Yanqing Temple Pagoda

　　   The Chai Zhuang Yanqing Temple Pagoda is situated in the east of Chai Zhuang, about 3 kilometers northwest of Jiyuan City, Henan Province. Constructed between the first and third years of the Jingyou era of the Song Dynasty (1034–1036), its exterior walls feature over a thousand brick-carved Buddha statues on each level. The northern gate allows access via steps to the second floor. Above the second floor, the pagoda is topped with corbelled brick layers, originally covered with wooden flooring, which has now been destroyed. The southern gate houses a stele inscribed with the “Record of the Stupa Constructed at Yanqing Chan Temple in Longtan, Jiyuan County, Heyang, of the Great Song,” written in the running script style of Wang Xizhi, as imitated by Yang Xujǐ.

　　   The temple pagoda is a seven-story, hexagonal, brick-and-wood structure in the pavilion style, standing 28.16 meters tall, with a parabolic-shaped body. The ground floor has one door each on the north and south sides. Entering through the southern door leads to the hexagonal inner chamber. A stairway behind the northern door provides access up to the sixth floor. Each level of the pagoda features over a thousand brick-carved niches containing Buddha statues, earning it the nickname “Thousand Buddha Stupa.” The brick carvings are exquisitely detailed and vividly sculpted, reminiscent of the Northern Wei style. Within and around the pagoda are ten stone steles and inscriptions from the Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties. Among the most significant are two steles from the first and second years of the Jingyou era of the Northern Song, the third year’s “Record of the New Stupa Constructed at Yanqing Chan Temple in Longtan, Jiyuan County, Heyang, of the Great Song,” and the fifth year’s “Poem Stele on Longtan by Fu Bi.”

　　   In May 2006, the Chai Zhuang Yanqing Temple Pagoda, as an ancient architectural structure from the Song Dynasty, was approved by the State Council for inclusion in the sixth group of Major National Historical and Cultural Sites.