Xiangshan Temple's Great Compassion Guanyin Pagoda and Stone Inscriptions

Xiangshan Temple's Great Compassion Guanyin Pagoda and Stone Inscriptions

Xiangshan Temple's Great Compassion Guanyin Pagoda and Stone Inscriptions is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Guanyin Pagoda, also known as Yufeng Pagoda, is located at Xiangshan Temple in Dazhangzhuang Village, south of Zhouzhuang Town, about fifteen kilometers east of Baofeng County, Pingdingshan City. The temple was ultimately destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. The pagoda was originally built during the Eastern Han Dynasty as an earthen structure, but the current version was reconstructed in the first year of the Xining era of the Northern Song Dynasty (1068). It is an octagonal, nine-story brick pagoda in the pavilion style, standing thirty-three meters high. The outer walls of the second and third stories feature hundreds of carved brick niches housing Buddha statues. The second and fifth levels have arched doorways on the exterior, while the third level has a jar-shaped doorway. Each level is adorned with corbelled brick eaves. The top of the pagoda is crowned with a covering bowl, a precious bead, and a spire. Historical records suggest that the underground chamber beneath the pagoda houses the true relics and sacred objects of Guanyin, earning it the titles "True Pagoda" and the "Sacred Pagoda of Guanyin."

Inside the first level of the pagoda’s core is a stele from the first year of the Yuanda era of the Yuan Dynasty (1308), which is a recarving of the “Xiangshan Great Compassion Bodhisattva Biography” originally written by Jiang Ziqi of the Song Dynasty and calligraphed by Cai Jing. This stele has had significant influence in both Buddhist and calligraphy circles both domestically and internationally. In 1976, a rubbing of the stele was specially invited to be exhibited at the University of Oxford in the UK. Nearby, there are also several stone inscriptions from the Jin Dynasty and the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In 1957, it was designated as a Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit by the Henan Provincial People’s Government. In 2013, it was announced as part of the seventh batch of National Cultural Relics Protection Units by the State Council.

Zhouzhuang Town: Located in the eastern part of Baofeng County, Henan Province, Zhouzhuang Town is adjacent to the county seat, with the town government just 4 kilometers from the county center. To the south, it borders the Xinhua District of Pingdingshan City, only a few kilometers away from the new site of the municipal Party committee and government — offering a highly advantageous regional location. The town covers a total area of 56 square kilometers, with 46,000 mu of cultivated land, a population of 34,000, and jurisdiction over 24 administrative villages, 61 natural villages. It was upgraded from a township to a town in 1995. It has successively been awarded titles such as “Top 100 Cultural Stations in the Province,” “Advanced Cultural Township in the Province,” “Advanced Science Popularization Town in the Province,” “Advanced Collective in Comprehensive Social Security Management in the Province,” “Civilized Village and Town in the City,” and “Developing Township in the City…” More detailed information about Zhouzhuang Town++

Further Reading:

· Second Batch of Henan Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units