Stupas and Pagodas(塔 Ta)

Stupas appeared in China with the import of Buddhism and, during a long history of well over a thousand years, have become a valued part of the national Buddhist art.

“Stupa” a word from ancient Sanskrit meaning a square or round tomb or a “soul shrine” was mentioned by old Chinese works under no less than half a dozen varying translations .In modern times , people call all tower-like Buddhist structure ta , which includes all types of stupas and pagodas.

At the beginning ,the stupa was a reliquary for keeping the relics or ashes of a saintly Buddhist .It is said that bead-like crystals of white or some other color were often found among the ashes after cremation ,and they are called shelizi or “holy relics”.

Buddhists believe that when Skyamuni ,founder of the faith ,was cremated, 84,000 beads of holy relics were found .They were shared among the kings of night nations , who built stupas to house them for worship .This was generally thought to be the origin of stupas or progadas .Subsequently they were built not only to bury the relics or ashes of venerable monks but also to safekeep holy scriptures and various ritual implements .They are therefore also called fota ( Buddha's pagodas) or baota (treasure pagodas ) and are objects of homage.

A Chinese proverb says, “To save a life is a holier deed than to build a stupa of seven storeys”. Pagodas are mostly of seven or thirteen storeys .This is because odd numbers were supposed to be …. Line and auspicious in China, but this has nothing to do with the teachings of Buddhism.

Architecturally speaking, Chinese pagodas have special features of their own . A pagoda may be built of any of a number of materials ---stone , brick ,wood ,glazed , tile ,iron ,or gold .IN plan figure ,it may be round ,square ,hexagonal or octagonal .In architectural style ,It may be in one of a variety of forms ,which will be discussed in the following pages.

Chinese pagodas ,in short ,are a significant part of the country's cultural heritage.With their beautiful shapes ,bas-relief carvings, dougong brakets and upturned eaves,they no longer serve religious purposes alone but are exquisite touist attractions as well.

1)The Close-Eaved Pagoda

This is an earliest style of Chinese pagodas,typified by the Pagoda of Chongyuesi Temple in Dengfeng County , Henan Province .Built in A.D.523 in the Northern Wei Dynasty ,it is also one of the oldest existing pagodas in the country.

The twelve-sided ,41-meter-tall pagoda is built entirely of blue bricks.The body is girdled round by 15 closely-arranged eaves,which get smaller in beautiful proportions towards the tapering top .The inside of the pagoda is a structure of 10 floors ,its octangonal rooms linked up by wooden stairs .

The ChongyuesiPagoda is of great vaine in the history of Chinese anchitecture.Constructed in an age long before the reinforeced concrete was dreamed of ,the all-brick structure,depite the ravages of wind and rain over 1,400 years ,is still standing erect in testimony to the high level of skills at the command of the unknown ancient builders.