Mazu Pagoda Pavilion

Mazu Pagoda Pavilion is located behind BaoFeng Chan Temple in BaoFeng Town, Jing'an County, and was built in honor of Mazu Daoyi, the Eighth Southern Patriarch of the Zen sect of Chinese Buddhism. In the first month of the fourth year of the Zhenyuan era during the Tang Dynasty (788 AD), at the age of 80, Mazu led his disciples up to Shimen Mountain in Jianchang (now BaoFeng in Jing'an), where he admired the spectacular landscape and flat caves and remarked to his followers: …

Mazu Pagoda Pavilion

Mazu Pagoda Pavilion is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Mazu Pagoda Pavilion is located behind BaoFeng Chan Temple in BaoFeng Town, Jing'an County, and was built in honor of Mazu Daoyi, the Eighth Southern Patriarch of the Zen sect of Chinese Buddhism.

In the first month of the fourth year of the Zhenyuan era in the Tang Dynasty (788 AD), at the age of 80, Mazu led his disciples up to Shimen Mountain in Jianchang (now BaoFeng in Jing'an). He loved the spectacular landscape and the flat caves and said to his disciples: “When my time comes, bury my bones here.” He passed away on the first day of the second lunar month of the same year. The disciples followed his instructions and enshrined his relics and sharira in a cellar behind the temple.

In the seventh year of the Zhenyuan era (791 AD), Emperor Dezong of Tang sent the Left Chancellor and Tongpingzhangshi Quan Deyu to Shimen Mountain in Jianchang to build a pagoda to preserve Mazu’s relics. Quan personally composed the pagoda inscription. In the eighth year of the Yuanhe era (813 AD), Emperor Xianzong Li Chun posthumously honored Mazu with the title “Great Calmness Chan Master,” and the pagoda was named “Great Solemnity.” In the fourth year of the Dazhong era (850 AD), Emperor Xuanzong Li Chen ordered Pei Xiu, the Jiangxi Observation Commissioner, to renovate Mazu’s pagoda, and decreed that the pagoda be entitled “BaoFeng,” thus renaming the temple “BaoFeng Chan Temple.” Later, a wooden pavilion was built to protect it. In the eighth year of the Yuanyou era in the Song Dynasty (1085 AD), a stone pavilion was reconstructed for protection. The pavilion is 5.5 meters high and 5.17 meters deep, featuring a six-pillared, hexagonal, canopy-style roof, entirely constructed from granite blocks joined with mortise and tenon joints. Each of the six eaves features a stone-carved dragon head with an uplifted head. The exterior is covered with twelve fan-shaped stone slabs, while inside, a thick main stone beam runs north-south overhead, weighing about 5 tons. The underside of the beam bears an inscription in relief: “Holy Song Yuangfeng Year Yichou, Fifth Month, Guisi Day, 28th, Gengshen — Stone Reconstructed and Renovated □ Trace.” The front of the pavilion has an open arched entrance, while the other five sides are fully or partially enclosed with bluestone slabs. Beneath the pavilion lies the burial pagoda, which safeguards Mazu’s relics under its foundation. On either side of the pavilion stand osmanthus trees, whose fragrance fills the air in autumn.

Mazu’s Relic Pagoda was destroyed in the early stages of the Cultural Revolution. In 1993, Master Yicheng, the abbot of BaoFeng Temple, rebuilt it in the original style using fine white marble selected from Shandong. It still consists of three parts: the base, the body, and the finial, with a total height of 3.78 meters. The base is a square Sumeru pedestal. The southern face of the pagoda body features a vertically inscribed stone tablet engraved with the words “Pagoda of the Sharira of Mazu Daoyi, the Great Calmness Chan Master,” written by the contemporary calligrapher Qi Gong, with the note “Respectfully inscribed by Qi Gong in the Qinghe Month, Guiyou Year” on the left. The northern face bears two vertical lines of calligraphy by Zhou Shaoliang, Vice President of the Buddhist Association of China: “There is no Buddha apart from the mind, and no mind apart from the Buddha.” The western face contains the “Mazu Pagoda Inscription” composed by Abbot Yicheng and written by then-county magistrate Guo Ming. The eastern face re-engraves the “Mazu Pagoda Inscription” originally written by Quan Deyu, the Left Chancellor of the Tang Dynasty. Below the finial is a bracket-style imitation, above which is a glazed tile design, with each of the six eaves adorned with a dragon head ornament holding a pearl, and the top in the shape of a vase. Under the pagoda base lie Mazu’s relics, preserved within a chased and gilded silver-lidded jar, which is encased in a white marble reliquary box.

Mazu Pagoda Pavilion is a masterpiece of Song Dynasty stone architecture in Jiangxi. Together with the pagoda inscription by Quan Deyu, it holds great historical value for studying the spread of Zen Buddhism, as well as high scientific research value for showcasing how ancient builders applied mechanical principles to construct such a massive stone pavilion. In 1957, the Mazu Pagoda Pavilion was designated as a Provincial Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit by the Jiangxi Provincial People's Government and has been included in publications such as the "Dictionary of Scenic Spots in China."

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units