Yingxian Wooden Pagoda: A Thousand-Year History of Interlocking Mortise-and-tenon Joints

**First Encounter with the Wooden Pagoda: Wind and Frost Carvings, Brackets Like Poetry** As the morning light breaks, the outline of the Sakyamuni Pagoda of Fogong Temple emerges from the thin mist of northern Shanxi. The 67.31-meter wooden giant stands tall, with wind chimes at the eaves and circling swallows. The mottled blue bricks on the octagonal base resemble the pages of a history book, while the "Junji Shen Gong" plaque under the double eaves on the first floor has faded, but the powerful strokes still exude the aura of an emperor. Looking up at the pagoda, 54 types of brackets are interlaced, like precise gears interlocking with time. The cracks and wormholes on the red pine components are clearly visible, but they also show the weight of a thousand years. The tour guide gently taps the pagoda, and the dull echo seems to carry the sound of the axe and chisel of the Liao Dynasty across time and space - "The entire pagoda is made of 3,800 tons of wood, without using a single nail or rivet, but it can withstand more than 40 strong earthquakes." --- **Exploring the Pagoda: The Frozen Civilization of the Liao Dynasty** Due to the long-term closure of the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda above the second floor (due to structural tilt and renovation disputes), visitors can only stay on the first floor. However, the highlights of this floor are enough to impress: - **Buddha Tooth Relic**: In the center of the dark inner trough, the seven-treasure silver casket enshrines the Buddha Tooth Relic. In the faint light, the gold-plated silver casket gleams with a cold light, and the flying apsaras and vajra in the murals jointly create the solemn atmosphere of the Liao Dynasty's esoteric Buddhism. - **Precious Colored Sculptures**: The 11-meter-tall Sakyamuni Buddha statue sits with eyes downcast, and the face with plump cheeks and drooping ears inherits the Tang Dynasty style, while the folds of the clothes reveal the majestic power of the Khitan nomadic people. The six murals of Tathagata on the inner wall are brightly colored, and the flying apsaras at the top have fluttering ribbons, and the sound of the harp seems to linger in the ears. - **Plaque Corridor**: The 54 plaques hanging between the beams form a unique landscape. The four characters "Tianxia Qiguan" (Wonder of the World) written by Ming Wuzong are as sharp as a sword, while the "Linglong Qin Bihan" (Exquisite and Green) written by a Ming Dynasty scholar is as elegant as ink, like a brief history of calligraphy hanging in the air. --- **Guardian's Dilemma: Tilting Thousand-Year Epic** As the tour guide whispers, the modern dilemma of the wooden pagoda gradually unfolds: the bullet holes left by the warlord's artillery in 1926 are still clearly visible, and the destructive renovation by the local gentry in the 1930s has caused the pagoda to tilt irreversibly. Monitoring data show that the tilt of the second floor column has exceeded the safety threshold, and the renovation plan has been suspended due to technical disputes.