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Chongsheng Temple and Three-Pagoda

The Chongsheng Temple and The Three-Pagoda Culture Area which includes the Chongsheng temple and the three-pagoda scenic spot covers an area of 1000 acres, It is a key national unit for preserving cultural and historical relics, which has been promulgated by China state council for the first time, Furthermore it is a key national place of interest in Dali as well as a landmark and symbol of Dali, which has been designated as a historical and cultural city and a top tourist city in China. In 2003,it got the certificate of national honor of rank 4A tourist area. In 2004, it got the attestation of the ISO9001-14001 Quality and Environment Management System.

The Chongsheng Temple was established during the Tang Dynasty(the period 713-741AD). It became a famous royal temple during the period of the NanZhao Kingdom and the Dali Kingdom where nine emperors of the Dali Kingdom once became monks and practiced Buddhism there. The perimeter of the Chongsheng Temple reached seven miles during its prosperous period. It had 891 rooms and 11400 Statues of Buddha that were entirely made of 22750 kilograms of bronze. It had three attics, seven buildings, nice palaces in addition to 100 rooms .It became known as “a Buddhist capital”. All over the world it became famous for its three pagodas, its NanZhao massive bell,andYuTong statue of Avalokitesvara, furthermore, the “Buddhist capital” tablet handwritten YuanHu who was a saint monk in the Yun dynasty, and the three gold statues of saint monk as well as five heavy utensils. After the year of Xian Feng and TongZhi in Qing dynasty, the Chongsheng Temple and four heavy utensils were destroyed destroyed because of wars and natural disasters. Only three pagodas were preserved.

Since the Chongsheng Temple and the Three-Pagoda Culture Tourist Area was opened in 1983, the Chongsheng Temple has been reconstructed and it has been greened and beautified every year. Its area has been enlarged from 85 acres to 1000 acres. The building layout of the Chongsheng Temple consists eight porches, nine entrances and eleven floors and gathers the essence of the buildings in Tang、Song、Yuan、Ming and dynasty. It has 617 statues of Buddhas and all its utensils made for monk are made of bronze and weigh more than 1000 tons. Among them 599 statues of Buddha and Buddha utensils with colorful paintings contain more bronze than any other statue in China. Other treasures include the wooden relief of san skirt portraits volume painted by ZhangSheng wen, stories written about Buddha and the 18 modelings of Avalokitesvara. The buildings, colorful paintings, stone sculptures, lights, and green landscape are blended with each other and foster a cultural atmosphere of Buddhism to unveil the mystery of DianMi Buddhism for the most part including Han Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism culture . It displays the splendid prospect of LinJiu mountain which is a holy land and MixoaxiangGuo Buddhist capital.