Shangqiu Chongfa Temple Pagoda

Shangqiu Chongfa Temple Pagoda

Shangqiu Chongfa Temple Pagoda is a national AAA-level tourist attraction and a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level.

Chongfa Temple Pagoda is located in the martyrs' cemetery at the northeast corner of the old city area of Yongcheng City. According to the Yongcheng County Annals from the Guangxu era of the Qing Dynasty: “Chongfa Temple... was established before the Tang Dynasty, and the pagoda was built in the early Shaosheng period, standing several zhang tall.” The temple no longer exists, leaving only this pagoda.

Historical records and inscriptions on the stone and brick within the underground chamber of the pagoda show that it was first built in the first year of the Shaosheng era of the Song Dynasty (1093) and completed in the fifth year of Shaosheng (1098). Chongfa Temple Pagoda is a pavilion-style, wood-like brick pagoda with an octagonal floor plan, consisting of nine stories and reaching a total height of 34.6 meters. It is divided into outer walls, corridors, and an inner core, with varying internal structures on each level. The inner passageways are constructed from a mix of brick and stone. From April 1984 to May 1985, the Henan Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau allocated a special maintenance fund of 100,000 yuan for a comprehensive restoration, which largely restored the pagoda to its original ancient appearance.

The base of the pagoda is octagonal, 1.6 meters high with a perimeter of 24 meters. The first level features guiform doors on the east, south, and west sides. The small chambers inside these doors do not connect with each other and are topped with caisson ceilings constructed from ten layers of corbelled bricks, beneath which lies the underground chamber. A staircase in the north door allows visitors to ascend the pagoda in a spiral fashion. The corners of the first level are adorned with plum blossom-shaped pillar supports, resting on brick-carved lotus-petal pedestal bases. The northwest and southeast walls feature brick-carved false windows with ancient coin patterns, while the northeast and southwest walls have tortoise-shell pattern false windows, with Buddha image bricks embedded on both sides of the windows. The eaves of each level are constructed from interlocking lotus petal-shaped and imitation tile bricks. Above the eaves, brick-carved bracket sets support the balconies. From the third level upward, only four guiform doors remain without decorative false windows. Levels one to four have glazed Buddha image bricks inlaid between the bracket sets of the balconies, while levels five to nine have single-layer bracket sets without Buddha image bricks. Levels one to five feature double-layer bracket sets. At the corner of each level, there are stone chi dragons from which wind chimes hang. The interior of the guiform door on the ninth level is solid, with the top being an octagonal caisson roof crowned by an iron finial. The spire is secured to the eight corners by eight iron chains. A total of 323 yellow and green glazed molded Buddha image bricks are embedded on the inner walls of the pagoda, all uniformly depicting one Buddha flanked by two disciples. The height of each level decreases progressively from the bottom up, giving the pagoda an overall parabolic shape.

Chongfa Temple Pagoda falls stylistically between the northern and southern traditions of ancient Chinese pagodas. Its architectural form and style represent a synthesis of the pagoda-building arts of both regions. The internal structure combines elements such as the through-type, corridor-type, square inner-wall spiral, and octagonal inner-wall spiral designs within a single pagoda, making it an outstanding example of Song Dynasty pagoda construction. It stands as a testament to the wisdom and labor of our ancestors, a physical embodiment of traditional Chinese engineering technology and artistic modeling standards, and an important resource for the study of Buddhist historical sites and the history of architectural development.

Further Reading:

· First Batch of Henan Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Sixth Batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level