Chinese culture has a long history and is extensive and profound. Five thousand years of accumulation have created a bright cultural treasure house.

In this treasure house, language culture, etiquette culture, natural science culture, ancient architectural culture, etc. have fully blossomed, and are mainly divided into politics, military, philosophy, economy, history, literature, art, natural science and other categories.

Over the past thousand years, various cultures have been intertwined and integrated, making Chinese culture the only culture among the four major ancient civilizations that still exists and is constantly innovating and developing. Ancient architectural culture is one of them.

Ancient architectural culture is the brightest page in the history of Chinese culture!

From the Afang Palace in the Qin Dynasty to the Forbidden City in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, from the Big Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an to the Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple in Dali, time has traveled through thousands of years and the area spans nearly a thousand kilometers, but similar traces can still be found among them.

Is this a coincidence? In fact, their similarities and existence are all traces to follow.

Following the development of ancient architectural culture, let's take a look at the three towers of Chongsheng Temple in Dali, located in the southwest and well-known in China, and experience its architectural culture.

We understand Chongsheng Temple in Dali from three aspects: first, the construction background; second, the overall layout; and third, the cultural connotation.

First, the construction background.

The three towers of Chongsheng Temple are divided into two parts, the first half is the three towers area, and the second half is Chongsheng Temple.

The Three Towers is the abbreviation for Three Brick Towers. Due to the inconsistent construction times of the three brick towers, the three towers are very different in terms of style and shape.

The big tower, Chihiro Pagoda, was built in the Tang Dynasty, and the two small towers were built in the Song Dynasty. The big tower has a spindle shape and has no complex embossed on the tower body. The two small towers are completely different in shape from the big tower. A large number of complex and exquisite embossed are carved on the tower body.

Looking at the three towers up close, the large tower gives people a simple and elegant feeling, while the two small towers give people a beautiful feeling, both representing the highest architectural standards at that time.

Chongsheng Temple was once a royal temple. It is located behind the three towers. It has dense buildings, regular layout and magnificent momentum.

Most of the main halls in Chongsheng Temple are wide open, with extremely high architectural specifications, exquisite columns and beams, many Buddha statues in the halls, and tall exterior pavilions, giving off the air of a king who looks down on the world.

The three pagodas and Chongsheng Temple before their destruction were built in the Tang and Song Dynasties, in part because Buddhist culture in Dali and even the entire Central Plains reached its peak at that time, and they were supported by the local governments of Dali at that time, Nanzhao and Dali.

Secondly, Buddhist culture spread among the people in Dali, and its influence gradually increased.

Finally, the economy and building technology at that time gradually matured. These reasons combined to promote the construction of the Three Towers and Chongsheng Temple.

Second, the overall layout.

In China's architectural culture, it usually contains the meaning of the unity of man and nature, and is extremely particular about the site selection and layout of buildings. Among them, the highest-specification royal buildings have more stringent rules, such as the Forbidden City in Beijing.

The three pagodas of Chongsheng Temple were once used as royal temples and also followed some of the layout rules.

Overlooking the entire three towers of Chongsheng Temple from the high altitude on the front of Chongsheng Temple, you will find a shocking phenomenon: the buildings of the three towers of Chongsheng Temple are all symmetrically distributed!

Continue to expand the scope, using Cangshan Erhai Lake and Dali Ancient City as references, and looking at the three towers of Chongsheng Temple. It is not difficult to find that the three towers of Chongsheng Temple are backed by Yingle Peak in Cangshan Mountain.

There are 19 peaks in Cangshan, and Yingle Peak is the 10th. Counting from south to north or from north to south, Yingle Peak is the center of the 19 peaks.

This also means that the three pagodas of Chongsheng Temple are located at the foot of the central peak of the 19th Peak of Cangshan Mountain.

The main gate to enter the three pagodas of Chongsheng Temple, the Chihiro Tower, the hall hall where the recast bell is built, the Yutong Guanyin Hall, the gate of Chongsheng Temple, the Daxiong Hall of Chongsheng Temple and even the Acuoye Guanyin Pavilion are all located on the same central axis.

Looking at Chongsheng Temple alone, there is also a symmetrical distribution from the Temple of Finance and the Hall of Medicine on both sides of the gate to the halls behind it.

It is precisely because of this layout that visitors can feel a solemn atmosphere when walking on the steps as soon as they enter the three towers of Chongsheng Temple.

Third, cultural connotation.

The three pagodas of Chongsheng Temple have been symbols of Dali culture from the beginning of their construction to the present day!

Dig deep into the history of Chihiro Tower and you will discover the secrets of construction technology in its architectural culture.

As mentioned above, Chihiro Tower was built in the Tang Dynasty, and then during a reinforcement, it was discovered that Chihiro Tower was a thousand-year-old pagoda without a foundation.

The Chihiro Tower is 69.13 meters high. In the Tang Dynasty without the help of any modern large-scale tools, building such a tall building on flat ground was enough to illustrate the maturity and superb architectural technology at that time.

Most people who have been to the three pagodas of Chongsheng Temple know the stories or legends about Buddha statues in the temple, and most of these legends are integrated with the culture of Dali.

For example, the legend of the Great Black Celestial God in the Tianwang Hall of Chongsheng Temple praises the Dali people's selfless dedication and self-sacrifice.

The Dahetian God is a god who sacrifices himself for the people in Bai mythology. According to legend, the Dablack celestial god originally did not look like this. He was handsome, but in order to save the people of Dali, he swallowed the plague that was about to spread to Dali, so his whole body was black.

In order to thank him, the Dali people regarded him as the "master" of the Bai people, and placed his statue in Chongsheng Temple to worship him from generation to generation.

There are countless stories about this in the three pagodas of Chongsheng Temple. Perhaps a statue, a picture scroll, a brick and a meter all contain Dali's most mysterious and interesting culture.

The three pagodas of Chongsheng Temple are like a treasure house of endless culture. The deeper we understand it, the more we feel that its culture is unfathomable. However, we have only seen the tip of the iceberg, and more culture can only be left to future generations to explore!

[Editor] Reading Yunnan Yijing

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