Emperor Qianlong ordered this wooden pagoda to be made for his mother’s 69th birthday. It was moved to Luoyang by order of Premier Zhou Enlai in 1973 for the state visit of Prince Sihanouk. It never returned to the palace.1
Three Layer Silkwood Pagoda 三层金丝楠木佛塔
Silkwood | Qing Dynasty, 26th year of Qianlong reign (1761) | Dimensions – Ht: 6m Wt: 4t | Luoyang Museum Collection, From Forbidden City Palace of Compassion Tranquility Great Buddha Hall. 金丝楠木｜清乾隆二十六年（公元1761年）｜通高6米 ，重约4吨｜洛阳博物馆藏，原故宫慈宁宫大佛堂2
Empress Dowager Chongqing of Niohuru clan 崇庆皇太后 钮祜禄氏 (12 January 1692 – 2 March 1777) was a devout Buddhist. And her son, Emperor Qianlong, was a very filial son that would fulfil her every wishes and interests. He built in the Forbidden City 紫禁城 special buildings to house her buddhist statues and sutras. This pagoda was originally placed in her own palace the Forbidden City. Because of its height, the architects of the museum have to specially build an air well to house the pagoda.
The silkwood pagoda has a total of three layers, about 6 metres high and weighs about 4 tons. It is octagonal and has three-level eaves on each side. 304 shrines surround the sides and in each shrine enshrines a gold-plated Bodhisattva. The back of the statue is carved with “大清乾隆辛巳年敬造” (“Qing Emperor Qianlong Year of Xinyi (1761)”. This year, also the 26th year reign of Qianlong 乾隆二十六年, Emperor Qianlong celebrated his mom’s birthday by asking Imperial Workshops 內務府造辦處 to create a massive number of these Amitāyus 无量寿佛 statues to pray for her longevity. The pagoda was built two years later to house these statues according to imperial records. 3
The bottom section alone is 188 cm high, with 4 rows and 5 levels of shrines on each side, with a total of 160 shrines. Between the shrines, the T-shaped lotus flowers decorated the space with a rolled grass pattern. The Bodhisattva’s eyes are slightly closed, showing compassion and deep meditation. The Bodhisattva sits on the lotus platform and wears a crown with heavenly clothes. He also has various jewellery such as yingluo necklace 璎珞, earrings, neck ornaments, etc. Behind each statue is gourd-shaped flame pattern.
The pagoda is made of a single trunk of silkwood 金丝楠木, 6m high and weighs 4 tons, and the main woodwork is the original colour of dark brown trunk. And all of them are made of tenon and mao technology 榫卯工艺 (the same technique used in the roofs for the corner towers of the Forbidden City), and assembled together without a single iron nail. Hence, when it was moved from Beijing to Luoyang in 1973, the dismantling and reassembly process was carefully documented as there was no margin for error. Everything was put back in its place.
There were three of them originally, two of them were moved to another Royal Temple, Shuxiang Temple in Chengde 承德殊像寺, while this one remained. In its place, the two rosewood pagodas that was originally in that temple were moved to the Forbidden City.4
Rosewood Nine-Level Pagoda 紫檀九级楼阁式木塔
Rosewood | Qing Dynasty, 47th year of Qianlong reign (1782) | Dimensions – Ht: 1.13m | Luoyang Museum Collection, From Forbidden City Palace of Compassion Tranquility Great Buddha Hall. 紫檀｜清乾隆四十七年（公元1782年）｜高1.13米｜洛阳博物馆藏，原故宫慈宁宫大佛堂
Shuxiang Temple in Chengde was the royal temple for Emperor Qianlong, which he spared no expense to decorate and build over the years of his reign. In the 47th year of his reign, he instructed the eunuch Oreli 鄂勒里 to move these pagodas back to the palace as they looked too small compared to the cavernous main hall. In return, he moved the two silkwood pagodas that he constructed for his mom’s birthday to the temple. 5
You must be wondering what happened to the other two pagodas in the end? Like most ancient temples and shrines in China, many were ransacked during the wars of the warlords after the collapse of the Qing dynasty. The Bodhisattva statues, all 608 of them, were stolen during the period of Governor General Jiang Guiti 姜桂题. 6
About Chinese National Treasure Series
中華國寶系列 Chinese National Treasure series feature specific artefacts and relics from museums all around the world that are historically significant to be considered a National Treasure. The series covers the 5,000 years of Chinese civilisation from Neolithic periods before the Xia dynasty (c. 2070-1600 BC) to modern day.
