The Longxing Monastery or Longxing Temple () is an ancient

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

located in the town of

Zhengding Zhengding (), originally Zhending (), is a county in southwestern Hebei Province, North China, located approximately south of Beijing, capital of China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Shijiazhuang, the capital of t ...

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

Province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

, China, approximately north of the provincial capital of

Shijiazhuang Shijiazhuang; Mandarin: ; formerly known as Shimen and romanized as Shihkiachwang is the capital and most populous city of China's Hebei Province. A prefecture-level city southwest of Beijing, it administers eight districts, three county-le ...

. It has been referred to as the ''"Best Temple south of Beijing"''.

History

The monastery was first built in AD 586, during the

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 ...

. Its original name was Longcang monastery (). One of the oldest

stela A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

s on the grounds of the monastery, the "Longcangsi Stele" (), dates from the year the monastery's foundation. Much of it was reconstructed 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 ...

( AD 960–1279). Today, the Longxing Temple is open to the public as a

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

Landscape

Following a common pattern, the monastery complex features a central axis along which a sequence of buildings and focal points is arranged. The first building is the Hall of the Four Heavenly Kings. At the opposite end of the axis is the Tower of Great Compassion (), a -high wooden structure, which houses a bronze statue of

Guanyin Guanyin () is a common Chinese name of the bodhisattva associated with Karuṇā, compassion known as Avalokiteśvara (). Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means " he One WhoPerceives the Sounds of the World". Originally regarded as m ...

cast during the early years of the

. Inside the hall, a staircase leads around the statue which allows it to be seen from top to bottom. Other notable artworks of the monastery include a colorful wooden carving of Guanyin sitting in a grotto and statues of

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 ...

sitting on a

lotus throne The lotus throne, sometimes called lotus platform, is a stylized lotus flower used as the seat or base for a figure in art associated with Indian religions. It is the normal pedestal for divine figures in Buddhist art and Hindu art, and often see ...

. A unique piece of 12th-century wood architecture from the Song dynasty in the temple is the Pavilion of Zhuanlunzang, which was restored in the 20th century. The pavilion houses a rotating bookshelf which was formerly used to store holy texts and Buddhist

sutra ''Sutra'' ()Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aphorism or a collection of aphorisms in the form of a manual or, more broadly, a ...

s. It is the oldest existent rotating repository of its kind.

Architecture

The whole monastery of Longxing Temple has its gate facing the south. There is a clear axis from the south to the north and all the buildings in the Longxing Temple are aligned to it.

Hall of the Four Heavenly Kings

The '' Tianwang-dian'', or Hall of

Four Heavenly Kings The Four Heavenly Kings are four Buddhism, Buddhist gods or Deva (Buddhism), ''devas'', each of whom is believed to watch over one cardinal direction of the world. The Hall of Four Heavenly Kings is a standard component of Chinese Buddhism, Ch ...

() is the first building along the axis of Longxing Temple. It also acts as the main entrance of the whole monastery of Longxing Temple. As is recorded, this hall was built in the early

(between AD 982 to AD 988). It was restored several times in history and some of them are recorded, which happened in the 37th year of the Wanli Period,

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

( AD 1609), 34th year of Kangxi Period,

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

( AD 1695) and 41st year of Kangxi Period,

( AD 1702). In the 45th year of the Qianlong Period,

( AD 1780), the restoration work tilted the hall to make it face the south as it is today and to be consistent with other major halls. The overall structural style was roughly kept despite all the restorations. The Hall of the Four Heavenly Kings is 23.28m in length and 9.62m in width, with doors on both long sides, facing the south and north. The roof is in the

East Asian hip-and-gable roof The East Asian hip-and-gable roof (''Xiēshān'' (歇山) in Chinese, ''Paljakjibung'' (팔작지붕) in Korean and ''Irimoya'' (入母屋) in Japanese) also known as 'resting hill roof', consists of a hip roof that slopes down on all four sid ...

style, which indicates its status as a high-level temple (roof styles are key elements in ancient Chinese to show the political or religious status of a building.). Four statues of the

, each of 4.8m in height, were worshipped on the east and west end of the hall, two on each side. The original statues were demolished in 1966 and what we see today are made in 1982. In the center of the hall sits a gilded statue of the Monk

Budai Budai is a nickname given to the historical Chinese monk Qieci () in the Later Liang Dynasty, who is often identified with and venerated as the future or Maitreya Buddha in Chan Buddhism and Buddhist scripture. With the spread of Chan Buddh ...

which was also called the "Laughing Buddha" or "Fat Buddha" by the locals.

