Xingsheng Temple Tower, located at No. 235, Zhongshan East Road, Zhongshan Street, Songjiang District, ShanghaiSquare Tower GardenInside, because the tower body is square, it is also commonly known as the "square tower"[1], the tower was builtNorthern Song DynastyXiningYuanyou Year (1068-1094), 9 floors in total, 42.65m high[2]。
The Xingsheng Temple tower is a brick and wood structurepagoda, brick tower body, square timber structure, square plane.The underground palace under the tower has unearthed a large number of cultural relics, including relics and ancient coins.
The Xingsheng Temple Tower was built in the Xining and Yuanyou years of the Northern Song Dynasty (1068-1094), because it was built inXingsheng TempleIt gets its name from the middle.The pagoda was repaired many times during the Southern Song Dynasty and the Yuan and Ming Dynasties.[1]
Pagoda in xingshengjiao Temple
In the 21st year of the Yuan Zhiyuan era (1284), the monks of Xingsheng Temple raised money to repair the pagoda of Xingsheng Temple.In the sixth year of Dade in the Yuan Dynasty (1302), the phase wheel and railing of the pagoda were damaged by the typhoon, and later were repaired by the monks of the temple.In the war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Xingsheng Temple was destroyed, leaving only a tower and a bell tower.
In the third year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1370), monks built a confession hall near the pagoda, inscribed with a plaque "Xingsheng Pagoda";In the 28th year of Hongwu's reign (1395), the Xingsheng Temple tower was damaged again by the typhoon, and then the monks in the temple raised money to repair it[4]。
In the 12th year of Zhengtong period of the Ming Dynasty (1447), Governor Zhou Chen donated money to rebuild the Shengjiao Temple.
In the seventeenth year of Shunzhi's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1660), Liang Huafeng was appointed to supervise the construction of pagodas[4]。
In the 35th year of Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1770), the Xingsheng Temple pagoda was overhauled. The original seventh, eighth and ninth floors were destroyed and rebuilt, and the tower core columns and pagodas were replaced.On the floor of the eighth floor, a wooden column with a height of 13 meters is erected, and 8 meters are exposed through the top of the tower[1]。
In the 24th year of Daoguang Reign of the Qing Dynasty (1844), the Xingsheng Temple Tower was repaired again.Several renovations in the Ming and Qing dynasties preserved the characteristics of the architecture of the Song Dynasty.After this restoration, the Xingsheng Temple Tower is known as the most beautiful tower in Jiangnan[5]。
During the period of the Republic of China, the Xingsheng Temple pagoda was seriously damaged.In December of the 27th year of the Republic of China (1938), the wall of the Xingsheng Temple tower was covered by local teenagersXia QiushengThe words "Down with Japanese imperialism" were written.
During the Anti Japanese War, the Japanese bombed Songjiang. After the bombing, except for the Xingsheng Temple Tower and Zhaobi, other ancient buildings have been damaged[1]。
Before liberation, cracks appeared on the brick body of the Xingsheng Temple tower, and almost all the wooden structures in the tower were destroyed. There was only one floor escalator left. The tower body inclined to the northwest about 54 cm, and the floor was covered with broken bricks, tiles, grass, and vines.Therefore, further maintenance is urgently needed[1]。
In July 1955, the Culture and Education Department of Songjiang County took protective measures.[1]
In 1974, the Shanghai Municipal Department of Cultural Relics restored the bottom terrace.In the same year, the local archaeological department found the underground palace under the Xingsheng Temple tower, and carried out an archaeological excavation from November 7 to 10, 1974.
