After Buddhism was introduced into China, it was combined with the heavy buildings in China, and experienced the development in Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. It exchanged and merged with the architectural systems in neighboring areas, and gradually formed a variety of tower systems with different shapes and structures, such as pavilion tower, dense eaves tower, pavilion tower, covered bowl tower, king kong throne tower, printed pagoda, five-wheel tower, multi-tower and seamless tower. During this period, the construction technology of the tower has also been continuously improved, and the structure has become increasingly reasonable. The materials used have also expanded from traditional rammed earth and wood to materials such as masonry, ceramics, glass and metal. After14th century, pagodas gradually moved from the religious world to the secular world, so according to the Confucian classic system, pagodas can be divided into pagodas and Wenfeng pagodas.
On the architectural level, the tower is a very unique oriental building with huge volume and diverse materials. The geological conditions in different areas are different, and the tower-building technology is also different. The architectural research on the tower involves many aspects such as material mechanics, structural mechanics, soil science, geology and so on.
The attic is a heavy building. Heavy building is a traditional architectural form in China, which appeared as early as the pre-Qin period. However, due to its long history, there were no pavilions before the Han Dynasty. To understand the specific situation of heavy buildings in China, besides analyzing historical documents, the funerary objects and tomb murals in the tombs of the Han Dynasty are good materials. Most of the heavy buildings in the funerary wares are 2-3 layers of clay wood structure models, and most of them have bucket arches as supporting structures, with flat seats and eaves distributed on each floor. Buildings have fine structures such as doors and windows, and the building plane is mostly square. The structural characteristics of the heavy building model of Ming wares in Han Dynasty are obviously related to the wooden tower building structure after Wei and Jin Dynasties.
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, temple towers were built all over China. At this time, wooden pavilions were built. During the Three Kingdoms period, Yu Jianye of the State of Wu began to build a tower, which was the first in the south of the Yangtze River. The tower-free buildings in these two periods have been preserved to this day, and there are some traces of Han Dynasty stone relief images on the tower, which have the shape of "blocking the slope". In addition, in Xinjiang, rammed earth has been used to build earth towers since the Eastern Han Dynasty, and there are still many remains of earth towers.
Buddhism developed greatly in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. During this period, many grottoes and temple towers were built, and the shape of the towers can be seen in Yungang and Dunhuang grottoes. The earliest physical object of the existing pagoda is the small stone pagoda in the first year of Tianan in the Northern Wei Dynasty. Originally in Chongfu Temple, Shuoxian County, Shanxi Province, and later in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the body was separated from the stupa. Tasha was secretly hidden by a patriot at that time, and was given to the country after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, and is now preserved in Chongfu Temple. The tower was stolen to Japan by the Japanese army. After the Anti-Japanese War, the tower returned to the motherland. In addition, there are many pavilion towers in Yungang Grottoes. Song Yue Temple Tower in Songshan, Henan Province is the earliest preserved brick tower so far. During this period, pavilions and towers with dense eaves were mainly developed, and the building materials were mainly brick, wood and stone.
Although the Sui Dynasty was short, Buddhism prevailed. Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty, celebrating his mother's birthday, built about 1 13 towers in three years. Expert research shows that all the pagodas built are wooden pagodas and have been destroyed by fire. The existing Sui Pagoda is only the Simen Pagoda in Licheng, Shandong Province.
The Tang Dynasty was strong in national strength and absorbed foreign cultures extensively. At this time, the pagodas developed greatly, and there were more than 100 pagodas preserved, concentrated in Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Beijing and other places. Due to the imitation of wood structure of early towers, the Tang towers are mostly square and hollow, mostly in the form of pavilions and dense eaves. Unlike the later towers, the Tangta has no pedestal and does not do large-scale carving and painting on the tower.
When Nanzhao commanded the southwest territory, Buddhism flourished, and temples and pagodas were all the rage. Since then, the temple has been destroyed for more than a thousand years, leaving only some towers in Kunming and Dali. The tower in Nanzhao era is closely combined with the culture of the Central Plains, which is very close to the shape of the Tang Tower. At the same time, the pagodas in Bohai also have the characteristics of Tang pagodas in the Central Plains and Guanzhong area.
During the Five Dynasties after the Tang Dynasty, wars continued and the number of temple towers was small. During this period, the shape of the tower changed from square to hexagon and then to octagon, and the inside of the tower gradually changed from an empty cylinder to a cloister and folded in the wall.
