Pingyang Entrance Towers: North Tower
Pingyang Entrance Towers: South Tower
Pingyang Entrance Towers
CHINA, Sichuan, Mianyang
These towers are often erected at the entrance of royal temples or tombs and they usually come in pairs. Often, a smaller tower is built beside a larger one. The ones located in Pingyang guarded a tomb and are considered the most well-preserved from the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220). Many were carved in 529 during the Liang dynasty. There are a total of 40 images, with the largest measuring 35 cm high. These images include a Buddha with four Bodhisattvas, Avalokitesvara, and an illustration of the Vimalakirti Sutra.
An inscription can be found on the north wall which dates the images to 529. The towers were listed as a National Cultural Heritage Site in 1961.
For more details, go to the Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Architecture M-S, page 826.
Cite this article:
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Johnson, Peter and Mankuang and Lancaster, Lewis,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Architecture M-S},
pages = 826,
title = {{Pingyang Entrance Towers}},
volume = 3,
year = {2016}}