They say it leans, but it looks sturdy enough. A 67-metre-tall
pagoda in Yingxian County of north China's Shanxi Province has somehow survived the
natural and human vicissitudes of history for 950 years.
Yesterday, more than 1,000 pilgrims, including some from Taiwan
Province, gathered in Yingxian to join the prayer to mark the
pagoda's 950th birthday and to see the relics discovered inside the
pagoda's statues.
A clue as to why the Sakyamuni Pagoda stands while so many
others have fallen, collapsed or burnt to the ground can be smelt
as visitors wind their way up the staircase of the five-floor
octagonal building.
There, on the larch wood floor of the oldest and tallest wooden
structure of its kind in the world, sits a speckled glop of
guano.
"We clean up the bird droppings every year," says 28-year-old
Sun Wenying, who grew up nearby and now works at the pagoda, about
400 kilometres to the west of Beijing.
"The birds are the guardians of the pagoda, eating hidden worms
to keep the pagoda healthy," says the devout Buddhist.
Every spring, the swallows come. Every fall, they leave, their
migratory patterns seemingly matching the pagoda's needs in a
historical avian-cultural exchange.
"They come here the day after the Pure Brightness Day in April
and leave the day after the Beginning of Autumn Day in August.
They're never late, not even by one day," says Sun. "No one knows
where so many of them come from and no one knows where they go to.
The swallows seem to watch over the pagoda just as the pagoda
watches over people,” she says.
"Because of the pagoda, most locals here turn naturally to
Buddhism," says Sun. "No serious crimes have ever occurred in the
county; we think it is thanks to the protection of the giant
Buddha," said Sun, referring to an 11-metre gold-leaf clay statue
sitting on the first floor of the pagoda.
"People come to make their wishes to the Buddha, who will help
their wishes come true," she adds.
For the 80,000 residents of Yingxian, visiting the pagoda on the
Dragon Boat Festival, usually falling in June, is an important
annual ritual.
All residents from the county turn up at the pagoda and walk
clockwise around the building. "They believe it brings health and
prosperity to the whole family," Sun says. "The pagoda is sacred in
the hearts of local people."
"Tales about the wonders of the pagoda have been handed down for
generations," Sun says. "Most believe the pagoda houses some holy
beads as the building has gotten through wartime bombing in the
1920s, gales, earthquakes and flooding.
"Because of the existence of the pagoda, local people are very
kind, from the bottom of their hearts, and have deep roots in
Buddhism," says Ling Yi, an 81-year-old monk from nearby Lengyan
Temple.
"I believe there is some sacred Buddhist object inside the
pagoda because it has stood for so long," says Tong Shun, a monk
residing at nearby Da'an Temple, about 15 kilometres away.
However, the pagoda's contents have not been escaped completely
unscathed. The heads, arms and bellies of statues were defiled
during the "cultural revolution" (1966-1976), says Du Fu, former
head of the Yingxian County Pagoda Relics Protection Institute.
"People were crazy at that time," says 58-year-old Du, who left
his post at the pagoda in 2002. "They destroyed religious things,
old things. But they were not crazy enough to destroy the pagoda
because locals regard it as an architectural treasure for the
county."
Despite the turbulences, the pagoda still stands. Is this due to
a sacred presence within it?
In 1974, local people discovered two tooth-shaped relics from
two silver boxes hidden in the bellies of two Buddha statues in the
pagoda during repairs. Many believers and non-believers hope the
relics will be recognized by Buddhist authorities as genuine
sarira: sacred relics created by the cremation of Sakyamuni.
Only two pieces of 2,500-year-old tooth relics of the Sakyamuni
Buddha are recognized: one in Sri Lanka and another in suburban
Beijing. All other declarations of tooth sarira discoveries have
not been confirmed or have been proved false.
Hui Li, a senior monk from Taiwan Province, believes they should
be authenticated, noting that the two white tooth-shaped relics,
about seven centimetres long, have on them some reddish beads.
Authenticated tooth sarira have similar reddish beads.
Hou Xinsheng, a local official, asks reporters not to "hype" it
up to avoid inducing a religious spat.
Most locals don't know about the alleged "sarira". "We just get
glimpses of pictures on TV and we are waiting for the word from
senior Buddhist masters," says Sun. "It's rare for us to see the
relics during the anniversary."
About 50,000 people have come to worship the so-called relics
during the anniversary celebrations, which started at the beginning
of the year, says Feng Kecheng, an official in charge of the
county's publicity.
Hui Li alone has brought about 1,000 Buddhist followers from
Taiwan to Yingxian.
Architecture wonder
There is another convincing reason for the pagoda's longevity:
ingenious architecture.
Despite the fact that local annals record the pagoda's
construction in 1056, no records show who constructed and why.
Local people even choose to believe it was built by Lu Ban, China's
legendary master carpenter of the Spring and Autumn period (770 -
476 BC), Sun says.
The ancient craftsmanship dwarfs modern technology: 26 statues
appear on different floors to represent different stages of
enlightenment, from gold-leaf on the first floor to nine plain
sculptures on the fifth floor. Not one nail is to be found in the
entire structure.
The work is not just state-of-the-art architecture for the Liao
Dynasty (916-1125), says Luo Zhewen, 82 and an expert from the
State Administration of Cultural Heritage. It's state-of-the-art
architecture for the 21st century, Luo adds.
Today, experts still rack their brains to work out how to fix
the pagoda.
Luo leads the repair team, where three schools of thought
contend. Some say it's only necessary to support the leaning parts;
others say the upper levels above the third floor should be
supported and finally there are those who argue that the whole
building should be dismantled and built again.
Locals hold their own opinions. "It's not possible for them to
fix it and, in fact, it's not necessary," says Sun.
"Even without their help, the pagoda will be fine," says Monk
Ling Yi. "The giant Buddha is there to ensure the pagoda's
longevity. It's a fact that the pagoda has come through so many
disasters."
There is usually an underground shrine below a pagoda. A repair
team in 1993 identified a rectangular structure beneath the pagoda.
Such an underground treasure trove should contain materials which
would help decode the lost history of the ancient building. But
worries about digging mar efforts.
"We worry about its safety," says Luo, "and it's hard to say
whether it can survive any more earthquakes or gales."
(China Daily September 6, 2006)