During the Song, Liao and Jin Dynasties, China was divided into north and south, and the buildings in the north and south had their own characteristics, and the towers were no exception.
During the Song Dynasty, the economy in southern China was developed and religion flourished, and many pagodas were built. Song pagodas are mostly pavilions or pavilions with dense eaves outside; In addition, about 20% of the towers are statues, pagodas, seamless towers and other towers. The plane of Songta is mostly octagonal or hexagonal, with occasional quadrangles, which is in sharp contrast with the quadrangles of Tangta.
Each floor of the Song Tower is built with hanging corridors, waist eaves, flat seats, railings, hanging eaves and other building components. Therefore, even a tall and majestic person like Pagoda of Six Harmonies in Hangzhou still feels light and agile. In the plane layout of the tower yard, great changes have taken place between the Song Tower and the Tang Tower. In the Tang Dynasty, the pagoda was the core part of the temple, which was mostly built in the front yard of the temple. In the Song Dynasty, the core position of the temple was replaced by the main hall, and most of the towers were located in the backyard or on both sides of the main hall.
Liao Tower is mostly a solid tower with dense eaves, and the building materials are mostly solid and durable masonry materials. In architecture, masonry is used to imitate wood structure, but doors and windows are not designed with square structures of Tang Tower and Song Tower, but with more reasonable arch coupons in mechanics, which is also a major breakthrough in Liao Tower. In addition to the dense eaves tower, there are a few pavilion towers in the Liao Tower that imitate the shape of the Tang Tower. The plane of Liao Tower is mostly octagonal, and the complex base is the unique feature of Liao Tower. All the facades of the pedestal are treated like wood, imitating the interior of wooden palace buildings. Windows and doors are complete, and the surface is engraved with classic or carved Buddhist statues. Common sculpture themes are Buddha, King Kong, Lux, Bodhisattva, jewels, towers, cities, pavilions and so on, which are very beautiful. Some famous Liao pagodas, such as Tianning Temple Pagoda in Beijing, are not only covered with exquisite statues, but also beautifully made eaves and wooden arches. However, in Liao Tower, there are more simple towers. Only the eaves on the first or second floor have a bucket arch, and the other floors above have overlapping eaves. The shape is simple and simple. Compared with the Song Pagoda of the same era, the profile of Liao Pagoda is mostly dignified and has high artistic value. Liao Dynasty is an important period in the history of tower building in China. During this period, not only a large number of towers were built, but also the structure was reasonable and the shape was beautiful, which greatly influenced the tower building style of later generations.
The Jin Dynasty entered northern China after the Liao Dynasty. The emperors of the Jin Dynasty believed in Buddhism as much as the Liao Dynasty. However, most of the golden pagodas were built in imitation of the Tang Pagoda, such as the Yun Qi Pagoda or the Liao Pagoda of the Baima Temple in Luoyang, which did not break through the regulations on tower building since the Tang and Liao Dynasties and formed its own unique style. Although some towers with strange shapes appeared during the period, most of them could not form a system or were beautifully made, and few people were worth showing off. Among them, the Guanghui Temple Tower in Zhengding, Hebei Province is particularly worth mentioning. It is the earliest King Kong throne tower in the history of China.
The Yuan Dynasty ruled the Central Plains for a relatively short time, and most of the emperors of the Yuan Dynasty believed in Buddhism. In the Yuan Dynasty, the pagoda with slope, which was popular in India, was introduced to China, and it was called Gaiwan Pagoda. In addition, with the popularity of tantric Buddhism in the upper Yuan Dynasty, the King Kong Throne Tower was introduced from India and built on a large scale. Due to the short time since the founding of the Yuan Dynasty, the upper class did not have the opportunity to fully accept Chinese culture, and it was difficult to achieve the integration of different cultures. Therefore, apart from some bowls-covered pagodas, there were not many famous pagodas built in Yuan Dynasty, and the influence of Yuan Pagodas on later generations was relatively small.
Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the unique types of Wenfeng Pagoda have gradually emerged. The so-called Wenfeng Tower is a tower built in specific locations in various counties to improve the local geomantic omen. The purpose of its construction is either to deter evil spirits or to complete geomantic omen or as a landmark building in this area. The appearance of Wenfeng Pagoda led to the climax of tower construction in Ming and Qing Dynasties, and many pagodas appeared in the form of Wenfeng Pagoda. Wenfeng Tower has a variety of architectural shapes, including pen-shaped, building-shaped and pudgy pier-shaped. The appearance of these special-shaped towers greatly enriches the architectural types of towers.
