Chaoyang Twin Pagodas

The Chaoyang Twin Pagodas are located at the northern and southern ends of Shuangta Street in the old town of Chaoyang, approximately 300 meters apart. The North Pagoda is the oldest Buddhist pagoda in Northeast China, with a history of over 1,500 years since its initial construction. During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Chaoyang was the capital of three states among the Sixteen Kingdoms — the Former Yan, Later Yan, and Northern Yan — and was known as Longcheng. After the Northern Wei...

Chaoyang Twin Pagodas

Chaoyang Twin Pagodas

The Chaoyang Twin Pagodas are located at the northern and southern ends of Shuangta Street in the old town of Chaoyang, approximately 300 meters apart. The North Pagoda is the oldest Buddhist pagoda in Northeast China, with a history of over 1,500 years since its initial construction. During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Chaoyang was the capital of three states among the Sixteen Kingdoms — the Former Yan, Later Yan, and Northern Yan — and was known as Longcheng. After the Northern Wei conquered the Northern Yan, the granddaughter of King Feng Hong of Yan entered the Northern Wei palace to serve and was later honored as empress and then grand empress dowager. During the Taihe era (477–490) of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei, Grand Empress Dowager Feng built a Siyuan Buddhist Pagoda (i.e., a Buddhist stupa) in Longcheng.

The site of this pagoda is where the North Pagoda now stands. The over eight-meter-high rammed earth platform beneath the North Pagoda and the large square foundation stone with dragon and phoenix motifs in the style of the Eastern Jin are remnants of that original structure. The reliquary stupa commissioned by Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty was also built at the North Pagoda. Both the Suiyan Buddhist Pagoda of Grand Empress Dowager Feng and the stupa rebuilt during the Sui Dynasty were wooden structures. In the early Tang Dynasty, a brick pagoda was constructed on the foundation of the wooden one, and after several subsequent renovations over the dynasties, it evolved into the uniquely styled North Pagoda we see today. The Tang-era North Pagoda was a thirteen-story, hollow, closely-eaved brick pagoda with a square base, similar in design to the Small Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an. The pagoda features arched gateways allowing entry into its interior. The white plaster walls between the eaves of each story are painted with brightly colored patterns, showcasing high artistic value. When the Liao Dynasty carried out renovations, they added an outer shell around the base and body of the pagoda, and reconstructed two stories of eaves along with the spire.

Each of the four sides of the pagoda is carved with a seated Buddha, positioned atop a lotus pedestal. Beneath the lotus pedestals are carvings of five elephants, two horses, five peacocks, and five golden-winged birds — symbolic creatures forming the throne. Beside them are two bodhisattvas and small brick-carved stupas. Above the Buddhas and bodhisattvas are canopies and flying apsaras. The Five Tathagatas of Esoteric Buddhism, the Eight Great Bodhisattvas, and the Eight Great Stupas are common decorative themes in Liao Dynasty esoteric Buddhist pagodas. During the 1980s, when the pagoda underwent reinforcement and restoration, a reliquary chamber (earth palace) and a celestial chamber (sky palace) were discovered, yielding hundreds of precious Buddhist relics made from the “Seven Buddhist Treasures” — gold, silver, agate, coral, pearls, amber, and glass. Among them, the golden stupa containing sarira and the hexagonal gilded silver stupa are considered rare treasures. The temple complex with the North Pagoda as its main structure was called Baowan Temple during the Sui Dynasty, Kaiyuan Temple in the Tang Dynasty, and Yanchang Temple in the Liao Dynasty. It was destroyed in warfare around the end of the Liao and the beginning of the Jin Dynasty.

The North Pagoda was designated as a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit in 1988. The South Pagoda, about 40 meters high, is a square, hollow, thirteen-story, closely-eaved brick pagoda built atop a broad square brick base. The southern side of the pagoda features an arched gateway that leads directly to the inner core, while the other three sides have false doors. The door lintels are adorned with cloud motifs, and above the doors on either side are stone plaques inscribed with the names of the Eight Great Stupas. These depict key events in the life of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, from birth to parinirvana. On the spandrel of the first-floor eave arch was originally enshrined a stone seated statue of Bodhidharma, the First Patriarch of Zen. The statue depicts him as an ordinary monk clad in robes, holding a sutra, and sitting cross-legged in meditation. This exquisite stone sculpture is now housed in the Chaoyang City Museum.