Sanzang Pagoda
Sanzang Pagoda
CHINA, Jiangsu, Nanjing
Sanzang stands for Tripitaka, which refers to Tripitaka Master Xuanzang of the Tang dynasty (618–907). The pagoda was built in 1944 to enshrine Master Xuanzang’s skull bone relic, which had been rediscovered in 1942. It was listed as a Municipal Cultural Heritage Site in 1982.
This square pagoda was built to resemble the Xuanzang Pagoda in Xingjiao Temple, Xi’an. It is made of brick and has five stories. There are doors on every side of every story. The Chinese characters for Sanzang Pagoda are carved above the southern entrance of the first story, while the Sumeru base has six characters meaning Bone Relic of Master Xuanzang. The base platform is carved with images depicting Master Xuanzang’s journey to India.
For more details, go to the Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Architecture M-S, page 945.
Cite this article:
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Johnson, Peter and Mankuang and Lancaster, Lewis,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Architecture M-S},
pages = 945,
title = {{Sanzang Pagoda}},
volume = 3,
year = {2016}}