In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, pagodas basically followed the shape of pagodas in Liao and Song Dynasties. There are many kinds of pagodas, including pavilions, dense eaves, bowls and king kong thrones, as well as strange forms such as seamless and precious seals, with pavilions as the mainstream. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, pagodas were mostly tall brick and wood structures, while stone pagodas were rare. Brick pagodas in Ming and Qing dynasties imitated wood structures very exquisitely, including arches, rafters, eaves and full foreheads, as well as structures such as wild goose wings and hanging lotus columns. The architectural plane of the tower is mostly octagonal, hexagonal and square; Ming and Qing pagodas inherited the practice of building the base of Liao pagodas. As the Buddhist pagodas moved from the religious world to the secular society in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the themes of the reliefs on the pagodas also changed, including religious themes such as the Buddha statue, King Kong, Lux, and the King of Protecting Buddha, as well as folk traditional themes such as crossing the sea by the Eight Immortals, visiting the plum blossoms by magpies, twenty-four filial piety and fighting the stars. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Song Dynasty or Liao Dynasty seemed like a tower. Although there are many buildings, there is no big breakthrough in architectural art and technology, and the achievements are far less than those in Liao and Song Dynasties.
Making good use of wood structure is a major feature of traditional architecture in China. The wooden pagoda is also the earliest pagoda in China. According to the historical records of the Three Kingdoms period, the pagoda with "a golden plate on the top and a heavy building on the bottom" is the architectural form of retaining the slope at the top of the heavy building. However, this structure of putting stones on wood violated the mechanical shape of the material itself and did not last long. Wooden pagodas built in past dynasties draw lessons from many elements and technologies of palace architecture, from load-bearing structures such as arches, rafters, beams and columns to non-load-bearing structures such as door and window railings, which are very similar to contemporary palace architecture.
Due to the limitation of building technology, early wooden towers often used masonry or rammed earth to build high platforms in the towers. As the support of the wooden tower, the wooden structures at all levels are directly or indirectly connected with the high platform in the center of the tower. Later, with the improvement of building technology, the high platform in the tower was replaced by the wooden middle column, which greatly expanded the activity space in the tower and was a major breakthrough in building technology. However, the appearance of the central column also limits the further improvement of the height of the wooden tower, because it is difficult to find a tall and straight wood as the central column of the tower, and the height of the tower is also limited by the height of the central column. The wooden tower in Yingxian County, Shanxi Province in Liao Dynasty is another technical breakthrough in wooden tower architecture. Yingxian wooden tower has no central column, but two circles of wooden columns around each tower body transfer the load of the tower layer by layer. This unique mechanical design is more reasonable and stronger than the central column structure, which also makes Yingxian wooden tower stand still after nearly a thousand years of wind and rain and become the oldest existing wooden tower.
Because pagodas were originally used to bury relics, they were introduced into China and combined with the tomb culture in China, resulting in a unique underground palace form. There is also a distinctive name "Dragon Palace" in China. The underground palace should be built after the foundation, mostly square, hexagonal, octagonal and round. There are big stone letters or small stone pagodas filled with Buddhist relics, as well as Buddhist scriptures, Buddha statues, offerings and other funerary objects.
The famous underground palaces are: Tadi Palace of Famen Temple in Fufeng, Shaanxi, and Tiankaita Underground Palace in Beijing.
The pedestal covers the underground palace and is the foundation of the tower. There are several kinds of pedestals, namely, Mount Sumi and King Kong. Xumi Mountain originated in India, symbolizing the center of the Buddhist world-Xumi Mountain, which has the meaning of respect and stability. With the help of this model, the tower with dense eaves is more majestic. There is a pot-door-shaped niche on both sides of the mountainside of Sumeru, which is often decorated with various patterns. There are lux or dependent figures in niches or corners.
Located on the pedestal, the tower is the main body of the tower, with various forms, which is the main basis for distinguishing the style of the tower. Pavilion-style towers and pavilion-style towers worship Buddha statues on all floors of the tower body; No matter whether it is new hollow or solid, the dense eaves tower can't get in, and the Buddha statues are carved outside the tower. Among all kinds of towers, pavilion towers and dense eaves towers are the most decorated.
Tasha, located at the highest part of the tower, is the most prominent symbol of "viewing the whole tower" and the tower. "Brake" comes from Sanskrit, meaning "earth field" and "country", and Buddhism is extended to "Buddha country". All kinds of towers have towers and gates, so-called "no towers and gates". After the Indian slope was introduced, pagodas became an important part of the top of the tower in the evolution of the combination with traditional buildings in China.