Hall of ''Dajueliushi'' (Relics)

The Hall of ''Dajueliushi'' () is the second hall of the monastery and should have been the main hall (if it didn't collapse), located right to the north of the Hall of Four Heavenly Kings. This hall is dedicated to the six mentors of Shijiamouni, namely

Vipassī Buddha In Buddhist tradition, Vipassī (Pāli) is the twenty-second of twenty-eight Buddhas described in Chapter 27 of the '' Buddhavaṃsa''. The ''Buddhavamsa'' is a Buddhist text which describes the life of Gautama Buddha and the twenty-seven Budd ...

Sikhī Buddha According to the ''Buddhavaṃsa'' and Buddhist mythology, Sikhī (Pāli) is the twenty-third of twenty-eight Buddhas. The penultimate Buddha of the '' Alamkarakalpa'' (Adorned Eon), Sikhī was preceded by Vipassī Buddha and succeeded by Vessab ...

Vessabhū Buddha According to the ''Buddhavaṃsa'', Vessabhū is believed to be the 24th Buddha. He was born in the pleasance of Anoma (Commentary, Anūpama), his father being the khattiya Suppatita (Supatita) and his mother Yasavatī.* He is venerated by the Th ...

Kakusandha Buddha Kakusandha (Pāli), or Krakucchaṃda in Sanskrit, is one of the ancient Buddhas whose biography is chronicled in chapter 22 of the '' Buddhavaṃsa'', one of the books of the Pali Canon. According to Theravāda Buddhist tradition, Kakusandha is ...

Koṇāgamana Buddha Koṇāgamana (Pāli), also known as Kanakamuni in Sanskrit or alternatively Koṇāgon or Kanakagamana, is one of the ancient Buddhas whose biography is chronicled in chapter 23 of the ''Buddhavaṃsa'', one of the books of the Pali Canon. B ...

and Kasyapa Matanga. In Chinese, the "''liushi''" (六师) part in its name means "six mentors". There was a statue of

Shijiamouni 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 ...

himself accompanied by six statues of the six mentors in the hall and over a hundred small statues of the

Arhat In Buddhism, an ''Arhat'' () or ''Arahant'' (, 𑀅𑀭𑀳𑀦𑁆𑀢𑁆) is one who has gained insight into the true nature of existence and has achieved ''Nirvana (Buddhism), Nirvana'' and has been liberated from the Rebirth (Buddhism ...

s and

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. So the locals also refer to this hall as "the hall of the seven buddhas". The hall was built in the Yuanfeng Period in the

( AD 1078–1085) with the

hip roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downward to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope, with variants including Tented roof, tented roofs and others. Thus, a hipped roof has no gables or other ve ...

style, which is the highest level of roof styles in ancient China. In the following centuries, it was restored several times. In the early years of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, it collapsed due to poor maintenance and war. Now only the stone platform exists, on which the wooden structure stood in history. The hall is nine ''Jian'' (, the space between two columns on the façade) by six ''Jians'' (53.35m by 35.2m), covering , which is slightly larger than the largest existing Buddhist hall in China, the Main Hall of

Fengguo Temple Fengguo Temple () is a Buddhist temple located in Yixian, Liaoning Province, China. The temple was first founded in 1020 during the Liao dynasty (916–1125), and grew quite large during the subsequent centuries. Today, only two halls, two ...

. Nine was the largest number allowed for the Jians of Buddhist halls in the hierarchy system in ancient China. The Hall of "''Dajueliush''", if still existing, should be the largest and highest-level Buddhist hall all over China.

Mani Hall

The Mani Hall () is the third hall along the axis of Longxing Temple and is regarded as the most important one of all the halls in Longxing Temple. The hall was constructed in the 4th year of the Huangyou Period of the Song dynasty ( AD 1052). It was one of the most intact building from the

in China. and was restored several times in history, among which the restoration in 1977–1980 was the most thorough one. The hall was built on a high brick and stone platform. The dimension is seven Jians by seven (33.29m by 27.12m), covering over . The

style was used here with two levels of eaves. The floor plan appeared to be almost a regular square but was added with one ''Baosha'' (, a smaller and loer structure protruding from the main building) on each of the four sides. This combination of square layout, ''Baosha'', and the roof style gave the building a unique exterior appearance, complicated and magnificent.

Liang Sicheng Liang Sicheng ( zh, c=梁思成; 20 April 1901 – 9 January 1972) was a Chinese architect and architectural historian, known as the father of modern Chinese architecture. His father, Liang Qichao, was one of the most prominent Chinese scholar ...

