Yinchuan, the capital of Ningxia, a famous historical and cultural city, has two famous temples and pagodas. One is Haibao Temple and Haibao Pagoda located in the north of the old city of Yinchuan, also known as the North Tower (see the previous post, so I won’t talk about it here), and the other is Chengtian Temple and Chengtian Temple Pagoda located in the west of the old city of Yinchuan , also known as Sita. Compared with the hustle and bustle of the Haibao Temple Fair, Chengtian Temple is much quieter, even though she is in a noisy and prosperous place. The Chengtian Temple Pagoda is the only ancient pagoda in Ningxia that records the date of its construction. It is also the tallest among the more than 100 ancient pagodas in Yinchuan. . When the pagoda was being built, the empress dowager buried the relics of the top bone of the Buddha presented by monks from the Western Regions under the base of the pagoda with a gold coffin and a silver coffin. After the pagoda and temple were completed, Empress Dowager Muzang and the emperor attended the consecration ceremony in person. At that time, the "Tripitaka" bestowed by the Song Dynasty was invited to the temple. Later, eminent Uighur monks gave lectures at Chengtian Temple, and the Empress Dowager and Emperor Liang Zuo often came here to listen impromptu. The temple is full of incense and monks, and there are often "celebrities from the east" and "masters from the west". Immediately, Chengtian Temple became a holy place for Buddhism in Xixia, and it was the same as Huguo Temple in Liangzhou (Wuwei, Gansu) and Ganzhou (Zhangye, Gansu) at that time. The Temple of the Reclining Buddha is equally famous, and it is also known as the three major Buddhist resorts in Xixia.
The present pagoda is an octagonal eleven-story pavilion-style brick pagoda with a height of 64.5 meters. The tower body is built on a square platform with a height of 2.6 meters and a side length of 26 meters. Before the 1980s, the West Tower was also the tallest building in the urban area of Yinchuan. It witnessed the change of imperial power and dynasty of the Xixia Dynasty, and witnessed the modern development of Yinchuan.
During the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang granted the sixteenth son Zhu Zhan the title of King Qing, and the fiefdom was in the Ningxia area. The palace was later moved to Ningxia City (now Yinchuan). Zhu Zhan carried out a large-scale reconstruction and repair of Chengtian Temple and the West Pagoda, and added temples. Chengtian Temple became famous as the "Vatican Temple Bell" and became one of the eight scenic spots in Ningxia in the Ming Dynasty.
In the third year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty (1739), a magnitude 8 earthquake occurred in Pingluo, Yinchuan, and all Chengtian Temple and pagoda were destroyed. It was not until the 25th year of Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty (1820) that a new pagoda was rebuilt on the basis of the remnant pagoda, but only one floor was built every year. Although the rebuilt West Tower is not the original building, it basically maintains the basic shape and style of the original Xixia Tower.
On the east side of the tower gate, you can enter the tower room through a 4.8-meter coupon road, and there are wooden ladders circling up. On the first to second floors of the tower body, there are door and window niches on each side, and on the third, fifth, seventh, and ninth floors, there are north and south door-style open windows. Each floor of the pagoda body has a larger collection, and iron bells are hung on the eaves of each floor, which jingle when the breeze blows. On the top of the pagoda, there is a temple seat with a pointed top on eight sides, on which stands a peach-shaped green glazed pagoda temple.
Chengtian Temple was built in the first year of Yizong Tianyou Chuisheng (1050 A.D.) in Xixia. It has been more than 800 years ago. The Chengtian Temple Tower in the temple also has a long history. It's not big inside, but it's quiet and refined. Suitable for busy people like me. I walked around for an hour and climbed to the top of the tower to take pictures. The ticket is 10 yuan. Anyway, I still visited a small park. The tower ticket is 20 yuan to climb the tower.
