Dinglin Temple Pagoda

Dinglin Temple Pagoda

Dinglin Temple Pagoda is a cultural relic protection unit of Jiangsu Province.

Dinglin Temple Pagoda is located at the northwest foot of Fangshan Mountain in Jiangning District, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province.

Also called the Leaning Pagoda of Fangshan, Dinglin Temple Pagoda, located at the northwest foot of Fangshan Mountain in Jiangning District, Nanjing, is known as the Leaning Pagoda of Fangshan. Originally constructed in the ninth year of the Qiandao era of the Southern Song Dynasty (1173 AD), the pagoda is about 14.50 meters high and is a seven-story, octagonal, timber-framed brick pagoda. The first and second stories have square interiors, while the upper levels are cylindrical. A wooden frame was installed on the fifth floor to support the spire pole. Only the southern side of the ground floor has an entrance, with a central stone Sumeru pedestal and Buddhist niches on the eastern, western, and northern sides. The other floors all have entrances on four sides. The pagoda body is constructed with bricks imitating wooden structural pillars and brackets. Due to years of neglect, the eaves, top, and spire of the pagoda have been destroyed. The pagoda leans 7.59 degrees to the north, but after corrective work, it now leans at 5.3 degrees. This exceeds the famously leaning Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy, making it still known today as the “World’s No. 1 Leaning Pagoda.”

In the 16th year of the Yuanjia era of the Liu Song Dynasty during the Southern Dynasties (439 AD), a foreign monk (from Kashmir) built the Upper Dinglin Temple on Zhongshan Mountain. Later, the Upper Dinglin Temple was destroyed in war. In the ninth year of the Qiandao era of the Southern Song Dynasty (1173 AD), another monk came to the northwest foot of present-day Fangshan Mountain in Jiangning District to build the Lower Dinglin Temple.

The Leaning Pagoda of Fangshan was built atop quicksand and rubble, and its survival for nearly a thousand years is considered a miracle. During the Liang Dynasty, Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen Buddhism, came to China to meditate, and his first meditation site was established at the Lower Dinglin Temple. The Buddhist community praises it with the saying “Southern Dinglin, Northern Shaolin.” By the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Lower Dinglin Temple enjoyed great popularity, and as temple buildings continued to be added, its scale grew increasingly grand.

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units of Jiangsu Province