Baoxiang Temple 宝相寺

About Baoxiang Temple

The pagoda, formerly known simply as the Baoxiang Temple Pagoda, was first built in the Song dynasty and repaired in the Jiajing era of the Ming. It is an octagonal thirteen-storey pavilion-style tower of grey brick that imitates timber construction, 41.74 metres high, with brick bracket sets carved beneath eaves that step inward as the tower rises and brick lotus platforms above the first- and second-storey eaves. The tall lower storey carries Buddha niches on its east, west and south faces and an arched doorway on the north; a spiral stair runs up inside to the top, and the finial survives.

From 1993 the provincial government funded a survey and repair of the structure. During that work, in 1994, a sealed crypt beneath the pagoda was found to hold 141 Buddhist objects. The Jining bureau records that the crypt was opened on 15 March 1994 and that the finds included a Buddha tooth, sarira, a gold inner coffin and a silver outer casket. Those objects are now in the Wenshang County Museum, formerly the Zhongdu Museum, which stands just south of the Baoxiang Temple scenic area beside Lotus Square and devotes its upper floor to the crypt material.

What to look for

• The Taizi Lingzong Pagoda itself, octagonal, thirteen storeys and 41.74 metres high, with its surviving finial
• The Buddha niches on the east, west and south faces of the tall first storey, and the arched north doorway
• The brick bracket sets carved under the eaves and the brick lotus platforms above the first and second storeys
• In the county museum south of the site, the upper-floor display of the crypt finds: the tooth relic, sarira, gold coffin and silver casket

Location & getting there

Getting to Baoxiang Temple

Check which interiors and courtyards are accessible. Active places of worship and protected monuments may have different visitor rules.

• Search for 宝相寺 with 济宁市 and 汶上县.