Stupas and Pagodas

4)The Dagoba

The dagoba is a pagoda of Tibetan style and its most remarkable example is the White Dagoba in Beijing's Miaoyingsi (Temple) .

The Mongolians of China were believed of the Lamaist scool of Buddhism which originated in Tibet. When Kublai Khan (Emperor shizhu) of the Yuan Dynasty united the country in 1260 he set about rebuilding a large Liao Dynasty dagoba in Beijing into the symbol of the Mongolian regime blessed with divine power to keep the capital's inhabitants and the nation in peaceful submission.

The project tood eitht years and was completed in 1271.The 731-year-old dagoba is like a nectar vessel or divine vase rising 50 meters towards the clouds, towering and dignified.

The dagoba consists of three parts: the base, the body and the crown. The base, covering 1,422 square meters is a huge platform of brick representing the “throne of Mt.Sumeru”.The main part of the body is in the shape of an upturned alms-bowl more than 18 meters across .

Higher up is the part like a truncated tapering column bearing the sign of the Buddhist wheel .IT carries on its top a canopy 9.7 meters across like a huge, opened umbrella .Hung from the edge of the canopy are a ring of 36 bronze bells, which tinkle in the wind. The crown of the dagoba, on the plate of the canopy, is a smaller pagoda or 4 meters, glistening with its gold plate in sunlight.

Chinese dagobas were patterned after Nepalese prototypes .The Beijing dagoba just described was designed by a Nepalese engineer known in Chinese as Anigo .So it shows in its appearance an obvious foreign artistic style .It remains an eloquent symbol of the enduring friendship between China and her Himalayan neighbor.

5)Mother and Children Pagodas

The “Mother and children pagodas” are an architectural compelsn rarely seen in China. The best known example is the Manfeilong White Pagodas at Damenglong in JinghongCounty, a district populated by the Dai nationality in Xishuang Banna ,Yunnan Province.

They were built in the year 565 of the Dai calendar (A.D. 1204) as a group arrangement of nine pagodas .The one in the middle is the “mother” , erect and elegant with her height of 16.29 meters. Standing around her at what would be the corners of a regular octagon are her “children”—eight smaller pagodas 9.1 meters high The bottoms of the pagodas consist of niches containing statues of Buddha.

Viewed from above ,the group resembles a lotus blossom with its petals open .The pagodas have snow-white bodies and golden tips and ,seen through the green foliage or trees ,also look like new bamboo shoots after a rain ,a familiar sight to the local people ,so the Dai also call them by the pet name “bamboo-shoot pagodas” .

Legend has it that Sakyanmuni ,founder of Buddhism ,one came to sermonize at Damenglong and left a huge footprint ,58 cm by 85 cm , on a blue rock .In commemoration of this important event, local followers built the group of nine pagodas on the same rock where he has stood .For this association , they are held in high esteem by Buddhist circles and many pilgrims come here form different quarters to pay homage.

The Manfeilong Pagodas are noted for their peculiar shape and beautiful style, and also for the pronounced Dai flavor shown by the bas-relief carving and sculpture .They are therefore a cultural marvel in the southwestern region of the country.

6)Forest of Pagodas

As a pagoda is the burial place of monks, a “forest of pagodas” may be said to be the graveyard of Buddhists.

One of such forests belongs to the famous Shaolin Monastery in Dengfeng County, Henan Province. With its 220 brick pagodas, it is the resting place of the abbots and senior monks of the monastery who lived at various times under several dynasties ,from the Tang to the Qing ,spanning a thousand years .It is the forest of pagodas of the largest scale and built over the longest stretch of time .

The pagodas, mostly decorated with carvings and inscriptions ,are generally of three to seven storey and of varying heights up to 15 meters. They are of different form: square or hexagon in cross section, a column, a cone or a vase in shape ,with straight or curving lines.

Another rare” forest of pagodas” lies in the vicinity of Lingyansi (Temple) in Shandong Province .It comprises 176 pagodas of a variety of attractive forms, also built at different times since the Tang Dynasty .

These pagodas, in Henan ,Shandong and elsewhere , are a valuable storehouse of information about various sects of Chinese Buddhism, and about the arts of sculpture and architecture of different ages.