Linhai Thousand Buddha Pagoda

Linhai Thousand Buddha Pagoda

The Linhai Thousand Buddha Pagoda is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Thousand Buddha Pagoda is situated at the foot of Jinzi Mountain in Linhai City, within Longxing Temple. Also known as the Precious Pagoda, it was first built in the third year of the Tang Dynasty’s Tianbao era (744 AD). The current structure was rebuilt in the third year of the Yuandade era (1299 AD). This pagoda is a mixed brick-and-wood structure in a pavilion style, with six sides and seven levels. It is hollow inside, with one door on each level. From the second to the seventh level, aside from one door per level, every side has niches. Each niche is adorned with Buddha image tiles that were molded and fired, totaling 1,003 Buddha figures—hence the name Thousand Buddha Pagoda.

By 1976, the pagoda had undergone repairs. Its originally irregular, damaged top was replaced with a spire roof, although it was not restored to its original form. In 1999, further repairs were made to restore the pagoda's top to its original appearance.

The present-day Thousand Buddha Pagoda consists of seven levels and six sides, built with a mixed brick-and-wood structure in a pavilion style. It is hollow inside, featuring a single-wall cylindrical structure. After restoration, the pagoda stands about 30 meters tall, with a base side length of 3.66 meters, a diagonal diameter of 7.12 meters, and an inner hollow diameter of 1.8 meters. Starting from the first level, each level has one arched doorway. From the second level onward, each side of every level—aside from the central doorway—features a wall niche. By the seventh level, each floor is approximately 4.17 meters tall, with slight structural differences. The number of Buddha image tiles in the niches also varies slightly, resulting in different counts of Buddha tiles per level. The lowest count is 138 tiles (on the fourth level), while the highest is 187 tiles (on the sixth level), adding up to a total of 1,003 Buddha tiles for the entire pagoda. The architectural technique of the pagoda is quite rare, with each level’s terrace utilizing stone slabs that protrude. Moreover, the exquisitely proportioned and beautifully shaped Buddha tiles embedded in the pagoda are a true glory of this Precious Pagoda.

Buddhist statues from the Yuan Dynasty often depict the head larger than the body, with shorter necks, upright and sturdy torsos full of strength, low and broad lotus pedestals shaped like large trapezoids, and wide, plump lotus petals with simple, unadorned designs. On the six-sided tower, each face is neatly inlaid with relief Buddha images. Looking straight at them, there are eleven statues per row, arranged in four rows from bottom to top, totaling forty-four dignified seated Buddha figures. They sit cross-legged with hands folded, in the lotus position, their expressions reminiscent of the description in the *Śūraṅgama Sūtra*: “Exceedingly wondrous and supreme, their forms radiant and clear, like crystal, constantly engrossed in meditation.” Though Buddhism advocates non-attachment to forms, when such forms are displayed, they may appear as serene as this—so peaceful and reassuring. Upon closer inspection, the carvings of seven hundred years, shaped by wind, rain, frost, and lightning, have created a scene that resembles “a sky full of bright stars and a radiant full moon.”

It is now listed as part of the seventh group of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Seventh Group of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units