Yongji Qiyan Temple Pagoda Forest | Explore Tang Dynasty Pagoda Inscriptions

|Explore Tang Dynasty Pagoda Inscriptions. The Qiyan Temple Pagoda Forest is located on the westernmost peak of Zhongtiao Mountain in Yongji City. It was first built during the Northern Zhou Dynasty and was originally called Lingju Temple. It was renamed Qiyan Temple during the Sui Dynasty, and was rebuilt during the Song Dynasty and subsequent dynasties. The temple was destroyed during the War of Resistance Against Japan, but more than 40 brick pagodas remain, including the Tang Dynasty Tianbao period Zhizong Zen Master Pagoda, the Five Dynasties Later Tang Tongguang period Zen Master Pagoda, the Song Dynasty hexagonal five-story dense eaves relic pagoda, and more than 30 Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasty Zen Master Pagodas. The Qiyan Temple Pagoda Forest preserves many steles from the Sui and Tang Dynasties to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, including the "Stele of the Great Sui Hedong County Shoushan Qiyan Dojo Relic Pagoda," the "Epitaph of the Great Zen Master of the Great Tang Qiyan Temple," the "Yuan Imperial Edict Stele," and more than 20 others. Among them, the "Epitaph of the Great Zen Master of the Great Tang Qiyan Temple" is also known as the "Epitaph of the Zhizong Zen Master of Qiyan Temple." It is 70 cm high, 89 cm wide, and 11 cm to 14 cm thick, made of bluestone, with about 600 characters in running script. The inscription was written by "Longxing Temple Abbot Monk Fugu," in memory of the Zhizong Zen Master from the original Yuxiang County Qiji Town. The inscription is well-written, with strict parallelism, and uses many well-known idioms and allusions, such as "enlightenment," "having spare energy," "drawing water for the masses," and "wearing pearls and tying knots," making it a masterpiece of literary talent and profound meaning that attracted attention as soon as it was published. The pagoda forest is located on the mountain top, requiring a climb. The cement road leads to Zhongsi Village halfway up the mountain, after which there is an unprotected dirt road.