Shuangta Temple, a famous temple in Sanjin, is located in the southeast of Taiyuan, at the southern foot of Haozhuang Village, about four kilometers away from the city center. Here, there are green trees and red walls, Buddhist pagodas and Vatican halls, exquisite Buddhist niches, comb-shaped stone tablets, fragrant flowers, verdant pines and cypresses, which are solemn and antique.
The architectural orientation of Shuangta Temple is contrary to the traditional habit of facing south in China for thousands of years. Because of the terrain, the extension is condescending, sitting north facing south. It can be said that it has Taihang peaks on its back and Fenshui area on its face. Immersed in the scene, with the ancient pagoda, Taiyuan, the ancient city and the fertile land of Jinzhong Basin, has a panoramic view.
Shuangta Temple, whose real name is Shuangta Temple. It is only because the two towering and spectacular pagodas in the temple attract attention that they are called the Twin Pagodas Temple by the world. Over time, the real name of the temple has been gradually ignored, but it is commonly known as a household name. The word "forever" in the Twin Towers Temple comes from The Book of Songs: a gentleman is a gentleman for thousands of years, and the word "forever" is just the abbreviation of "forever". "Erya Shigu" said: Forever and ever, for a long time; Forever and ever. "Shuo Wen Jie Zi" said: You, pass it on; Oh, good luck. Jin Shu Yuefu said: Forever, it is still far away. It can be seen that the word "forever" seems to have inexhaustible meanings. This is the origin and meaning of the temple name.
Shuangta Temple was built in the middle of Wanli in Ming Dynasty, about 25 to 30 years ago (AD 1597 1602), and it has been more than 38 years since. When it was built, it was not the temple we see today, nor did it reach its present scale. At that time, only one Wenfeng Tower was built to supplement the shortage of literature transportation in Taiyuan, and it was named Wenxuan Tower, which is now the old tower in the southeast corner. As for the simple temple built next to the tower, it has long since disappeared. At that time, the name of the temple was not Shuangta Temple, but Yongming Temple. The reasons for the construction of Yongming Temple and Wenxuan Tower are clearly recorded in the Wanli edition of Shanxi Tongzhi and Taiyuan Fuzhi in the Ming Dynasty.
Shortly after Wenxuan Pagoda and Yongming Temple came out, in the thirty-fifth year of Wanli (AD 1607), Zhu Minchun, the 11th king of Jin and Fan, felt that Yongming Pagoda and Wenxuan Pagoda were crude in scale and did not match Taiyuan's status as the provincial capital. He wrote a book about Xiantong Temple in Wutai Mountain, and asked the temple to host it. At that time, monk Fu Deng, a famous architect in China, came to Taiyuan to preside over the project of expanding the Pagoda Temple. Fu Deng was a famous monk in the middle of Ming Dynasty. Li Taihou, the biological mother of Emperor Wanli, believed in Buddhism, worshipped him as a teacher and converted to his door. After receiving the invitation of King Mu of Jin Dynasty, Foden came to Taiyuan. When he saw the Wenxuan Tower of Yongming Temple leaning slightly to the northwest, he suggested to Wang Jin that a new tower should be built on the left side of the old tower while expanding the temple. The King of Jin adopted Fukuda's suggestion, and with the assistance of Empress Cisheng, it took four years, from the spring of thirty-six years of Wanli to September of forty years (A.D. 1608 16 12), to build three new temples, namely, the main buildings of the existing temples of Shuangta Temple: Daxiong Hall, Sansheng Pavilion and hatchback Square.
Forten's planned temple is very large. In addition to the existing three main halls in the backyard, there are the Heavenly King Hall, the backyard gate, the front yard hall and the gate. However, due to old age and infirmity, he could not complete his plan. In the autumn of this year (forty years of Wanli), after completing the new tower, he returned to Wutai Mountain with illness and died in Xiantong Temple in Taihuai Town soon. This unfinished pagoda was named Shuangta Temple, and both pagodas were named Wenxuan Pagoda.
