Dharma Documentaries

Dharma. Culture. Ecology.

Menu
  • Dharma
  • Culture
  • Ecology
  • Archives
  • About
Menu

The Towering Buddhist Pagoda of Yongning

Posted on December 9, 2013October 30, 2019 by Dharma Documentaries
A documentary exploring the history of one of the earliest and greatest Buddhist Pagodas in China, which is now lost to the flames of war (Mandarin, with English subtitles).

The-Towering-Buddhist-Pagoda

[The documentary is in Mandarin with English subtitles. The Introduction below is based on that provided by CCTV]

In the 5th century, China was struggling with unrest. A woman with overwhelming power ordered the construction of a spectacular pagoda in hope of gaining a blessing on her dynasty. However, the completion of the pagoda turned out to be the start of her downfall. As the symbol of power, it was fated to perish in the flames of war.

One day more than 1,000 years ago, an official of the Eastern Wei Dynasty (534-550AD) was writing at home a biography about the capital of the previous dynasty. It was Yang Xuanzhi, who once served as a Northern Wei military officer eligible to attend the morning court.

His book, the Records of the Buddhist Monasteries in Luoyang, was the first collection of Buddhist remains in China, through which we could vividly experience the old Luoyang City once shrouded in the stately atmosphere of Buddhism.

In a tranquil woods east of Luoyang sits China’s most famous temple, the White Horse Temple. To the north of Mangshan Mountain and Luoshui River, it was built more than 2,000 years ago. The temple remains prosperous today. Believers and visitors from all over the world either worship or travel there. As the first Buddhist temple in China, it is considered by many as “the cradle of Chinese Buddhism”.

There are many accounts about the White Horse Temple, and in books on Buddhist history and its name always came up first. But Yang Xuanzhi’s masterpiece was an exception. In the Records of the Buddhist Monasteries in Luoyang, its name turned up at the end and with only a little description, while the Yongning Temple was highlighted in the opening chapter.

What did the Yongning Temple look like? According to Yang Xuanzhi’s records, the Yongning Temple was a royal project ordered by the ruler of the Northern Wei Dynasty. It was the period when Buddhism reached its first climax in China after entering the country in the Eastern Han Dynasty. In the temple, there also stood a magnificent pagoda.

The position of the Yongning Temple and its extravagance were detailed in the opening chapter of the Records of the Buddhist Monasteries in Luoyang. The temple was built like a royal palace with its huge gate and magnificent halls. There were more than 1,000 monk dormitories, while the most miraculous building was a Pagoda with a height of 300 metres.

 

I am unable to embed this video
please follow this link
to watch on my
bittubers channel

 

if this video is no longer available please leave a comment so I can update the page
(the comment is not published)

 

to see an album of stills click here

 

TAGS:
Culture, Dharma, Archaeology, Architecture, China, Women

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Subscriptions

Follow our Facebook Page Follow our Tweets Subscribe by Email Subscribe to our Feed

Shortlink and QR

https://dharma-documentaries.net/b/2_Z

Donations

This site has taken 10 years to build, and has 700+ documentaries on it. If you would like to support the expenses involved, you can do so here. Even small amounts help.

choose amount:  

Copyright

If anyone has any copyright claims please contact me at dharmadocus@gmail.com and the posts and films will be immediately removed.

Top Ten Tags

Theravada
Mahayana
Vajrayana

India
Silk Road
China
Tibet

Arts
Lectures
Rights

Popular Posts

  • The Freedom of being a Buddhist Nun
  • Bright and Shining Mind in a Disabled Body
  • The Leshan Giant Buddha Statue
  • The Silk Road Series 7/16: Khotan-Oasis of Silk and Jade
  • David Eckel: Buddhism 3-4 of 24
  • The Tibetan Oracles
  • Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar: The Untold Truth
  • The Mountain Yogi, Lama Govinda
  • Indian Roots of Tibetan Buddhism
  • The Journey of Xuanzang: An Introduction

Recent Posts

  • Our Only Home, a Climate Change Film
  • The Kingdom of Nature (in Cambodia)
  • Fire in the Blood
  • Sowers of Joy (Nuns Travel across India)
  • Life Beyond 2, The Museum of Alien Life
  • Life Beyond 1, Alien Life
  • Bhutan, Change Comes to the Happy Kingdom
  • The 108 Lokesvaras in Nepal
  • Survive (the Khmer Rouge)
  • Indiana Jones 16, Foreign Devils Begone

Related Posts

  • The Lost Temple
  • Introduction to Buddhist Art
  • The King and the Buddhist Pagoda at Leifeng
  • Indiana Jones 16, Foreign Devils Begone
  • Indiana Jones 14, The Silk Road
  • Inside the Forbidden City 2, Survival
  • Inside the Forbidden City 1, Secrets
  • China's Frozen Desert
  • Banteay Srei Temple, Cambodia (Expoza)
  • Yu Garden, Shanghai
© 2021 Dharma Documentaries | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme