Lingyin Monastery West Stone Pagoda 靈隱寺西石塔

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The Twin Stone Pagodas in Lingyin Monastery are positioned individually on the East and West side of the terrace in front of the Daxiongbao Hall, 42 meters apart. During the early restoration of the monastery under the reign of Qian Hongchu (錢弘俶), King of Wuyue Kingdom (吳越國), a set of four stone pagodas were established in 960, but only two survive until the present day, and they are lacking their original finials.

The twin pagodas are almost identical in structure, size, and style (Xia and Tang, 2016, 88-92). At the height of 11 meters and with a total of nine layers, these pagodas were both constructed meticulously following the architectural style of octagonal wooden pagodas. The pagoda sits on a Mount Sumeru platform or dais (xumizuo 须弥座), and the platform is inscribed with the Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī Sūtra (Dafoding tuoluonijing 大佛頂陀羅尼經) in legible regular script of calligraphy for visitors to read. The large stone pedestal (panshi 磐石) under the Mount Sumeru platform is carved in the “Nine Seas and Eight Mountains” (jiushan bahai 九山八海) pattern. This prevailing visual motif in Buddhist art refers to the cosmological belief that the world is formed with nine sacred mountain ranges with Mount Sumeru at the celestial center and eight oceans separating them (Zhao and Mao, 2017, 92-98). Each layer of the pagoda consists of a balcony substructure (pingzuo 平坐), main structure (zhengshen 正身), and waist eaves (yaoyan 腰檐). The balcony substructure and the main structure are both supported with single huagong bracket arm (miao 杪) and single descending cantilever (xia’ang 下昂) following the stolen-heart technique (touxinzao 偷心造). The main structure of each story is embellished with the a cusped gable doorway (kunmen 壼门) on all four sides (Zhongguo wenwuju, 2010, 26).1

靈隱寺兩石塔置於大雄寶殿前平臺上，東西相望，相距42米。960年，吳越國君錢弘俶重修寺院，共立壹組四尊石塔，至今僅兩尊尚存，塔剎皆毀。

兩尊石塔形制、尺寸、風格幾乎壹致，高11米，均為八面九層，細仿木質構造式佛塔。石塔立於須彌座之上，座上滿刻楷體《大佛頂陀羅尼經》供香客參拜。須彌座之下另有磐石狀塔基，雕飾有九山八海紋。九山八海紋常見於佛教藝術建築中，意指九座神山以須彌山為中心、以八海相隔而構建的空間世界觀。石塔每層都以平坐、正身、腰檐構成。平坐與正身俱以壹跳花拱單杪單下昂偷心造的鋪作承托。每層正身四向亦都裝辟有壹壸門。

Related Site: Lingyin Monastery East Stone Pagoda 靈隱寺東石塔

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