Luohan Cloister 羅漢院
https://architecturasinica.org/place/000286Names
- Luohan Cloister (English)
- Luohanyuan (Pinyin)
- 羅漢院 (Traditional Chinese)
- 罗汉院 (Simplified Chinese)
Location
江蘇省蘇州市 Jiangsu, Suzhou
- China
- Province:
- Jiangsu (Pinyin)
- 江蘇省 (Traditional Chinese)
- 江苏省 (Simplified Chinese)
- County-city:
- Suzhou (Pinyin)
- 蘇州 (Traditional Chinese)
- 苏州 (Simplified Chinese)
- Political-subdivision:
- 市 (Simplified Chinese)
- City (English)
- Locality:
- Suzhou shi (Pinyin)
- Lat. 31.3062° Long. 120.63386111111112°
Site Information
Located on Dinghuisi alley, Suzhou. The Luohan (Arhat) Cloister is said to date to the end of the Tang dynasty, when it was called the Prajna Cloister (bore 般若 or wisdom). During the Wuyue Kingdom, the name was changed to Luohan Cloister (Zhang and Luo 1988, 81). Citing the Qing Tongzhi period “Suzhou fuzhi,” the Zhongguo mingsheng cidian (Yang 1986, 335) states that during the Song Yongxi reign period (984-988), Wang Wenhan 王文罕 constructed two pagodas facing each other for the sake of Wang Wenhan and his brother. They were commonly called the “twin pagodas,” which is the source of today's name for the site. One called the “reliquary pagoda” (shelita 舍利塔), and the other “beneficial virtue (merit) reliquary pagoda,” (gongde shelita 功德舍利塔). In addition to the pagodas, the foundations and columns of an earlier main hall and the foundations of side halls are visible within the complex. According to Guo Daiheng (Guo 2009, 480) the pagodas were initiated in the seventh year of the Taiping xingguo reign period (982), thus they may have been completed before the end of the Taiping xingguo period in 988.2External Links
Works Cited
Any information without attribution has been created following the Syriaca.org editorial guidelines.
- 1 WILKINSON. 2000. Chinese History: A Manual, 12.
- 2 張. 1988. 中國古塔精萃, 81.; 楊. 1986. 中國名勝詞典, 335.; 郭. 2009. 中国古代建筑史:第三卷:宋,辽,金,西夏建筑, 480.
Contains artifact(s) (1)
How to Cite This Entry
Tracy Miller, “Luohan Cloister 羅漢院
” in Architectura Sinica last modified April 10, 2020, https://architecturasinica.org/place/000286.
Bibliography:
Tracy Miller, “Luohan Cloister 羅漢院 .” In Architectura Sinica, edited by Tracy Miller. Entry published April 10, 2020. https://architecturasinica.org/place/000286.About this Entry
Entry Title: Luohan Cloister 羅漢院
Authorial and Editorial Responsibility:
- Tracy Miller, editor, Architectura Sinica
- Tracy Miller, entry contributor, “Luohan Cloister 羅漢院 ”
Additional Credit:
- Editing and proof correction Tracy Miller
- data entry and revision by Yuh-Fen Benda
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