, the respected Chinese architect, commented with a surprise when he first saw this hall in 1933: "Except for the coner towers of the

Forbidden City The Forbidden City () is the Chinese Empire, imperial Chinese palace, palace complex in the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City in Beijing, China. It was the residence of 24 Ming dynasty, Ming and Qing dynasty, Qing dynasty L ...

, such layout can only be found in the paintings of the

. The picturesque elegancy, the solemn and vigorous ancient style gave me an indescribable feeling. In particular, from the perspective of its form, the Mani Hall is overlaying and magnificent, which is indeed one of the finest pieces of architecture art. It broadens our horizon of ancient

Chinese architecture Chinese architecture () is the embodiment of an architectural style that has developed over millennia in China and has influenced architecture throughout East Asia. Since its emergence during the early ancient era, the structural principles of ...

." The structural system of Mani Hall was derived from

Yingzao Fashi The ''Yingzao Fashi'' () is a technical treatise on architecture and craftsmanship written by the ancient Chinese author Li Jie (李誡; 1065–1110), the Directorate of Buildings and Construction during the mid Song Dynasty of China. He r ...

. The ''

Dougong ''Dougong'' (Chinese language, Chinese: 斗拱; pinyin: ''dǒugǒng''; lit. 'cap ndblock') is a structural element of interlocking wooden Bracket (architecture), brackets, important in traditional Chinese architecture for both its struct ...

s'' drew particular attention from researchers with there large quantity and various styles. The complicated roof was supported by 127 ''

s'', which can be categorized into over 20 styles. For example, the ''

s'' supporting the lower eaves are 1.2m in height, equivalent to 1/3 of the column height. Such dimensions ''

s'' are typical

Song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

style and can not be found in the

Ming The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of China ruled by the Han people, t ...

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

style buildings. In the center of the hall stands a group of Buddha statues. The gilded

sits in the middle on an octangle ''Xumi'' platform with two of his

disciples A disciple is a follower and student of a mentor, teacher, or other figure. It can refer to: Religion * Disciple (Christianity), a student of Jesus Christ * Twelve Apostles of Jesus, sometimes called the Twelve Disciples * Seventy disciples in t ...

standing on both sides. Besides, Puxian and

Wenshu Manjushri () is a ''bodhisattva'' who represents '' prajñā'' (transcendent wisdom) of the Buddhas in Mahāyāna Buddhism. The name "Mañjuśrī" is a combination of Sanskrit word " mañju" and an honorific " śrī"; it can be literally translat ...

each sits on a lotus-like ''Xumi'' platform on the left and right ends of the group. On the back of the group of statues (the north side), near the north entrance of the hall, where should have been a plain wall like in other similar halls, another group of statues can be seen occupying the whole wall. It is way more complicated and beautiful than the frontal one.

, the Buddhist figure representing great compassion and mercy in Chinese culture sits elegantly on a colored cloud in the center, with right foot stepping on a lotus, and left leg casually put on the right one. Around

, the reliefs depict the scene of a colorful mountain in the vast and wavy sea, which is supposed to be the

Mount Putuo Mount Putuo (, from Sanskrit: " Mount Potalaka") is an island in Putuo District, Zhoushan, Zhejiang, China. It is a renowned site in Chinese Buddhism and is the bodhimaṇḍa of the bodhisattva Guanyin. Mount Putuo is one of the four sa ...

, where legends say

manifested itself and inspired people. That's why this statue is also called the "Guanyin in Mountain". This group of statues is unique for making the Buddhist figure look like a kind and pretty lady instead of the traditional serious or solemn image, giving people a closer and even intimate feeling. Some researchers believe this group of statues was made in the 42nd year of the Jiajing Period of the

( AD 1563) according to a tablet embedded in the wall. The famous Chinese writer

Lu Xun Lu Xun ( zh, c=魯迅, p=Lǔ Xùn, ; 25 September 188119 October 1936), pen name of Zhou Shuren, born Zhou Zhangshou, was a Chinese writer. A leading figure of modern Chinese literature, he wrote in both vernacular and literary Chinese as a no ...

love this Guanyin statue in particular and put a photo of it on his working desk so as to see it every day. Some opinions say it was built during the

. The inner surfaces of the walls of the Mani Hall are all decorated with fresco. They are painted in the same period when the hall was constructed. All of the frescos depict the Buddhist stories or figures. There were originally of frescos, of which remain. They are regarded as some of the finest pieces in the history of Chinese paintings.

