Important Implements

On May 6th, 1514(the ninth year of Ming Zhengde, Chongsheng Temple, with its split being three chi more or less, was greatly destroyed owing to the intense earthquake in Dali. And except the Hall of Rain Copper Kwan-yin, almost all other palaces and halls were damaged and the valuable cultural relics were nearly lost. Later Li Yuanyang rebuilt it and wrote a book named Records of Important Implements of Chongsheng Temple. In it, there are five implements in the Temple: the Pagoda, the Huge Bell,  the Plaque which proved the truth and praised Buddha and the Golden Statues of three Saints. And there are also 3 pavilions, 7 high buildings, 9 palaces and 100 mansions. When he came to visit Dali, Xu Xiake wrote in his Travel Notes: “Below the 10th peak of Cangshan Mountain, this Temple, called Chongsheng, began to be built in the mid-Kaiyuan period of Tang Dynasty. Before the Temple, there stand Three Pagodas, of which the middle one is the highest with 16 storeys and its structure being quadrate. So its present name is Three Pagodas. Around them, there stand very tall pine trees. To the west, there is a bell tower opposite to Three Pagodas. And there is a huge bell with its diameter one zhang (uint of length) and its thickness one chi (unit of length). It was built in the period of Meng and its sound could be heard away from 80 li. Behind the tower stands the main hall, behind which are different stone steles. And the 4 steles written by an old man are here. Behind them is Guanyin temple, which was made of copper and three zhang”.

The splendid Temple of Chongsheng was ruined in the Xianfeng period, the Huge Bell destroyed in the Qing Dynasty,  broken in the 10-year “cultural revolution” and the Temple with its steles and plaques didn’t exist nowadays. There left the Three Pagodas intact.