The temple is built on the mountain and faces north. It consists of front yard, back yard and tower yard, with a total area of 30,000 square meters. There are two towers in the Tayuan, one is the hall and the other is the back hall. There are some buildings in the backyard, such as Daxiong Hall, Sansheng Pavilion, Paitang and Abbot. Inside the temple, the Daxiong Hall and the East-West Annex Hall are all infinite halls, which are carved with blue bricks to imitate wooden structures.
The Third Temple, formerly known as Guanyin Pavilion, is three rooms wide, 16.75 meters long and 9.7 meters deep. The brick carving caisson at the top of the warning room is considered as a masterpiece of brick carving art and architectural art in Shuangta Temple. In the middle of the niche is the colored sculpture of Master Guanyin. The statue is 2 meters high, plump in shape and smooth in lines. It is a fine product of colored sculptures in the Ming Dynasty.
The twin towers are located at the highest point of Shuangta Temple, both in the southeast of the temple, and are called Wenxuan Pagoda. Both towers are octagonal, with a total of 13 floors and a height of about 54.7 meters. Brick pavilion-style, tower surface imitation wood structure, polished and carved with bricks into bucket arches, squares and eaves rafters, tower body has steps, which can spiral up to the top of the tower. The two towers are 60 meters apart, and the tower is 54.85 meters high, with 13 floors in total, and the bottom is 7 meters high, octagonal and masonry structure. The surface of the tower is decorated with exquisite brick carvings, buckets, colored glasses and cornices. The cornices are inlaid with birds, animals, flowers and figures of various colors. The top of the tower is octagonal and pointed. There is a staircase in the tower, which leads to the top floor. Looking from the window, the scenery of Taiyuan is vivid.
Throughout the ages, the twin towers of the Twin Towers Temple have attracted worldwide attention, known as Jinyang Wonder and regarded as a symbol of Taiyuan. Lingxiao Twin Towers has been regarded as one of the eight scenic spots of Taiyuan ancient city in the local chronicles of past dynasties, and its influence is so great that even the real name of the temple, Shuangta Temple, is little known, and it has been replaced by Shuangta Temple.
Lingxiao Twin Towers is the tallest building in Taiyuan's existing ancient buildings. It is like a pair of twin sisters, which set each other off and attract every guest who comes to Taiyuan to travel and pass by. Lingxiao Twin Towers also has a beautiful and pleasant nickname "Two peaks in writing". Historically, many politicians, thinkers and poets who set foot in Taiyuan were amazed by the twin towers of Lingxiao. Li Zicheng, the leader of the peasant uprising in the late Ming Dynasty, once praised it. Li Weizhen, one of the seven great literati in the south of the Yangtze River in Ming Dynasty, once recited poems for him. Fu Shan, a famous thinker and artist in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, painted for him. General Yang Chengwu, the famous general of the New China People's Liberation Army, spent a lot of money on this; The list goes on.
For hundreds of years, most people cherish the Lingxiao Twin Towers of the Twin Towers Temple as artistic treasures and cultural relics. However, it is better to study its story and the reasons for its emergence. These twin sister pagodas, one is Wenfeng Pagoda built first, and the other is Buddhist Pagoda built later. Not only were they not built at the same time, but they were completely different in nature. The so-called Wenfeng Pagoda is a Feng Shui Pagoda, which originated from Family Talk, that is, a symbolic and ornamental building with superstitious color in feudal society, where local gentry supplemented the topographical defects and revitalized the regional culture. Although its shape is taken from the floating picture of Buddhism, it has nothing to do with Buddhism and its teachings. On the other hand, stupas are sacred objects of Buddhism. It is a religious building dedicated to Buddhist relics, Buddhist scriptures and Buddhist disciples. This is the difference between the two towers, which are close at hand and far away.
pagoda
Originally named Wenxuan Pagoda (with the same name as Wenfeng Pagoda), the pagoda was supervised by the famous monk Miao Feng (the monk of Fu Deng) during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, and there were relics in the pagoda, so it was also called Wenxuan Pagoda, or stupa. The stupa is located at the northern end (northwest corner) of the pagoda, so some people call it the North Pagoda according to its orientation.
