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Magnificent temple rises
September 26, 2009, Saturday
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ON banks of Grand Canal Reconstructed Xiangji Temple will become the center of the Culture and Religion Zone in Hangzhou next year, and on the National Day holiday the grounds will be open to visitors. Pan Zheng reports. Tourists can visit the plaza of magnificently reconstructed Xiangji (Incense Accumulation) Temple on the Grand Canal during the upcoming National Day holiday starting on October 1.
The huge building itself will be officially open to the public next February when it becomes the center of the Culture and Religion Zone on Dadou Road in the northern part of Hangzhou.
The entire temple and one pagoda on its plaza have been meticulously reconstructed. One pagoda remained from the original 1,000-year-old site. The reconstruction covers 16,855 square meters.
The rebuilding is part of the preservation for the Grand Canal. The aim is to turn the Xiangji Temple into a major site for Buddhist activities as well as an urban tourist attraction, a highlight of the Grand Canal.
There will be plenty of underground parking, a cultural shopping street and lots of vegetarian restaurants.
The temple at 45 Xiangjisi Lane used to be the first temple visitors would see when entering Hangzhou by canal. Once the area was thronged with boats, many carrying pilgrims from around China. The temple was a hive of activity.
The temple was built in AD 978 as Xingfu (Prosperity and Fortune) Temple and was renamed Xiangji around 1008.
It was destroyed during war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and over the years was rebuilt and destroyed several times. Mostly it lay in ruins.
In 1713 the government built two identical pagodas, one in the east and the other in the west of the temple. They were listed as major national relics in 1963, but just five years later the east pagoda was destroyed during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76).
The west pagoda was the only surviving pagoda of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) in Hangzhou. It's around 12 meters high and its interior is mostly well preserved.
In the current project, the entire temple itself has been rebuilt on a nearby site, the west pagoda becomes the east pagoda and a new west pagoda has been constructed.
Builders were meticulous in building the pagoda to be identical to the original.
"All the materials in the new pagoda are exactly the same as those in the original," says Zhang Chao, a chief engineer. "Even down to writings on the walls, we've already checked great quantities of documents and tried to make it identical."
The reconstructed Xiangji Temple is composed of several halls over three stories. Along the central axis is the King's Palace, the Great Buddha's Hall and the Pavilion of Buddhist Texts.
On each side of the axis are two more halls: Wenshu (Manjusri, Buddha of Wisdom) Hall, Puxian (Bodhisattva of Universal Benevolence) Hall, Dizang (Bodhisattva of Earth Store) Hall and Guanyin (Goddess of Mercy) Hall.
Between the Great Buddha's Hall and the Pavilion of Buddhist Texts is a special hall of the Custodian Buddha to protect the main halls.
The vast plaza in front of the temple has been open since reconstruction began.
On the west side of the temple, there will be a shopping street with restaurants, mainly offering vegetarian dishes.
"Xiangji Temple will not only become a site for religious activities, but also a tourist highlight of the Grand Canal," says engineer Zhang. "We want it to merge with the canal zone as well as the city and become an urbanized temple."
The wood used in reconstruction is a high-tech wood with a great weight-bearing capacity. Bronze is used in some construction, giving a splendid appearance.
"Whether wood, bronze, stone, or tiles, all the materials in construction were meticulously selected," says Zhang. "We want to show Hangzhou's historical cultural spirit to our visitors."
The huge building itself will be officially open to the public next February when it becomes the center of the Culture and Religion Zone on Dadou Road in the northern part of Hangzhou.
The entire temple and one pagoda on its plaza have been meticulously reconstructed. One pagoda remained from the original 1,000-year-old site. The reconstruction covers 16,855 square meters.
The rebuilding is part of the preservation for the Grand Canal. The aim is to turn the Xiangji Temple into a major site for Buddhist activities as well as an urban tourist attraction, a highlight of the Grand Canal.
There will be plenty of underground parking, a cultural shopping street and lots of vegetarian restaurants.
The temple at 45 Xiangjisi Lane used to be the first temple visitors would see when entering Hangzhou by canal. Once the area was thronged with boats, many carrying pilgrims from around China. The temple was a hive of activity.
The temple was built in AD 978 as Xingfu (Prosperity and Fortune) Temple and was renamed Xiangji around 1008.
It was destroyed during war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and over the years was rebuilt and destroyed several times. Mostly it lay in ruins.
In 1713 the government built two identical pagodas, one in the east and the other in the west of the temple. They were listed as major national relics in 1963, but just five years later the east pagoda was destroyed during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76).
The west pagoda was the only surviving pagoda of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) in Hangzhou. It's around 12 meters high and its interior is mostly well preserved.
In the current project, the entire temple itself has been rebuilt on a nearby site, the west pagoda becomes the east pagoda and a new west pagoda has been constructed.
Builders were meticulous in building the pagoda to be identical to the original.
"All the materials in the new pagoda are exactly the same as those in the original," says Zhang Chao, a chief engineer. "Even down to writings on the walls, we've already checked great quantities of documents and tried to make it identical."
The reconstructed Xiangji Temple is composed of several halls over three stories. Along the central axis is the King's Palace, the Great Buddha's Hall and the Pavilion of Buddhist Texts.
On each side of the axis are two more halls: Wenshu (Manjusri, Buddha of Wisdom) Hall, Puxian (Bodhisattva of Universal Benevolence) Hall, Dizang (Bodhisattva of Earth Store) Hall and Guanyin (Goddess of Mercy) Hall.
Between the Great Buddha's Hall and the Pavilion of Buddhist Texts is a special hall of the Custodian Buddha to protect the main halls.
The vast plaza in front of the temple has been open since reconstruction began.
On the west side of the temple, there will be a shopping street with restaurants, mainly offering vegetarian dishes.
"Xiangji Temple will not only become a site for religious activities, but also a tourist highlight of the Grand Canal," says engineer Zhang. "We want it to merge with the canal zone as well as the city and become an urbanized temple."
The wood used in reconstruction is a high-tech wood with a great weight-bearing capacity. Bronze is used in some construction, giving a splendid appearance.
"Whether wood, bronze, stone, or tiles, all the materials in construction were meticulously selected," says Zhang. "We want to show Hangzhou's historical cultural spirit to our visitors."
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