Three Pagodas of Chong Sheng Temple

  & nbsp; & nbsp; Chongsheng Temple, facing Erhai Lake in the east and Cangshan Mountain in the west, is located about one kilometer north ofDali Old Cityin Yunnan Province, at the foot of Cangshan Mountain and on the shore of Erhai LakeChongsheng Templeis famous for its three pagodas, also known as the "Three Pagodas of Dali"; It is one of the famous Buddhist pagodas in China and was listed as a national key cultural relic protection unit in 1961. It is like three giant pens, embellishing the ancient city even more magnificent and adding a lot of brilliance to the scenery of Cang'er. The Three Pagodas have always been a symbol of Dali. It is a building in front of the Chongsheng Temple (also known as the "Tianlong Temple" mentioned in Jin Yong's martial arts novel "The Legend of the Condor Heroes") in ancient times. There is no surviving ancient temple today, only these three towers still stand tall. The Three Pagodas are one of the oldest surviving buildings in Yunnan and a renowned tower group in China

is located 14 kilometers away from Xiaguan, 1.5 kilometers north of Dali at the foot of Cangshan Yingle Peak.Chongsheng Templeis backed by Cangshan and faces Erhai Lake. The base of the three towers of Chongsheng Temple is square, surrounded by stone railings, with stone lions carved on the four corners of the railings. In the center of its east side, there is a stone wall with the words "Yongzhen Shanchuan" written on it, which is quite impressive. The main tower of the Three Pagodas is called Qianxun Pagoda, which is a square 16 story closely eaved tower with a bottom width of 9.9 meters and a height of 69.13 meters. The top of the tower is covered with a copper bowl, and a tower brake is placed on top. It is a typical building of the Tang Dynasty, similar to the Xi'an Big and Small Wild Goose Pagoda

The Three Towers are said to have been built during the Baohe period of Nanzhao. In recent years, more than 600 important cultural relics from the Nanzhao and Dali periods have been discovered at the top of the tower. The two small towers, South and North, are located behind the main tower, with a distance of 97.5 meters between them and 70 meters from the main tower, forming a tripartite structure. Both towers are made of hollow bricks with octagonal eaves, with a total of 10 levels and a height of 43 meters each. The Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple are the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units. The small tower among the three towers is located west of the main tower, equidistant 70 meters from it; Facing north and south, with a distance of 97 meters, both were built by the Dali Kingdom during the Five Dynasties period. The Three Pagodas are located at the foot of Zhonghe Peak in Cangshan, 1 kilometer northwest of the ancient city, and inside Chongsheng Temple. They are a symbol of Dali's history and a witness to the prevalence of Buddhism in Dali. The Three Towers consist of one large tower and two small towers. The Three Towers stand tall and magnificent, making it one of the scenic spots in Dali

During the middle period of the Nanzhao Kingdom in Dali, the trend of advocating Buddhism emerged and reached its peak in the later period, with Buddhist temples spread throughout Yunnan. During the period of Dali Kingdom, Buddhism developed further. Therefore, Dali is known as the "Kingdom of Buddhism". During the reign of King Quanfengyou of the 10th generation of Nanzhao (824-859 AD), Chongsheng Temple (also known as Tianlong Temple in Jin Yong's martial arts novel "The Legend of the Condor Heroes") was built@When 19#

arrived in Dali Kingdom, Chongsheng Temple was the center of Buddhist activities in Yunnan. Chongsheng Temple was destroyed during the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty. The three towers were not built at the same time. The main towers of Chongsheng Temple and Chongsheng Temple were built at the same time. Due to their height, they are also known as Qianxun Pagoda. The Qianxun Pagoda is 69.13 meters high, 16 stories high, and is a square hollow brick pagoda with dense eaves. It is one of the tallest existing Tang pagodas in China

There are two small towers in the north and south of the main tower, which are octagonal hollow brick towers with dense eaves. Both towers have 10 floors and are 42.4 meters high. They were built during the Dali Kingdom period of the Five Dynasties. Qianxun Pagoda is a typical Tang style pagoda, similar to the Small Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an. However, the Three Towers have their own characteristics, which are even numbered floors, while the interior is mostly odd numbered floors

The Zhongyuan Tower shrinks linearly from the base upwards, with a larger lower part and a smaller upper part, while the three towers have a smaller upper part and a larger middle part, with a beautiful curve. The Three Towers have undergone thousands of years of wind, rain, erosion, and multiple major earthquakes, yet they remain intact and undamaged. In 1961, it was listed as one of the first national key cultural relics protection units. In 1978, during repairs, more than 600 Buddhist relics from the period of Nanzhao Dali Kingdom were discovered, which had extremely high maintenance value. Master Yichun and King Minwang each planted one tamarisk tree, and Master Qingdaben planted two tamarisk trees. There are 24 scenic spots next to the Dharma Hall, including Master Yichun Pagoda, Yingchao Spring, Tiyun Ridge, and Liyue Pool, among which the most famous is the Kumu Temple

Kuomu An is located southeast of Chongsheng Temple, only a few hundred meters away from the temple. This is the place where the founder Yicun first resided and practiced ZenChongsheng TempleInside the temple, there is a withered tree with broken branches at the ends, leaving only the trunk. It is 3.2 meters high and 7.3 meters wide. The heart of the withered tree is empty, and above it lies the open air, like a big rice cooker with its lid lifted. Its epidermis is completely peeled off, and the exposed skin contour is very tough, about 10 centimeters thick. In the center of the withered tree facing south, there are two sinusoids like doors, over 2 meters high and about 1 meter wide. The entrance is semi-circular, resembling a natural cave, which can accommodate more than 10 people. There are over 20 inscriptions by famous figures from the Tang, Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties inside and outside the withered wood. Among them, there are inscriptions such as "Wei Tang Tianyou built an temple and a water pool in the year of Yi Chou", which is a historical record of the donation made by King Shenzhi of Fujian to build an temple and a water pool in the second year of Tang Tianyou (905 AD). These tree steles are carved with bold strokes and are known as "tree belly steles". They are one of the three wonders carved in Fujian Province and are also rare Tang Dynasty wooden steles in China. At present, the two trees planted in the Tang Dynasty have been over a thousand years old. The trees are ten circles large, with ancient branches hanging down. When the wind blows, they feel like sweeping the floor. Legend has it that when Yi Cun passed away, he said, "Double tamarisk sweeping the floor, stone eggs blooming, I will come again. Stone eggs refer to the stones on the pedestal of the Ancestor's Tower, which currently have cracks