As a prominent symbol of the tower, the tower gate is generally made of metal or masonry. Generally, the tower gate itself is like a tower with a small bowl cover, which is divided into three parts: gate seat, gate body and gate top.
There are more or less sculptures on the tower, which were originally designed to promote Buddhist thought, but actually played a decorative role in the tower. The carving on the tower originated very early, and the written records can be traced back to the Northern Wei Dynasty. The early decoration was rough. After Song and Liao Dynasties, the carving area became larger and larger, and the patterns became more and more fine. The carvings on the tower are mostly concentrated in the tower base, which is flush with people's sight. The materials used are mostly masonry. Because stone is easy to carve, stone pagodas are often decorated more than brick pagodas. The carving styles on the tower are very rich, including animals, plants, Buddhist figures and building components. Wenfeng Pagoda is a late-stage building, and the carvings are mostly auspicious and festive, which is not found on the stupa.
Buddha statue is an important part of sculpture. Buddhism regards the tower as a Buddha, and some of the Buddha statues on the tower are inside the tower and some are outside it to show respect for the Buddha. The main theme of offering Buddha on the tower is mostly the image or story map with Sakyamuni as the main body. Which Buddha statues are carved on the tower depends on which Sect they belong to. In addition, King Kong is often engraved on both sides of the tower door.
Masonry towers have always been wood-like, with decorative patterns on the tower body, tower top and inclined columns. The patterns are rich in content, such as the Baoyin Pagoda carved on eight sides on the first floor of Song Yue Temple Pagoda; The stone tower of Chongfu Temple in Shanxi Province is engraved with patterns such as towers and doors.
Humen is a Buddhist shrine, with many carving styles, such as square, flat and high eaves. Make doors and windows in the style of pot door, and the niches carved on the tower wall are often made in the style of pot door. Hu men developed greatly in Liao Dynasty, and later became an important decorative form on the tower.
Pagoda is a kind of decoration on Buddhist architecture. It is a small pagoda pavilion made in advance and installed in the center of the main ridge of a Buddhist temple or pavilion. Buddhism believes that "the tower is the Buddha and the Buddha is the tower", and the purpose of building the tower is precisely based on the belief and worship expressed by this understanding. The pagoda is actually a variant of the pagoda, which originated at the highest point of the floating picture and ended in the pagoda. The meaning of pagoda is vividly applied to Buddhist temples and pavilions, and the pagoda is produced. The pagoda first appeared in the Northern Wei Dynasty. Later, Buddhist buildings in various dynasties were basically towers, and the styles in various regions were diverse. At present, most Buddhist temples in Shanxi have towers, and many Tibetan Buddhist temples in Tibet, Inner Mongolia and Gansu also use towers.
There are many colors on the tower, such as white, cyan and khaki, which are closely related to the material, soil quality and climate characteristics of the tower. Generally speaking, the towers in the south are mostly white and earthy red, and the towers in the north are mostly blue-gray. Most of the wooden towers are their own wooden colors, while the glass towers are colorful. There is generally no color in the tower, and some are painted with white ash to improve the brightness inside. Because of the irregular masonry structure of the tower before and after the Song Dynasty, the surface of the tower was often coated with powder to make it look neat. Bowl-covered towers are usually painted with white ash, so they are often called "white towers". But it's just a habit. In fact, because plastering can protect the tower for a certain period of time, and it looks neat and beautiful, many styles of towers built in the south and north will be painted white. The colors painted on the towers and other buildings of Tibetan Buddhism are divided according to the teachings.
The text decoration of the tower can be used as the text description of the tower and has important historical value. Generally, the figures on the tower are decorated with pagodas, banners and couplets, pagodas and brick pagodas.
The tower clock, also called the bird scare clock, is a clock made of copper and iron. Hanging on the zipper of the tower gate at the tower corner. When it is blown by the wind, it will make a pleasant sound to scare away birds and protect buildings. The number of tower clocks is related to the number of layers and angles of the tower. There are many shapes of tower clocks, most of which are round. Most of the early towers were straight, and most of them were flower polygons in Ming and Qing Dynasties. The earliest bell tower appeared in the Northern Wei Dynasty.
Buddhism lists lamps as one of the Buddha's 6,000 instruments, so small niches are often built with bricks inside or outside the tower to put oil lamps and light them to celebrate Buddha's birthday or Dharma.