Datang Legacy - Zhengding Kaiyuan Temple.

🌟 Highlights: Zhengding may be small, but its preserved historical sites are definitely a Hebei highlight! Kaiyuan Temple was built during the Eastern Wei period. The Sumeru Pagoda of Kaiyuan Temple is a nine-story square brick pagoda (not climbable, according to Buddhist teachings, the Sumeru Pagoda is the center of the world). The existing part was rebuilt during the Ming and Qing dynasties, but it is basically in the style of the Tang Dynasty. The supporting warriors under the Sumeru Pagoda, two at each corner, a total of eight, are exquisitely carved and have a vivid appearance. It looks very similar to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and Small Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an, but in fact, its height decreases as it goes up, which is different. Why are there so many temples and Taoist temples in China with the name Kaiyuan? On June 1, the 26th year of the Kaiyuan era of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang ordered that a magnificent temple or Taoist temple be designated in each prefecture's city and renamed Kaiyuan Temple or Kaiyuan Temple. This was to commemorate the prosperity of the Kaiyuan era and the great event of establishing the crown prince to continue the legacy. The bell tower has a great history. In the 1930s, the Japanese once asserted that there were no wooden structures from before the Tang Dynasty in China, and that to see wooden structures from the Tang Dynasty, one had to go to Nara, Japan. So when Liang Sicheng saw the bell tower, he called it a pleasant surprise and determined that it might be a wooden structure from the Tang Dynasty. There are a total of "three and a half" large wooden structures from the Tang Dynasty in China, and the bell tower of Kaiyuan Temple is the half, and it is the only existing example of a bell tower from the Tang Dynasty. Historically, it was as famous as the ancient bell of Hanshan Temple, known as "South of Suzhou Hanshan, North of Zhending Kaiyuan." To the east of Kaiyuan Temple, there is a big guy - a big bixi. Bixi is a mythical beast in ancient Chinese mythology, one of the nine sons of the dragon, usually depicted as a dragon-headed turtle, symbolizing strength and longevity. It is 8.4 meters long, 3.2 meters wide, 6.2 meters high, and weighs about 107 tons. It is the largest bixi in China, and it is not an exaggeration to call it the largest bixi in the world! Kaiyuan Temple is not only a Buddhist holy place, but also a treasure trove of ancient historical buildings. Every brick and tile carries a thousand years of history and culture, waiting to be discovered and explored by the world.