The plane of the pagoda is octagonal, with a total of 13 floors, the lowest floor is 4.6 meters long and the tower is 54.78 meters high. It is a typical pavilion-type hollow brick tower. The foundation of the tower is made of sandstone, which is simple and solid. This tower is made of monochrome blue bricks. The arches, cornices, rafters and columns (columns) on the tower are all cut and polished by imitation wood structure and blue bricks. The eaves of the 13-story tower are all made of glazed tiles from Kong Quelan, and the edges are crystal clear and beautiful. Under the eaves on the first floor of the tower, there is a brick word "Amitabha" embedded in the open space between the arches. The font is like a ribbon, layered and beautiful and symmetrical. These words not only show that the pagoda is a stupa, but also skillfully fill the gap between arches, which is really original.
The tower 17-story brick-wood arch has the same modeling structure as Dahua Hall. It is a five-step heavy wing, and the upper eaves imitate, rafter and fly to form the tower eaves. With the height of the tower and the rise of the tower bottom, the height of each floor gradually decreases, and the shape of the bucket arch also becomes smaller. When it reaches more than 8 stories, the structure of the bucket arch changes into a jump (that is, three steps), which is obviously divided into points, making the outline shape of the tower streamlined and very beautiful.
The eight corners of each floor of the stupa are carved with decorative lotus eaves carved with bricks, and the vertical columns are connected by brick columns. Above the column, the corners, beams and tiles carved with bricks are engraved with delicate and realistic grass lines and moire patterns, which greatly enhances the decoration outside the tower. This kind of architectural sculpture is not only rich in patterns and exquisite in carving, but also profoundly reflects and represents the artistic style of brick-wood architecture in Ming Dynasty, which can be called an excellent work of brick-wood architecture in Ming Dynasty.
There are two doors at the bottom of the stupa, one in the southeast and the other in the northwest. Climbing up the steps from the east gate, there is a stone niche in which the statues were destroyed by the war. Continue to climb, and then enter the ladder between the outer wall and the inner wall of the tower; If you spiral up, you can approach the top floor. Standing at the top of the tower, overlooking the whole city of Taiyuan with the ancient tower body, witnessing Jinyang scenery, just as Mr. Guo Moruo said: Taiyuan is magnificent from a distance, and the rice fields on both sides of Fenhe River are rich. Emerging industries are high-tech, and some successors dare to be red. It is no wonder that Li Bo of Amin Dynasty wrote such a poem with emotion after he climbed to the top of the tower: The black dragon holds the universe high and the purple gas soars into the sky. I'm here to pick up the stars, and I feel that the world here is vast. If you enter the west gate of the tower, it will be very different from the east gate. There are no climbing steps here, and you can enter the bottom of the stupa without taking a few steps. Here, you can enjoy the hollow brick tower in the Ming Dynasty and the empty coupons in the center of the tower, forming different levels of tower room architectural style and skills, and appreciate the internal structure of the coupon pavilion tower. By then, you will have a new and concrete understanding of the exquisite construction technology of the working people at that time, and give you beautiful knowledge enjoyment.
The tower gate at the top of the stupa is made of copper and iron. The brake seat is a lotus cover sumeru seat made of pig iron. The top of the gate is a copper vase made of lotus seats in the basin.
Wenfeng Tower
Standing side by side with the stupa, this quaint brick pagoda in the southeast corner of the pagoda is Wenfeng Pagoda. Wenfeng Pagoda is also called Wenxuan Pagoda and Wenxuan Pagoda. It is called Wenfeng Pagoda because it was created to supplement the fact that Taiyuan Fucheng is high in the northwest and low in the southeast, which is not conducive to the development of culture and is used to create the prosperity of mountains and rivers. Mr. and Mr. Luo, experts in the study of ancient pagodas in China, have long been conclusive. As for local people or local chronicles, Wenfeng Pagoda is called Old Pagoda or South Pagoda because it comes out before the stupa and its location.
From the architectural features, Wenfeng Pagoda came out a little earlier than the stupa, but they definitely belong to the works in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and there are many similarities. For example, the planes are all octagonal, and they are all 13-story buildings with a height difference of only 2 cm. According to the survey, Wenfeng Pagoda is slightly lower than the stupa, with a total height of 54.76 meters. Moreover, the structure and shape of the bucket arch, the cutting and grinding of eaves, rafters, columns and squares can be said to be similar. All these reflect their distinctive characteristics as products of the same era. But they also have many differences that can't be ignored, that is, Wenfeng Pagoda has no tower foundation, only one door, no Buddhist niches, no Amitabha lettering, and no glazed tiles to trim the tower eaves. Here, let's not say that the tower brake shapes of the two towers have nothing in common, that is, the main bodies of the towers are also very different; Wenfeng Tower is almost the same in diameter up and down, basically straight up and down, with no obvious points, and its shape is linear; The stupa, on the other hand, has a great difference in diameter from top to bottom, and there are obvious points, especially more prominent than the seven-story building, which makes the whole pagoda look like an arc streamline. These large and small differences undoubtedly reflect the differences in modeling, skills and styles between the designers and builders of the two towers.
As soon as Wenfeng Tower came out, the tower body tilted slightly to the northwest. This has been recorded in the local chronicles of past dynasties, and it has also become the origin and reason for Forden to build the tower. Over the years, there have been many rumors and many people who have studied architecture say that Wenfeng Pagoda leans slightly to the northwest. At the beginning of the tower construction, it was the tower builder who deliberately moved the tower to the northwest side to offset the blowing resistance of the northwest wind, considering that the tower was high and steep and the front of Dongshan Mountain was easily affected by the northwest wind. If it is true that the Wenfeng Pagoda has been tilted to the northwest since its birth, but it has not fallen after 400 years, doesn't it mean that the meticulous design and construction technology of craftsmen at that time were unparalleled?
Stone tablet sculpture
At present, Shuangta Temple has collected and protected more than 260 precious stone tablets and stone carvings. Except for a small part, most of these stone tablets are scattered treasures collected from all over Taiyuan after the Cultural Revolution. Among these inscriptions, there are calligraphy inscriptions by famous calligraphers such as Wang Xizhi, Zhang Xu, Yan Zhenqing, Liu Gongquan and Su Dongpo. There are more than 0/80 stone carvings/kloc-in the Ming dynasty, the famous Sanjin, and the well-known "Bao Tang Xianji Valley Fa Tie" in China; There were 36 copies of Fa Tie in Gubaoxian Hall in Qing Dynasty. There are three drunken stone carvings by Su Dongpo, a great writer in the Song Dynasty, called Red Cliff Nostalgia; There are four stone carvings by Cui Yan, the son of Qi Juanzao, a famous calligrapher in Qing Dynasty. There is also a unique description of the Yinjun family training monument in the west of Shanxi and so on. These ancient monuments and inscriptions collect the ink of famous calligraphers in previous generations of Qing Dynasty. There are original calligraphy, cursive script, official script, seal script and other calligraphy styles, which are not only cherished by calligraphy circles and people from all walks of life who like calligraphy, but also loved by people who come here for sightseeing.
Peony in Ming dynasty
There are lilac trees and peony trees in Ming Dynasty in front of Shuangta Temple and Daxiong Hall, which are very famous in Taiyuan. Today, the peony planted in the middle of the Ming Dynasty is still in full bloom in the world, surviving for 30 or 60 years, and is called the peony of the Ming Dynasty by the world. The centuries-old peony of the Ming Dynasty in Shuangta Temple, the twin towers, named Zixiaxian, is rooted in the square flower bed in front of the main temple of the temple, Daxiong Hall. Recently, the cultural management office of Shuangta Temple introduced and cultivated nearly 1,000 peonies on the basis of the Ming Dynasty peonies, and there are about 30 species in terms of varieties. From the color point of view, red, pink, yellow, white, purple, green and ink can be described as nine colors complete. Now, at the turn of spring and summer, in more than 20 days before and after the long summer, the ancient temple, the Twin Pagodas Temple, stands tall and straight, competing for wonders. The whole Brahma Temple is beautiful and gorgeous, and its fragrance is overflowing. Chinese and foreign tourists jostle shoulder to shoulder in the world, competing to watch, and being surrounded by colorful peony flowers, which constitutes a genre painting of a flower sea for a spring outing.