Chaoyang North Pagoda

Chaoyang North Pagoda

The Chaoyang North Pagoda is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Chaoyang North Pagoda

The North Pagoda is located at the northern end of Shuangta Street in Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province. In the past, there were three ancient pagodas standing in a tripod-like formation within the city. Based on their orientations, they were commonly known as the East Pagoda, South Pagoda, and North Pagoda.

The pagoda is square-shaped, a thirteen-story hollow brick structure with dense eaves, currently standing 42.6 meters tall. It consists of a rammed earth base platform, a brick pedestal, a Sumeru pedestal, the main body of the pagoda, eaves, and a finial. The main structure—the body of the pagoda—features intricate brick carvings on all four sides, including Esoteric Buddhist Buddhas of the Four Directions, eight attendant bodhisattvas, twenty-four flying apsaras, eight great stupas, and the name of the pagoda, all in diverse and exquisite forms that are truly captivating.

The North Pagoda was originally built during the Taihe era (circa 485 AD) of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty. It was constructed as the "Siyuan Buddhist Pagoda" by Empress Feng, the mother of Emperor Wencheng Ming of the Northern Wei, on the former site of the palace of the Longcheng capital of the Former Yan at the Three Yan. She built it to pray for the longevity and spiritual merit of her grandfather, Feng Hong, the King of the Northern Yan, and to promote Buddhism. (The Three Yan—Former Yan, Later Yan, and Northern Yan—all had their capitals at Longcheng, hence Chaoyang is also known as the “Ancient Capital of the Three Yan.”) The “Siyuan Buddhist Pagoda” was a wooden, pavilion-style pagoda that was later destroyed in a fire. During the Renshou era of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, an imperial edict called for the reconstruction of a fifteen-story square hollow brick pagoda with dense eaves on its original foundation, which was named the Bao'an Temple Pagoda. Buddhist relics of the Buddha were enshrined within the pagoda by imperial decree. It was renovated and beautified again during the Tianbao era of the Tang Dynasty. It underwent two more restorations in the early Liao Dynasty and in the 13th year of the Chongxi reign of the Liao Dynasty, and was renamed the Yanchang Temple Pagoda. The current Chaoyang North Pagoda features a foundation based on the rammed earth platform of the Three Yan palace, a base platform from the “Siyuan Buddhist Pagoda,” a core structure from the Sui-Tang brick pagoda, and an exterior from the Liao Dynasty pagoda. Its unique construction style of a “pagoda atop a pagoda” and “pagoda enclosing a pagoda,” along with its rare history of “five generations in one,” makes the North Pagoda truly the foremost pagoda in Northeast China. It was designated as a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit by the State Council in 1988.

From 1984 to 1992, with funding from the National Cultural Heritage Administration, reinforcement and restoration work were carried out on the North Pagoda. During the maintenance period, the Heavenly Palace and Earthly Palace were discovered. Especially significant was the excavation and cleaning of the Heavenly Palace in 1988, which unearthed thousands of rare and precious treasures. The rediscovery of two genuine sarira (Buddhist relics) of Sakyamuni Buddha was another major archaeological find in Buddhist studies following the 1987 discovery at Famen Temple in Shaanxi, causing a sensation both domestically and internationally. Also unearthed were a gold-plated silver pagoda, a gold and silver scripture pagoda, and a Persian glass bottle, all of which were identified as national treasure-level cultural relics by the National Cultural Relics Appraisal Committee. Other Buddhist relics such as exquisitely crafted gold and silverware, splendid agate artifacts, dazzling glassware, crystal-clear crystal artifacts, and ingeniously made jade artifacts are also extremely rare across the country. The Liao Dynasty stone sutra pillar unearthed from the Earthly Palace is tall and perfectly preserved, and is hailed as the “No. 1 Pillar in the Northeast.”

Today, the North Pagoda has been fully restored and stands majestically and beautifully on the land of Chaoyang. As a symbol of the ancient city, the North Pagoda has become a sacred Buddhist site for worshippers from all over, as well as a must-visit tourist destination for domestic and international travelers.

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units