Fogong Monastery  佛宮寺

https://architecturasinica.org/place/000028

Names

  • Fogong Monastery (English)
  • Fógōngsì (Pinyin)
  • Fo-kung-ssu (Wade-Giles)
  • 佛宮寺 (Traditional Chinese)
  • 佛宫寺 (Simplified Chinese)

Location

山西省应县 Shanxi
  • China
  • Province:
    • Shanxi (Pinyin)
    • 山西省 (Traditional Chinese)
    • 山西省 (Simplified Chinese)
  • County-city:
    • (Simplified Chinese)
  • Political-subdivision:
    • (Simplified Chinese)
    • County (English)
  • Coordinates:
    • Lat. 39.5650166° Long. 113.1817°
  • Building Information

    Fogongsi (佛宮寺) is located in Yingxian County, Shanxi Province. According to the Wanli reign period (1573-1620) Yingzhouzhi (應州志), it was begun in the second year of the Liao Qingning period (1056). The site has been renovated many times. Although initially named Baogong chansi (寶宮禪寺), due to an imperial taboo for the character bao (寶) in 1315, the site’s name was changed to Fogongsi. Covering an area of ​​24,000 square meters the buildings are oriented north-south. In the Liao period, the monastery was just northwest of the intersection between the major north­-south and east-­west city thoroughfares, putting the monastery in a central position in Yingzhou (Steinhardt 1994, 13-14). 1

    The Sakyamuni Pagoda is oriented two degrees west of due south and stands on the central axis, behind the Shanmen (山門) and in front of the Mahavira Treasure Hall (Daxiongbaodian 大雄宝殿). Of the existing buildings at the site, only the Sakyamuni Pagoda is a relic of the Liao Dynasty. The bell tower (钟楼) and the drum tower (鼓楼) were built in the Ming dynasty, and the Mahavira Treasure Hall (Daxiongbaodian 大雄宝殿), appended buildings (jiawu 夹屋), and subsidiary halls (peidian 配殿) are all buildings from the Qing dynasty (Guojia wenwuju, 2006, 176). From the mid 20th century there were two courtyards, one with the gatehouse, bell and drum towers and the pagoda, and the back with abbots' quarters and the Daxiongbaodian (Chen, 2001, 30).

    Dynasty Liao 916 - 1125 1

    External Links

    Works Cited

    Any information without attribution has been created following the Syriaca.org editorial guidelines.

    • 1 STEINHARDT. 1997. Liao Architecture, 13-14.Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record
    • 2 WILKINSON. 2000. Chinese History: A Manual, 12.Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record
    • 3 国家文物局. 2006. 中国文物地图集. 山西分册, 176.Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record
    • 4 陈. 2001. 应县木塔, 30.Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record

    Contains artifact(s) (1)

    Date range



    How to Cite This Entry

    Vania Sih et al., “Fogong Monastery 佛宮寺 ” in Architectura Sinica last modified February 18, 2022, https://architecturasinica.org/place/000028.

    Bibliography:

    Vania Sih et al., “Fogong Monastery 佛宮寺 .” In Architectura Sinica, edited by Tracy Miller. Entry published March 21, 2018. https://architecturasinica.org/place/000028.

    About this Entry

    Entry Title: Fogong Monastery 佛宮寺

    Authorial and Editorial Responsibility:

    • Tracy Miller, editor, Architectura Sinica
    • Vania Sih and Tracy Miller, entry contributors, “Fogong Monastery 佛宮寺

    Additional Credit:

    • Editing, proofreading, data entry and revision by Tracy Miller
    • adding external links Melanie Lu
    • Data entry Vania Sih

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