images left by the Huichang suppression of Buddhism. In the Northern Song a complex of more than five hundred bays drew crowds of pilgrims, only to fall quickly into decline amid famine; in the Jin the monks defended the temple's mountain forest on the strength of old steles; in the Yuan more than five thousand volumes of scripture waited forty-five years for the Dragon Treasury Hall; in the Ming the Hall of the Thousand Buddhas was rebuilt; and in the Qing the treasury hall was destroyed by fire. Through its many cycles of rise and decline, the temple has left behind stele inscriptions, rubbings, and photographs from successive ages. Northern Wei Dynasty Changqing District, Jinan, Shandong Province Lingyan Temple · Mount Fang · Mount Yufu →
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 Giant Wild Goose Pagoda The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda stands within the Da Ci'en Temple in Xi'an. According to the *You Chengnan Ji* (A Record of Travels South of the City), the monk Xuanzang began building the pagoda in the third year of Yonghui (652). It originally had only five stories, with a brick exterior and earthen core, modeled after the Indian stupa. During the Chang'an era it collapsed; Empress Wu and members of the nobility funded its reconstruction to ten stories. After subsequent wars, only seven stories survived. The east and west niches at the base of the pagoda preserve the Preface to the Holy Teachings of the Great Tang Tripitaka and the Record of the Holy Teachings, both inscribed by Chu Suiliang. Tang Dynasty Xi'an, Shaanxi Province Buddhist Pagoda · Xi'an · Buddhism →
004 Architecture Foguang Temple Foguang Temple lies in Wutai County, Shanxi, and takes its name from an auspicious response of "Buddha's light." In the fifth year of the Dali era of the Tang, the monk Facao saw several beams of white light to the temple's south; during the Yuanhe era there was a memorial reporting that "auspicious clouds appeared beside Foguang Temple." The Dunhuang Record of a Journey to Mount Wutai describes its seven-bay great Buddha hall and its three-story, seven-bay Maitreya pavilion; after the Huichang persecution the monk Yuancheng "sought out Foguang Temple anew" and rebuilt it step by step. The East Hall that survives today is a relic of that reconstruction. Tang Dynasty Wutai County, Shanxi Province Foguang Temple · Great Foguang Temple · Wutai County →
005 Architecture Nanchan Temple The main hall of Nanchan Temple is located in Lijia Village, Wutai County, Shanxi. An ink inscription under the beam reads “restored in the third year of Jianzhong of the Great Tang,” making it one of the earliest surviving Tang-dynasty timber structures with a definite date. Pre-restoration survey photos from 1953 show that the front-eave doors and windows, the eave bracket projections, and structural details still preserve original Tang construction. Tang Dynasty Wutai County, Shanxi Province Nanchan Temple Main Hall · Nanchan Temple · Wutai County →
006 Architecture Xingjiao Temple Pagodas The Xingjiao Temple Pagodas stand within Xingjiao Temple on the Shaoling Plateau in Xi'an. They are the collective designation for the three relic-burial pagodas of Xuanzang, Kuiji, and Woncheuk. The Xuanzang Pagoda occupies the center and is somewhat larger, erected when the temple was founded in the 2nd year of Zongzhang (669 CE); the Kuiji and Woncheuk pagodas flank it on either side and are somewhat smaller. The pagoda inscriptions of Xuanzang and Kuiji are Tang originals carved in the 4th year of Kaicheng; the Woncheuk inscription stone was broken and what is now embedded on the pagoda is a later re-carving. Tang Dynasty Chang'an District, Xi'an, Shaanxi Xingjiao Temple Pagodas · Xingjiao Temple · Xuanzang →