Hufa Temple Bridge and Pagoda

Hufa Temple Bridge and Pagoda

Hufa Temple Bridge and Pagoda is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Era: Song Dynasty

Address: Wangli Community, Qianku Town, Cangnan County, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province

The 0 Temple was originally built during the Dazhong era (847–866) of the Tang Dynasty and was a well-known local monastery. It was renovated during both the Ming and Qing Dynasties, with the last major reconstruction taking place in the 28th year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1902). It was destroyed by fire in the 33rd year of the Republic of China (1944). Its ruins are still clearly distinguishable and were quite large in scale. In 2002, a new Mahavira Hall was built on the original site of the 0 Temple. When the 0 Temple was first established, there was no temple or pagoda. It was not until the third year of the Yuanyou era (1088) of the Song Dynasty that a stone bridge and seven single-eave pagodas were successively built in front of the temple, also known as the 0 Temple Bridge and 0 Temple Pagodas.

The 0 Temple Bridge is a beam-and-column style stone bridge with a simple and elegant design, stable structure, and well-preserved condition, reflecting the style of early Northern Song Dynasty stone bridges in southern Zhejiang. The bridge is 10.30 meters long, 2.30 meters wide, and 3.90 meters in total height, with three spans and four piers. The clear span of the two side spans is 2.25 meters each, while the central span is 3.75 meters. On the side edge of the bridge slab at the north end of the middle section, an inscription reads: “Built in the third year of Yuanyou (1088), in the cyclical year of Wuchen, on the second day of the twelfth month,” which confirms the exact date of the bridge’s construction.

The 0 Temple Pagoda was built during the Northern Song Dynasty and is a hexagonal flat-eave green brick pagoda imitating wooden pavilion-style architecture. It is said that there were originally seven pagodas, but three remain today, one of which is an original from the Song Dynasty. The pagoda top has been destroyed, and the remaining structure is 4.2 meters high. The base features carvings of “nine mountains and eight seas,” above which sit two layers of Sumeru pedestals. The upper layer has a waist molding with carved floral designs; the lower layer is decorated with lotus petals and floral patterns. Each face of the waist molding has relief carvings of lions and beasts. The body of the pagoda is melon-shaped, with a doorway on the front. The finial is surrounded by draped curtains. The eaves are formed by layered corbel brackets, supported by bracket sets underneath, with simple tiled roofing. These small and exquisitely designed brick pagodas serve as valuable physical materials for studying the architectural craftsmanship of early Song Dynasty brick pagodas in southern Zhejiang. The two intact pagodas that remain today were rebuilt in later periods.

The 0 Temple Bridge and Pagoda were listed as a Cangnan County Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit in June 1983, as a Zhejiang Province Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit in December 1989, and as a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit in May 2013.

As of now, the 0 Temple Bridge and Pagoda, along with the Tongqiao Stone Shed Tomb Cluster, are the only two National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units in Qianku Town.

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units