The Wooden Pagoda in Yingxian County
is the earliest and the highest pagoda among the extant wooden-structure pagodas
in China. The Fogong Temple in Yingxian County was originally a very big temple
built in the Liao Dynasty (916-1135), and underwent reconstruction several
times. The extant archway, bell and drum towers, the shrine of Sakyamuni Buddha
were all rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), only the wooden pagoda was the
original building of the Liao Dynasty.
The wooden pagoda was built in the second
year (1056) of the Qingning reign of the Liao Dynasty. The layout of the pagoda
has an octagonal plane, and is 67.13 meters tall. The pagoda was built on the
4-meter-high and two-layer stone platform base. The first layer has double eaves
and is surrounded with a cloister. The part before the second layer is all
installed with enclosures and has a dozen kinds of corbel brackets under each
eave looking like clouds gathering together.
The structure of the Wooden Pagoda is very
ingenious with two slots of columns inside and outside. There are forehead and
cypress beams between the column heads and horizontal components to simulate the
hell. The inner slots and outer slots are connected with beams, joining the
double layers tightly. On the first storey of the pagoda stands a statue of
Sakaymuni Buddha of 11 meters high, solemn and respectful, and 6 walls of the
storey are painted with six portraits of Buddhas and 12 flying Apsarases in
vivid and elegant posture. There is a quadrangular Buddha on the third storey
and the Buddha faces four directions. A sitting statue of Sakayamuni Buddha is
located in the center of the fifth storey with 8 giant Bodhisattvas sitting in
eight directions.
The wooden pagoda still remains intact
though it experienced earthquakes and wars many times in the past 900-odd years
from the Liao Dynasty.
When the wooden pagoda was under repair in
1974, many carved Sutra, written Sutra and color silk pictures and
other precious antiques were found in abdomens of the broken statues, providing
precious material for the research into the Buddhist activities in the Liao
Dynasty and the history of wooden block printing technology in
China.