The Dragon-and-Tiger Pagoda () is a

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

brick and stone pagoda located in central

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

Province,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. It is considered a characteristic example of the pagoda style of the period.

Location

The Dragon-and-Tiger Pagoda is located in Nanshan, near Liubu Village, in

Licheng County Licheng County () is a county in the southeast of Shanxi province, China, bordering Hebei province to the east. It is under the administration of Changzhi Changzhi ( zh, s=长治) is a prefecture-level city in the southeast of Shanxi Province, ...

, under the administration of

Jinan Jinan is the capital of the province of Shandong in East China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is one of the largest cities in Shandong in terms of population. The area of present-day Jinan has played an important role in the history of ...

City, about 33 kilometers southeast of the city of Jinan proper. The pagoda stands near the site formerly occupied by the Shentong Temple ({{zh, c=神通寺, p=Shen Tong Si, meaning "Supernatural Power" Temple) and was erected as a burial monument to a monk. No records about the construction date of the pagoda are known to exist.

Structure

The pagoda is designed in a single-storey pavilion-style with a square cross-section. The total height of the structure is 10.8 meters. The base of the pagoda consists of a three-tier

Sumeru Mount Meru (Sanskrit/Pali: मेरु)—also known as Sumeru, Sineru or Mahāmeru—is a sacred, five-peaked mountain present within Hindu, Jain and Buddhist cosmologies, revered as the centre of all physical, metaphysical and spiritua ...

pedestal decorated with relief sculptures of lions and lotus flowers. On the pedestal rests the central pillar of the pagoda which is carved out of a single cube-shaped stone block with four meters edge length. Rectangular doors are carved into each side of the central pillar. Behind each of these doors, a carved

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

sculpture is positioned. The top of the pagoda consists of a richly decorated brick roof. The artistic and technical design of the roof suggest that it has been rebuilt during the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

. The pagoda is vividly decorated with

alto-relievo Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

Tang-dynasty-style sculpture on the central pillar showing the Buddha,

bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, '' bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or ''bodhi'' in ...

s, celestial guards, and flying

apsaras Apsaras (, , Khmer: អប្សរា are a class of celestial beings in Hindu and Buddhist culture. They were originally a type of female spirit of the clouds and waters, but, later play the role of a "nymph" or "fairy". They figure ...

(on top of the doors), as well as the dragons and tigers which give the pagoda its name. Two other pagodas stand near the Dragon-and-Tiger Pagoda: the Four-Gates Pagoda (

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty ( ) was a short-lived Dynasties of China, Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618. The re-unification of China proper under the Sui brought the Northern and Southern dynasties era to a close, ending a prolonged peri ...

) and the Minor Dragon-and-Tiger Pagoda. The latter also dates from the Tang dynasty area and – although much smaller – shares many features of the Dragon-and-Tiger Pagoda. Also in the immediate vicinity of the Dragon-and-Tiger Pagoda is the Thousand Buddha Cliff into which over 200 religious statues as well as sculptures of noble people have been carved during the Tang dynasty.

External links

short article by the China Internet Information Center

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070203132422/http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_travel/2003-09/24/content_33324.htm short article about the Pagoda and the nearby thousand Buddha Cliff on ChinaCulture.org Pagodas in China Tang dynasty art Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Shandong Buddhist temples in Shandong

Location

Structure

See also

External links