The Buddha’s Tooth Relic Pagoda
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Posted by Jim Down in History section |
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The Tooth Relic Pagoda is a new pagoda constructed by the Buddhists of China for the enthronement of a Holy Tooth of Shakyamuni Buddha. It is located at the original site of the Ling-guang Monastery, the second of the well-known eight scenic spots of the Western Hills in the suburbs of Beijing. This Holy Tooth was preserved in China for more than 1,500 years.
According to Buddhist historical records, after the Buddha’s Nirvana, his body was cremated, and his two remaining teeth were discovered in the ashes. One of them was taken to Sri Lanka, the other one to the ancient kingdom of Udayana (in present Pakistan), and from Udyana it was brought to Kotan (present Hetian county of Xinjiang in China).
During the 5th century, a Chinese monk from the Southern Qi dynasty named Fa-xian (424-498 A.D.) traveled to Khotan and brought the Holy Tooth back to Nanjing, which was then the Southern Qi capital. Following the reunification of China under the Sui dynasty, the Holy Tooth Relic was sent to the new capital Chang-an. During the period of the Five Dynasties, the Tooth Relic was moved from place to place until it reached Yenjing (present-day Beijing) of the Liao dynasty in the North.
The “Chronicle of Emperor Dao-zong” in the History of the Liao Dynasty, Vol. XXII, contains a record relating the enshrinement of the Buddha’s Tooth Relic in the Zhao-xian Pagoda in the 8th month of the 7th year of Xian-yong (1071 A.D.). This is how the Shakyamuni Buddha’s Tooth Relic came to Beijing.
The Ling-guang Monastery, enclosing the Zhao-xian Pagoda, was founded in the 8th century; and the pagoda, which was an octagonal brick construction of ten stories, was built at the southeast corner of the premises. Because the bricks bore stamped images of Buddhas and pagodas, this pagoda was generally known as the “Pagoda with Images of One thousand Buddhas”. The Ling-guang Monastery in Beijing was a famous place for tourists for several centuries.
In 1900, the allied forces of eight imperialist counties invaded Beijing, and their atrocious acts of burning and plundering caused enormous destruction. Even though the Ling-guang Monastery and the Zhao-xian Pagoda were situated far away in the suburbs, they were, nevertheless, reduced to ruins with gun-fire. After the war, when clearing the ruins, the monks from the monastery found in the basement of the pagoda a stone casket in which the Tooth Relic was preserved. In the casket there was a sandal wood box on which were written the words: “The Holy Tooth Relic of Shakyamuni Buddha, written by Shan-hui on the 23rd day of the 4th month in the 7th year of Tien-hui.” Fortunately, the stone structure called “dew-basin”, originally set on the top of the pagoda, still remains intact.
In 1957 the Buddhists of China decided to construct a new pagoda according to Chinese Buddhist tradition for the purpose of providing a sacred Buddhist pilgrimage site for the worship of the Holy Tooth, as well as for restoring the magnificence of this famous historical site. From the summer of 1958 till the spring of 1964, the construction work for the splendid new pagoda, including its accessory buildings, was completed.
With a height of 51 meters, the Tooth Relic Pagoda is an octagonal building decorated with thirteen layers and rests on a spacious platform 22 meters square and 2.70 meters above the ground. The Pagoda incorporates modern architectural techniques in structure while preserving the traditional style of classical Chinese Buddhist pagodas with minor modifications and developments. Externally, it takes the form of a single-story building with closely arranged layers, as was popular in north China during the Tang and Song dynasties.
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