Precept Platform

The Precept Platform () is the place for monks and worshipers to undertake the

precept A precept (from the , to teach) is a wikt:commandment, commandment, instruction, or order intended as an authority, authoritative rule of action. Religious law In religion, precepts are usually commands respecting morality, moral conduct. Chris ...

s of

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

and for Buddhist ceremonies. The platform consists of a two-level square stone platform in the form of ''Xumi'' platform (a style of the stone platform in ancient Chinese architecture) and a wooden structure covering it. The first level of the stone platform is 12.93m by 12.93m in layout and 0.88m in height; the second level is 10.35m by 10.35m by 1.16m. The stone platform is believed to be constructed during the

. However, the wooden structure, in the style of a tented roof, shows typical

style features, where the ''

s'' are small and mainly function as decoration instead of key structural elements. It is inferred that the wooden structure was constructed during the early

. The stone platform, covered by a wooden structure, sits a bronze double-faced Buddha statue, which was cast in the 6th year of the Hongzhi Period of the

( AD 1493). The south face is Amituofo and the north face is Yaoshi. There was a circle of cloister around, which was recorded by

in 1933 when he did a survey in Longxing Temple. But it can no longer be seen today.

Pavilion of Zhuanlunzang and Pavilion of Maitreya

The Pavilion of Zhuanlunzang () and the Pavilion of Mi Le () are both two-floor buildings. They are located to the north of the precept platform with the Pavilion of Zhuanlunzang in the west and the Pavilion of Maitreya in the east, face to face. There is no clear record of when these pavilions were constructed. However, judging from the structural features, researchers believe the Pavilion of Zhuanlunzang was constructed during the early

, while the Pavilion of Maitreya was built later. The Pavilion of Zhuanlunzang acted as the library in the monastery. An octagonal Zhuanlunzang (, a rotating wooden used as a sutra cabinet) was installed in the center of its ground floor, which remains intact today but is no longer used. Zhuanlunzangs are not rare in history, but an early-built large one that was kept today like this in the Longxing Temple is rarely seen in other parts of the world. To accommodate this Zhuanlunzang, the building adopted some unique structural techniques, including shifting the columns, using some curved beams, etc. This structure system drew particular attention from architects and researchers including

. The Pavilion of Mi Le is dedicated to the future Buddha Mi Le (Maitreya). The building has two floors while the first floor is only a circle of passageways. In the center stands a tall statue of Mi Le that was carved from a single piece of wood and decorated with colorful paints. This statue was made during the

Royal Stele Pavilions

The two Royal Stele Pavilions () are located in between the Hall of Great Mercy and the Pavilion of Zhuanlunzang and the Pavilion of Maitreya, on both sides of the axis, facing the south. They each cover a royal stele on which engraved an article written by the Emperor. The east stele shows the article hand-written by the

Kangxi Emperor The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 165420 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, personal name Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign of 61 ...

during the 52nd year of the Kangxi Period of the

( AD 1713) both in

traditional Chinese A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examp ...

and in

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized Ethnic minorities in China, ethnic minority in China and the people from wh ...

characters. The west shows the article by the

Qianlong Emperor The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, personal name Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of China, emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China pr ...

hand-written in the 45th year of the Qianlong Period of the

( AD 1780). The west one is engraved in four languages:

on the front (south) and

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...

Mongolian Mongolian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Mongolia, a country in Asia * Mongolian people, or Mongols * Bogd Khanate of Mongolia, the government of Mongolia, 1911–1919 and 1921–1924 * Mongolian language * Mongolian alphabet * ...

on the back. Both pavilions are in a regular square floor plan, which is 6.88m by 6.88m and 12.97m in height. They have four arch doors on their four sides, allowing people to read the texts on both the front and back sides of the steles. The roofs of the pavilions are in

style, covered with yellow glazed tiles. The color of these tiles manifests the hierarchical status of these pavilions since yellow tiles are only allowed to be used on royal buildings in ancient China.

Tower of Great Compassion

The Tower of Great Compassion () is the major hall of the whole monastery of the Longxing Temple, which is the largest building and accommodates the largest Buddha statue. The tower was constructed during the early

and was restored during the Yuan,

, and

dynasties at the orders of the emperors. In 1933, when Liang Sicheng came to survey the Longxing Temple, he recorded that the Tower of Great Compassion was also called the Foxiang Tower (, meaning the Tower of Buddhist Incense). The original tower had already collapsed back then and a new one was under construction. However, the new one, finished in 1944, was designed as a huge but simple brick shrine to cover the bronze statue. The original style was discarded, and the affiliated buildings were ignored due to the limit of fundings. In 1992, the State Bureau of Cultural Relics decided to reconstruct the Tower of Great Compassion and its affiliated buildings. The project finished on September 15, 1999. The reconstructed tower is in the

style as is seen today. The tower itself is a -tall three-floor building with

style. The ground floor is seven ''Jians'' by six (28.98m by 27.87m), occupying an area of . The affiliated buildings, ''Yushu'' Pavilion and ''Jiqing'' Pavilion, in the identical style, structure, and dimensions, stand to the east and west of the Tower of Great Compassion and are connected to the tower with wooden arch bridges on the second floor. They are both -tall two-floor buildings with

style, the ground floor of which are five ''Jians'' by four ''Jians'' (). In the center of Tower of Great Compassion, on a -tall ''Xumi'' platform, stands a huge bronze statue of the Qianshou Qianyan