From 1975 to 1977, under the guidance of the municipal cultural management committee, the Songjiang cultural department organized forces to carry out restoration and overhaul. On the principle of "not changing the original state", all the original components of the Song Dynasty and the repair parts of the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties remained intact;Repair and reinforce the damaged ones;Repair the damaged parts as they are;If the original tower cannot be found, it shall be remade according to the contemporary tower type in the south of the Yangtze River and the style characteristics of this tower.During remanufacturing, replace the corroded tower core wood, reinstall the tower brake, and supplement the commutation wheel.The tower brake is composed of tower core wood, copper gourd, phase wheel casting, wave wind cable, etc., with a height of 7.85m.There are 29 phase wheel castings, weighing about 5 tons.The tower core wood is more than 15m long and weighs about 900kg. It is seriously decayed due to water seepage.In this repair, 1 octagonal dragon head uncovering plate, 5 phase wheels, 7 hoop cylinders, 1 Yanglian basin covering, and a new tower core wood were recast and replaced.The escalators, floor slabs, flat seats, waist eaves and "staff seeking" railings on each floor were restored, and the veranda was rebuilt.The wood components preserved in previous dynasties were coated with polymer sealing and reinforcing agent modulated by resorcinol glycidyl ether, and the rest of the wood components were coated with tung oil for many times.After reinforcement and painting, the wood components can not only prevent borers and corrosion, but also increase the strength and bearing capacity. The wood grain is clear, maintaining the "old" style.[1]
In 1978, the government of Songjiang County explored and built gardens on the site of the original Xingshengjiao Temple, centering on the square tower and combining ancient architectural relics around it, including the Tianhou Temple Hall, which was moved from the north of Henan Road and Bridge in Zhabei District. The rectangular land under the tower covering more than 160 mu was developed intoFangta Park[6]。
Architectural pattern
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Architectural pattern of Xingsheng Temple pagoda
The Xingsheng Temple tower is a pavilion type, with 9 floors of brick and wood structure, and the overall height is 42.65 meters.The bottom edge is 6 meters long, with an ambulatory. Each floor shrinks one column diameter (about 28 cm) from bottom to top. There are three on each side. There are pot doors on the front. There are flat seats, railings, waist eaves outside, and wooden ladders inside.[7]
On the third floor, two murals of Buddhist statues of the Song Dynasty are reserved at the arch eye above the West Pot Gate.The eighth layer of the frame is crossed with crossbars. The supporting core wood pierces the top layer, and the cast iron tower brake is set on it. It is composed of a covered basin, a exposed plate, a nine stage phase wheel, and a phoenix cover. The brake end is a copper casting treasure bottle.[7]
There are 177 wooden bucket arches left in Xingsheng Temple Pagoda, of which 111 are original objects of Song Dynasty.[7]
structure
Cultural relics
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overview
Bronze Sitting Statue of the Great Sage of Sizhou in Wuyue State.Unearthed from the underground palace of Xingsheng Temple tower, collected by Shanghai Museum
In 1974, archaeologists excavated the underground palace of Xingsheng Temple tower, and found two copper coins from the sealed earth of the underground palace.After opening the underground palace, it was found that there was a row of bricks on the east and west sides of the bottom of the underground palace, and a limestone stone box was placed on the bricks.Some 186 copper coins were also found under the stone letter and in the only one paint box in the stone letter. The time span from the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty (December 713 to December 741) to the Jianyan period of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1130). Most of them were Tongbao in Kaiyuan of the Tang Dynasty, and some of them could not be dated because of corrosion.One copper statue of Reclining Buddha, two silver caskets (one large and one small), 101 small silver beads, two Buddhist teeth, nine Buddhist relics, one agarwood, and some silk and paper (remnants) wrapped with Buddha statues were also found in the stone letters.There are two silver boxes on the left and right of the lacquer box, containing relics and animal fossils. At the bottom of the box is inscribed "Cai Pushe made a silver box to recommend the death of his wife, Yu, to be born over", and "Guo Chunnian's silver box to recommend the death of his mother, Zhao, to be born over".[8]
In 1975, when the body of the Xingsheng Temple tower was rebuilt, the staff found several Xining, Xiangfu and Yuanfeng copper coins in the cracks of the wall of the bucket arch on the seventh floor of the tower[8]。
mural
In 1974, when the Xingsheng Temple pagoda was repaired, a mural of the Song Dynasty was found in the lime layer of the third layer of the side wall, which was a meditation picture of a new color Buddha statue. The Buddha statue was clear and colorful.It was identified by experts as the original painting when the tower was built.[8]
the buddhist scripture
A Buddhist scripture written in blood was found in the treasure bottle on the top of the pagoda of Xingsheng Temple. It was written by monks in Daoguang's period (1821-1851) to raise money for alms[9]。
Historical culture
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Arts and culture
Songjiang Bamboo Ci of the Qing Dynasty: "The towering tower and the palace of Brahma King are among the golden, blue and beautiful clouds. The thirty-six pagodas near the sea are as exquisite as the square pagodas."[1]
Legends and Anecdotes
During the Daoguang period (1821-1851), the Xingsheng Temple tower was damaged. It is said that a monk used his finger to write the Buddhist scriptures in blood to beg for alms, which restored the old view.[1]
protective measures
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The repaired square tower
On September 7, 1962, the Xingsheng Temple Tower was approved as a cultural relics protection unit in Shanghai, and the protection scope of the tower was confirmed[4]。
In 1963, the Shanghai Municipal Commission for the Preservation of Cultural Relics made a comprehensive survey of the structure and damage of the Xingsheng Temple tower. In October of the same year, the ground was cleared to determine the status of the gallery columns around the tower body and the bricks and tiles used in the repair of previous dynasties.
