Guandu Old Town
云南昆明官渡古镇
云南昆明旅游景点
Guandu Old Town is one of the historic and cultural towns in Kunming area. It is situated in the southeast suburb of Kunming.
Originally called "Wodong", Guandu used to be a fishing village by the Lake Dian. In as early as the Tang Dynasty, Wodong served as an ideal stop for officials of the Nanzhao Kingdom (738-937) for sightseeing around the Lake Dian. In the onwards Song Dynasty, Mr. Gao Shengshi, who was the governor of Shanchan City (name for Kunming in the Song Dynasty), paid frequent visits to Wodong and berthed his boat on the shore. He later on named Wodong "Guandu" (official ferry) and brought it under his control, setting up Guandu County and constructing a town.
Major sights of Guandu Old Town can be briefed as “six temples, seven pavilions and eight shrines”, among which the earliest are Tuzhu Temple and Fading Temple.
(1)-Tuzhu Temple (tǔ zhǔ miào)
Originally erected in the Nanzhao Kingdom Period (738-937), Tuzhu Temple covers an area of more than 5,000 square meters and serves as the shrine for Deity Mahakaya (Da Hei Tian Shen)-a protector of the Nanzhao Kingdom. Mahakaya was in fact Siva in Brahmanism in Ancient India. After converting into Buddhism, he became a Buddhist guardian. When Buddhism was introduced into the Nanzhao Kingdom (Dali Area) from Tianzhu (Ancient India), he was enshrined as a “patron god” (Tuzhu) by locals of Dali.
(2)-Fading Temple (fǎ dìnɡ sì)
Originally erected in the Nanzhao Kingdom Period (around 756), Fading Temple underwent renovation in the 21st year of Guangxu Period of the Qing Dynasty. It covers an area of about 2,500 square meters, consisting of the Main Hall, the Side Halls, the Wing Rooms and the Gate etc. Being a column-and-tie wooden structure (Chuan Dou Shi), the main hall used to be the shrine of Mahakaya. The side halls and wing rooms are shrines of Buddhist and Taoist deities such as Goddess of Mercy, God of Fortune and Yuewang King (namely
Mr. Yue Fei, a brave general in the Song Dynasty).
(3)-Miaozhan Temple (miào zhàn sì)-the No. 1 of the six temples
Miaozhan Temple was first constructed in the 27th year (1290) of Zhiyuan Period of the Yuan Dynasty but was damaged by floods. It was reconstructed and shifted to the present site in 1325. There used to be two 13-storeyed dense-eave and solid pagodas of which the west one has been brought down by earthquake.
One can see a plaque inscribed with "Shao Lin Si" (Shaolin Temple). In 2008, Guandu District of Kunming and Shaolin Temple based in Songshan Mountain in Henan Province signed an agreement, according to which the latter is entitled to take over for 20 years Miaozhan Temple, Tuzhu Temple, Fa’ding Temple and Guanyin Temple in Guandu Old Town. Master Shi Yongxin, the Buddhist Abbot of Shaolin Temple, showed up to attend the opening ceremony of “Guandu Shaolin Temple”.
(4)-Jingang Pagoda (jīn ɡānɡ tǎ)-highlight of Guandu Old Town
Guandu Old Town is usually recognizable by Jingang Pagoda in front of Miaozhan Temple. Sponsored by Luo Gui, a eunuch who garrisoned in Yunnan in the Ming Dynasty, it was constructed in 1457. (“Jingang” is a kind of pagoda construction style originating from India. Buddhist pagodas designed in this style usually comprise two parts: the pedestal and the major part. The pedestal surface appears rectangle or square while the major part turns out to be a big pagoda surrounded by four small ones)
The pagoda is said to be erected to vanquish a devastating devil locally called “Luo Si Guai” (Devil Conch). As the core of the architecture complex of Guandu Old Town, Jingang Pagoda appears to be the oldest of its kind in China.
Jingang Pagoda is composed of the pedestal and the major part. The surface of the pedestal is 10.4 meters wide and long, and 4.7 meters high; its base is hollow and has four gates spacious enough for vehicles to pass through. The major part of the pagoda is five pagodas the biggest of which is as tall as 16 meters and the small four ones all measure 8.84 meters high.
坐落于昆明东南郊的官渡古镇是一个集文化与历史于一身的小镇。
官渡古镇原名“窝洞”，曾是滇池边一个渔村。早在唐代，南诏国（公元738-937）官员
官渡作为风景旅游名胜区，成为达官贵人修建行宫别墅，名流贤达光顾流连的宝地。“多少行人此来往，马蹄踏破五更霜”，“此地酒帘邀我醉，隔船笙鼓送我归”，古老的官渡沉浸在一片丝竹管弦之声中。
当然，最早在此驻足的，不仅有南诏、大理国的王公贵族及其侍从，还有与他们形影相随的宗教文化。官渡建造时间最早的寺庙是始建于唐朝的供奉摩诃迦罗（大黑天神）的土主庙和宋代的法定寺。现在的土主庙大殿体量较大，前廊后厦，穿斗式七檀梁架结构，特别是大殿正面屋檐下的清式九踩四翘如意斗拱，规模宏丽，繁富华美。法定寺体量不大，但举架较高。斗拱出45度翼形拱，富于装饰。正面外檐装饰华丽，明间檐下饰双凤朝阳透雕，檐柱顶端饰木雕麒麟，四角梁出头刻成凤形状，造形生动，仍然保留了宋代建筑的风貌，具较高建筑艺术价值。它们都是省级文物保护单位。