(

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

: 千手千眼觀音;

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

: ''Qiānshǒu Qiānyǎn Guānyīn''), a manifestation of Guanyin with a “thousand hands and thousand eyes”, which is in height. The thousand hands and eyes are abstractly represented with 42 arms and one eye on the palm of each hand. This statue is the major and iconic statue of the Longxing Temple. The locals called Longxing Temple "''Big Buddha Temple''" () because of this statue. It is listed as one of "the four preciouses of Hebei Province" (the other three are the

Liaodi Pagoda The Liaodi Pagoda () of Kaiyuan Monastery, Dingzhou, Hebei Province, China is the tallest existing pre-modern Chinese pagoda and tallest brick pagoda in the world, built in the 11th century during the Song dynasty (960–1279). The pagoda stands ...

Anji Bridge The Anji Bridge () is the world's oldest open-spandrel segmental arch bridge of stone construction.This title strictly applies only to the ''sum of attributes given'' (O’Connor, Colin: ''Roman Bridges'', Cambridge University Press 1993, , p.171 ...

, and the

Iron Lion of Cangzhou The Iron Lion of Cangzhou (), also known as the "Sea Guard Howler", is a cast iron sculpture located in Cangzhou City, in Hebei Province, China, about 180 km (110 mi) southwest of Beijing. Cast in the Later Zhou dynasty in 953, the iron ...

). The statue was cast in the 4th year of the Kaibao Period of

( AD 971) at the order of

Emperor Taizu of Song Emperor Taizu of Song (21 March 927 – 14 November 976), personal name Zhao Kuangyin, courtesy name Yuanlang, was the founding emperor of the Song dynasty of China. He reigned from 960 until his death in 976. Formerly a distinguished milita ...

, the founding emperor of the

. The emperors in the following dynasties put particular attention to it and ordered several restorations. It was also loved and worshipped by the local people, who often donated money and treasures for the daily maintenance of the statue.

Others

Except for the major buildings mentioned above, there are several other halls and pavilions located behind (to the north of) the Tower of Great Compassion: *Hall of Amituo () is located right to the north of the Tower of Great Compassion. Constructed in the 5th year of the Zhengde Period of the

( AD 1510), it is a single floor building with

. Its dimensions five ''Jians'' by four ''Jians''. A statue of Amituofo (Amitābha) is worshipped in this hall. *Hall of Piluzhena () was constructed in 1959 to accommodate the statue of Piluzhena (Vairocana) moved here in the same year from the ''Chongyin'' Temple. The statue, in height, was finely designed in the appearance of a pagoda. It consists of a thousand individual statues of Piluzhena that are divided into three levels. It is the last building on the main axis and marks the north end of it. *Pavilion of ''Longquan'' Well () is located in the northeast corner of the garden in the north end of the whole monastery. First constructed in the 7th year of the Tianshun Period of the

( AD 1463), it was the only building with a "''Lu'' roof" (, a roof style of ancient Chinese architecture with a plain in the top center and four slope roofs around it) in Longxing Temple. It acts as the shelter of an octangle well called "''Longquan'' Well" ("''Longquan''" means "the spring of the Chinese dragon"). *A Paifang is located in between the Mani Hall and the Precept Platform. It is constructed as part of a partition wall that divides the whole monastery of Longxing Temple into two parts, the front (south) part and the major (north) part.

recorded this

paifang A ''paifang'', also known as a ''pailou'', is a traditional style of Chinese architecture, often used in arch or gateway structures. Etymology The word ''paifang'' ( zh, c=牌坊, p=páifāng) was originally a collective term for the top two le ...

as a small but exquisite piece of architecture. The

standing there today was reconstructed according to Liang’s record in 1986.

References

External links

Longxing Monastery, Architectura Sinica Site Archive
{{Hebei topics Buddhist monasteries in China Buddhist temples in Shijiazhuang Buildings and structures in Shijiazhuang Song dynasty architecture 6th-century Buddhist temples 6th-century establishments in China Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Hebei 586 establishments 580s establishments 6th-century religious buildings and structures Colossal Guanyin statues