In April 1973, the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Cultural Relics drew up the "Repair Plan for Xingsheng Temple Pagoda in Songjiang". From 1975 to 1977, under the organization of the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Cultural Relics, the Songjiang Cultural Department organized relevant personnel to overhaul the Xingsheng Temple Pagoda on the principle of "not changing the original state".All original components of the Song Dynasty and repair parts of the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties that are not damaged shall be retained;Repair and reinforce the damaged ones;Repair the damaged parts as they are;If the original tower cannot be found, it shall be remade according to the contemporary tower type in the south of the Yangtze River and the style characteristics of this tower.During remanufacturing, replace the corroded tower core wood in the tower brake, reinstall the tower brake, and supplement the commutation wheel[1]The escalators, floor slabs, flat seats, waist eaves and the walking stick railings commonly used in the buildings of the Northern Song Dynasty were restored, and the veranda was rebuilt.
Broken square tower before repair
Before the restoration, there were 177 dougongs on each floor of the square tower from the second floor to the ninth floor, and 111 original objects of the Song Dynasty, accounting for 62.7%. The wooden components were made of pine wood, and the Chinese dougongs were made of sufficient materials, and the rolling brakes were soft, in line with the provisions of the big wood work system in the Song Dynasty's "Construction Method". The dougongs on the seventh, eighth, and ninth floors were all replaced during the repair of the Qing Dynasty's Qianlong period (1736-1796).Some of the eaves lifting Fang and arhat Fang are original objects of the Song Dynasty.Both the pagoda temple and the core wood of the pagoda were replaced in the 35th year of Qianlong's reign (1770), which was cast on the pagoda temple and engraved on the core wood of the pagoda.During the repair in the 26th year of Daoguang (1846), because the core wood of the tower was damaged, a layer of cypress was wrapped around the column, and the cypress recorded the matter.
In 1986, the protection area and control area of Xingsheng Temple Pagoda were demarcated. The area within 50 meters around the pagoda was demarcated as the protection area, and the area within 50 to 150 meters was demarcated as the control area.
On November 20, 1996, Xingsheng Temple Tower wasState Council of the PRCAnnounced as the fourth batch of national key cultural relics protection units[3]。
In 2000 and 2007, in order to maintain the appearance of the Xingsheng Temple Pagoda, the local cultural relics department in Songjiang carried out the maintenance and painting of the internal and external walls and eaves of the tower twice.
In 2012, graffiti traces of tourists often appeared on the walls of the Xingsheng Temple tower, and the higher the floor, the more graffiti.The management also took action to stop tourists' graffiti, and painted and covered the graffiti walls every year[10]。
Tourism information
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geographical position
Xingsheng Temple Tower is located in Songjiang District, ShanghaiZhongshan StreetIn the Square Tower Garden, 235 Zhongshan East Road.[2]
Square Tower Garden
transport line
Bus:Take Songmei Line (Meilong Southwest Bus Station - Songjiang), Shanghai Songjiang Expressway (Shanghai Gymnasium - Shanghai Hangzhou Expressway - Songjiang), Shanghai Songjiang Line to Songjiang Ledu Road Bus Station, and then transfer to Songjiang No. 4 to Fangta Garden;At the East Bus Station, you can take Songjiang No. 2, No. 4, No. 7 and No. 11 bus to Fangta Garden.
Self support:Inner Ring Viaduct - Humin Viaduct - Xinzhuang Interchange-G60 Shanghai Kunming Expressway - Songjiang Exit - Rongle Middle Road - Rongle East Road - Fangta North Road - Zhongshan East Road - Fangta Garden.
Ticket Price
Single ticket: 12 yuan per person.[11]
Team ticket (more than 16 people): 10 yuan per person.
