Mr. Chen: The bricks have a mesh checkered pattern, very much like the bricks on the East and West Temple Pagodas
Mr. Chen said that on the 9th, he was wandering around the construction site and stumbled upon some unusual bricks. "These bricks were dug out when the construction party was digging the pipes, because I was an archaeology fan, so I paid special attention to them, and the more I looked at them, the more I thought that these things might be very useful."
Bricks dug out of construction sites
Mr. Chen believes that these bricks have some mesh checkered patterns, which are very similar to the patterns of many bricks on the East and West Temple Pagodas. "I looked at a few friends, and everyone thought it might really be some antiquities, and if so, it would have to be protected." Mr. Chen said that to this end, he reflected the situation to the construction party and the Xishan District Cultural Relics Management Institute.
Since then, the construction party has stopped working. "After we received the feedback from the public on the 9th, we immediately stopped the construction, and with the relevant researchers, if we really dug up the cultural relics, our most important work must be to cooperate with the protection of cultural relics." Li Manager, the project manager of the construction party, said.
The excavated bricks were piled aside
Manager Li said that the construction site is laying the pipeline of rain and sewage diversion, and the project procedures are complete, but the sudden shutdown has increased their time and economic costs. "Originally expected to remove the fence on January 20, now the suspension of work has been delayed for two days, the time is even more tense, and during the shutdown, the construction site still has to pay workers' wages and related maintenance costs, and it is expected to lose 80,000-100,000 yuan." Manager Li said.
Expert: The brick making process is relatively modern
At 3 p.m. on the 10th, Chen Hao, director of the Kunming Museum, and the staff of the Xishan District Cultural Relics Management Office came to the construction site of the Dongxi Temple Pagoda Pedestrian Street to examine the evidence. "These bricks are green bricks, ming dynasty, relatively thick, but these have been broken, and these are red bricks, almost 100 years old, relatively new." Because the brick making process and characteristics of different periods are different, it can be judged. Chen Hao said.
Experts examine the evidence on the spot
The construction site is lined with pipelines at a depth of less than 1 meter, and there are roughly three soil layers with clear boundaries. "Judging from the soil layer where the bricks were excavated, there are bricks mixed with many years, from the Ming Dynasty to the Republic of China, so this soil layer belongs to the disturbance layer." A staff member of the Xishan District Cultural Relics Management Institute observed the soil layer and introduced it.
The distribution of bricks of different ages in the soil layer is chaotic
Chen Hao analyzed the pattern of the excavated bricks: "The mesh oblique checkered pattern of this brick is clear, and from the perspective of the production process, it should be relatively modern. ”
After careful analysis by several experts, everyone agreed: "These bricks did not predate the Ming Dynasty, and it may be because the Dongxi Temple Pagoda Pedestrian Street has undergone many reconstructions and transformations before, and these broken bricks have been used to backfill, making the distribution of bricks in this area complicated, and as far as the site situation is concerned, this brick has no archaeological value." ”
The East and West Pagodas were built during the Nanzhao period of the Tang Dynasty
Kunming is a famous historical and cultural city, and the two pagodas of dongxi er temple, founded in the Nanzhao period of the Tang Dynasty, are proud of the old Kunming people.
On the east and west sides of Dongsi Street, there were two temples, called Changle Temple in the east and Huiguang Temple in the west. The East Temple Pagoda was originally in changle temple, the name Changle Temple pagoda, the west temple pagoda was originally in the Huiguang Temple, the famous Huiguang Temple Pagoda, are all built by Wang Songfeng, the envoy of Nanzhao Nongdong Jiedu, and the construction is organized by the craftsman Wei Chi Mutao.
Located on Dongsi Street, the West Temple Pagoda is slightly smaller than the East Temple Pagoda, with a height of 36 meters, a bottom length of 6.95 meters, and a thickness of 2.5 meters. Kunming has had frequent earthquakes since ancient times, and in the twelfth year of Ming Hongzhi (1499), the Kunming earthquake, the West Temple Pagoda was dumped more than halfway, and in the sixteenth year (1503), it was rebuilt in the style of the East Temple Pagoda. In the sixth to twelfth years of the Qing Kangxi Dynasty (1667-1673), it was repaired. In the thirteenth year of Daoguang (1833), the tower was destroyed and the tower tilted. In the sixth year of Xianfeng (1856), Huiguang Temple was destroyed by soldiers. From November 1983 to September 1984, the West Pagoda was repaired.
West Pagoda
Dongsi Pagoda is located in Shulin Street, in a small park, 40.57 meters high, a total of 13 floors, square three-level stone platform foundation, dense eaves hollow square brick tower, flat side length of 7.23 meters, wall thickness of 2.7 meters. The first floor of the tower is the highest, 10 meters, and below there is a dungeon about 1.5 meters deep, which originally had a wood carved seated Buddha, which has now been lost. From the 2nd to the 12th floor, there are niches on all sides, and there are stone Buddha statues. In the thirteenth year of Qing Daoguang (1833), the Kunming earthquake completely collapsed, and the Dongsi Pagoda was completely collapsed. In the sixth year of Xianfeng (1856), Changle Temple was also destroyed by soldiers. Guangxu 9 to 13 years (1883-1887) to rebuild the East Temple Pagoda, "because of the low old foundation, worried about the thin soil, but moved to the east of hundreds of steps", according to the West Temple Pagoda style reconstruction, the shape of the tower still retains the Tang Dynasty architectural style.
Toji Pagoda
There is a "golden rooster" made of copper skin in each of the four corners of the east and west temple pagodas, each more than 1 meter high, the mouth of the chicken contains a copper pipe, there is a metal reed in the tube, and the head, neck and chest cavity of the golden rooster are empty. It is said that in the past, whenever the wind blew strongly, through the copper pipe, the swirling air flow made the metal reed oscillate, and the golden rooster would "whine" and whistle in the wind, showing the wisdom and ingenuity of ancient craftsmen.
Source: City Times
Text: City Times all-media reporter Xue Ruijuan Intern Lao Zhengyi
Editor: Zhang Yuxin
Review: Ling Zhong
Final Judge: Xu Jianlong
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【Source: City Times】