Tayuan Pagoda

Tayuan Pagoda

Tayuan Pagoda is a cultural tourism attraction.

　Shenyang's Tayuan Pagoda is located at No. 15, Lane 45, Tayuan Street, Huanggu District, Shenyang City, and is known as the Tayuan Pagoda. As the pagoda enshrines 1,548 "sarira" relics, it is also called the Immaculate Light Sarira Pagoda. Built in the 13th year of the Chongxi reign during the Liao Dynasty (1044 AD) by the Khitan people from the north, it was renovated in 1640 (the fifth year of the Chongde reign of the Qing Dynasty). It is one of the older historic buildings in Shenyang and is listed as a provincial-level key cultural relics protection unit. This pagoda is a dense-eave style pagoda. During restoration work in 1985, it was discovered that the body of the pagoda is hollow, which is unique among similar structures nationwide. A large number of rare and precious artifacts were unearthed inside the pagoda, including gilded Buddha statues, sarira, sutras, and porcelain. The walls of the underground chamber still preserve well-preserved colorful murals. To the north of the pagoda, a new Shenyang Ancient Pagodas Relics Exhibition Hall has been built, displaying a large number of precious cultural relics excavated from various pagodas in Shenyang. The Immaculate Light Sarira Pagoda faces the Zhaoling Tomb to the east, borders a wetland to the south, and exudes an ancient charm with beautiful scenery. A Qing Dynasty poet wrote: "A bay of pagoda shadows ripples with spring waters, Cold Food Festival mist rises amid fresh trees, Mistaken it is for rain-washed green before the eyes, Thirteen mountain hues seem to detain visitors." Majestic and historic, its scenery remains captivating through the ages.

The pagoda stands over 30 meters tall and is an octagonal brick structure with 13 dense eaves. The entire structure is divided into five main parts: the underground chamber, the base, the body, the eaves, and the finial. The underground chamber lies beneath the base and is where Buddhist sarira and other sacred objects are enshrined. The base is an octagonal Sumeru pedestal, 17 meters high, each side 5.5 meters wide, with a waist molding in the middle featuring a caisson door that houses a stone-carved crouching beast. The body of the pagoda is divided into upper and lower sections. The lower half has a Sumeru pedestal waist molding shaped like "upturned and downturned lotuses," with a caisson door in the middle that contains a stone-carved crouching beast. The upper half consists of octagonal round columns, each face featuring a central arched niche housing a seated Buddha flanked by attendants. The eight seated Buddhas have different names: the one on the due south is called the Buddha of Treasure Birth, the southwest the Buddha of Equal Contemplation, the west the Buddha of Equality, the northwest the Buddha of Beneficent Radiance, the north the Buddha of Great Compassion, the northeast the Buddha of Universal Salvation, the east the Buddha of Compassion, and the southeast the Buddha of Akshobhya. Above the body are 13 tiers of dense eaves, with brick-carved bracket sets below the eaves and wind bells hanging from them. The pagoda body has octagonal round columns, each with an arched niche containing a seated Buddha and attendants; the eight seated Buddhas are, respectively: the due south "Buddha of Treasure Birth," the southwest "Buddha of Equal Contemplation," the west "Buddha of Equality," the northwest "Buddha of Beneficent Radiance," the north "Buddha of Great Compassion," the northeast "Buddha of Universal Salvation," the east "Buddha of Compassion," and the southeast "Buddha of Akshobhya." The eaves consist of 13 tiers of dense eaves, with brick-carved bracket sets below and wind chimes hanging from them. At the very top is the finial. The lowest part of the finial is an octagonal lotus base, atop which rests a round disk-like body, with an iron finial pole at the top. The pole is strung with three round and semi-round precious beads, and the very top features a gourd-shaped copper bead. The lower part of the finial is an octagonal lotus base, with an iron finial pole at the top, strung with round and semi-round beads, and the pagoda’s peak crowned with a gourd-shaped gem. The Tayuan Sarira Pagoda was rebuilt during the reign of Emperor Hong Taiji of the Qing Dynasty, and a temple named "Huilong Temple" was built beside it—now no longer extant. One of the ancient "Eight Scenic Spots of Shenyang," the "Sunset at Tayuan," refers to this very pagoda.