Footnotes:
- 历史弄人，在上个世纪七十年代，西哈努克国王要去洛阳的白马寺参拜，中央急调了一批故宫的佛教文物去洛阳白马寺。这批文物里面广为人知的是故宫的皇家佛造 像，罗汉造像，但与之配套的一些皇家木器也配套送到了洛阳，感谢上天，这批东西现在都在洛阳博物馆，保存完好！！！这批东西现在中国的博物馆有一个算一 个，谁也比不了！！http://www.360doc.com/content/14/0916/01/15101050_409791446.shtml#google_vignette ↩︎
- 洛阳博物馆的“擎天柱”金丝楠木佛塔为三级八角攒尖式佛塔。通高6米，重四吨是目前洛阳博物馆馆藏文物当中体积最大，重量最重的国家一级文物。这座塔通体有304尊佛龛，里面供奉的是鎏金的无量寿佛，无量寿佛是西方极乐世界的主宰—阿弥陀佛。这座塔是公元1761年，乾隆皇帝为他的母亲崇庆皇太后祝寿而命令工匠雕刻的。说到崇庆皇太后，我们大家可能并不熟悉，但是说到一位宫廷剧的女主角，大家都认识，她就是甄嬛。这座塔的材质，是楠木当中的极品金丝楠木。这种木材在生长过程中有一种生物胶，这种胶质在太阳光的照射下，会发出像黄金一样金灿灿的光泽，所以从明代到清代成为了皇家御用的珍贵木材。一般的树木，它生长的周期是在十年以上就可以成材。但是金丝楠木生长缓慢，50年以上才可以成材。同时它只生长于原始森林当中，像我国的湖北、四川、云南、贵州等地区，尤其是以雅安地区木材为最佳。这种木质只能靠原始的自然生长，不适合于人工种植。所以存世量非常的稀少。另外，它运输的成本也是非常昂贵的。这种树木它在原始森林当中生长，有一定的海拔。我们必须要靠山洪暴发的时候，靠洪水把它冲到这个山脚下。然后靠人工一点一点把它搬运到马车上，这个马车再拉到京杭大运河通过京杭大运河由南北上到达紫禁城。可能我说的现在听起来很容易，但是当时整个实际的运输过程很漫长。少则三到五年，多则八到十年是非常消耗大量的人力、物力和财力的。这种珍贵木材是专供皇家御用，所以民间是不允许流通的。那我们都知道，在清代有一位著名的大贪官叫和申，和申当年为什么被抄家呢？就是由于他私自用了金丝楠木给自己家盖房子，所以嘉靖皇帝上任之后的第一件事情，就以这样的名义抄了他的家。这么高大的金丝楠木佛塔，在1973年是怎么从北京故宫运输到我们洛阳呢？因为这个佛塔采用了古时候一种非常特殊的木制结构—榫卯。通俗一点讲就像平时小朋友玩的乐高，它是靠木材与木材之间的这个衔接，环环相扣，严丝合缝。最关键的是没有使用到一根铁钉。运输之前可以把它每一部分拆卸下来，然后到洛阳再组装成原型。这件文物虽然是属于非洛阳级的国家一级文物，但是由于它体型高大、造型精美、木质罕见。所以成为了洛阳博物馆当之无愧的镇馆之宝。https://mbd.baidu.com/newspage/data/dtlandingsuper?nid=dt_4851305023490609356 ↩︎
- 每龛铜佛上均刻有“大清乾隆辛巳年敬造”字样。乾隆辛巳年为乾隆二十六年（1761年），这一年是乾隆帝生母崇庆皇太后69岁的生日，按照“过九不过十”的传统，铸造大量刻有辛巳年无量寿佛像，是取其吉祥寓意为皇太后祝寿所用。无量寿佛像身后置火焰纹中间镂空葫芦形背光，端坐在四方台座上，台布从中间下垂。https://www.163.com/dy/article/GJKMHGH605338UMA.html ↩︎
- 上文中的材料里提到了，当初乾隆添建的三座同等规制的宝塔，那为何如今的洛阳博物馆里只有一座八方楠木宝塔呢？
据《清宫内务府造办处档案总汇》记载，“乾隆四十七年八月初九日，太监鄂勒里传旨：殊像寺殿内现供徵瑞呈进之紫檀木塔，殿大塔小。……如慈宁宫塔尺寸高大，请来在殊像寺供。将此处所供之塔移在慈宁宫供。……八月二十六日，紫檀木二座已安在慈宁宫。”https://www.163.com/dy/article/GJKMHGH605338UMA.html ↩︎ - 据《清宫内务府造办处档案总汇》记载，“乾隆四十七年八月初九日，太监鄂勒里传旨：殊像寺殿内现供徵瑞呈进之紫檀木塔，殿大塔小。……如慈宁宫塔尺寸高大，请来在殊像寺供。将此处所供之塔移在慈宁宫供。……八月二十六日，紫檀木二座已安在慈宁宫。”
https://www.163.com/dy/article/GJKMHGH605338UMA.html ↩︎ - 远在承德殊像寺会乘殿内的两座金丝楠木佛塔内原本供奉的铜鎏金无量寿佛608尊，在姜桂题任热河都统时期被盗了。
https://www.163.com/dy/article/GJKMHGH605338UMA.html ↩︎
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