Unit 12 Pagoda (2) Pagoda (2)

+ I.Teaching Aims & Requirements: + Let students grasp some useful phrases and sentences + Let students get an overview of pagodas + Help students improve English tour interpretation + + Ⅱ. Content + Overview of Chinese pagodas + Useful phrases and expressions about pagodas + Useful sentences about Chinese pagodas + + III. Focus on & Difficulties: + Overview of the Chinese pagodas + Useful phrases and sentences about pagodas

I. Landscape Towers and Pavilions Chinese cultural spirit pays special attention to the harmony and affinity of man with nature, and towers and pavilions particularly embody this characteristic. Chinese towers are wide open, so that air is circulating and infiltrating the space inside and outside the tower.

I. Landscape Towers and Pavilions Around various floors there are corridors for climbing and looking into the distance. The corridors and balustrades around each floor greatly reduce the soaring kinetic potential of the overall vertical form, so that the towers can overlook the vast land from time to time.

I. Landscape Towers and Pavilions The notched and curved roofing, and the rounded corners of the tower, avoid a rigid and solitary appearance. The towers are beautifully inlaid in nature, so that they become part of the universe containing the infinite yearning of the people for nature.

I. Landscape Towers and Pavilions Many poems and prose clearly express the human spirit contained in these towers, Such as the lines: “The sun sets behind the mountain, the Yellow River flows into the sea, ascending another story to see a thousand miles”. This describes the vivid experience of the poet who climbs the tower and looks afar between heaven and earth to clear his mind.

I. Landscape Towers and Pavilions This meaning can also be seen from the magnificently perceived names of various towers, such as Watching the Sea Tower, Seeing the Mountain Tower, Looking at the Cloud Tower, Catching the Moon Tower, the Mist and Rain Tower, the Refreshing Breeze Tower, the Absorbing River Water Tower, Reaching-the- Clouds Tower, the Sunset-Bathed Tower, etc.

II. Yueyang Tower Yueyang Tower lies in the west of Yueyang city, nearby the Dongting Lake. It is listed as the three famous towers in the south of Yangtze River, together with Yellow Crane Tower at Wuhan, Hubei province and Tengwang Tower at Nanchang, Jiangxi province.

II. Yueyang Tower Yueyang Tower was originally built for soldiers to rest on and watch out. In the Three Kingdoms Period, Lusu, General of Wu State, trained his soldiers here and then rebuilt it as a tower to review his troops. Fan Zhongyan, a great artist and poet, was invited to write the well-known poem about Yueyang Tower. In his essay which entitled A Panegyric of the Yueyang Tower, Fan writes: “Be the first to worry about the troubles across the land, the last to enjoy universal happiness.”

II. Yueyang Tower The architectural style of Yueyang Tower is quite unique. The main tower is meters high with 4 columns, 3 stories, flying eave, helmet roof and wood construction, the helmet-roof of such a large dimension is a rarity among the ancient architectures in China.

II. Yueyang Tower Entering the tower, you’ll pass the famous couplet: “Dongting is the water of the world; Yueyang is the tower of the world.” Moving on, there is a platform (Dianjiang tai) that once functioned as the training ground for the navy of Three-Kingdom period general Lusu.

III. Yellow Crane Tower Yellow Crane Tower stands on the southern bank of the Yangtze River in Wuchang, Hubei. Legend has it that the tower was initially built during the Three Kingdoms period, although it began to become well known during the Tang Dynasty. This was mainly attributed to poet Cui Hao’s verse which reads: “Riding the yellow crane, ancients have gone away, here only the Yellow Crane Tower remains”.

III. Yellow Crane Tower The Yellow Crane Tower is built on a platform, under which trees provide pleasant shade from where one can look into the distance and see a vast expanse of misty, rolling water.

III. Yellow Crane Tower Yellow Crane Tower was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt. Rebuilt with reinforced concrete in recent years, the Tower is mostly modeled on towers of the Qing Dynasty, but it is larger and its height was increased to five stories, while its position was shifted in order to make way for the Yangtze River Bridge.

IV. Tengwang Tower Tengwang Tower, on the banks of the Ganjiang River in Nanchang of Jiangxi Province, was first built in the fourth year (653) of the reign of Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty. It became famed due largely to the Wang Bo’s work “Preface to Tengwang Tower”.

IV. Tengwang Tower It was rebuilt 23 times through subsequent ages, remains of the Tang and Song Dynasty structures long since fallen down and disappeared into the river. The extant Song painting “Picture of Tengwang Tower” is known as the earliest of the Tengwang Tower, its dignified and graceful style and exquisite structure making a deep impression.

V. Chinese-Style Pagodas The prototype and the religious meaning of the pagoda were introduced into China from India. Its original function in India was a tomb wherein were buried the bones of Sakyamuni. After it was introduced to China, its meaning was expanded.

V. Chinese-Style Pagodas The practical functions of the pagoda are not subject to much restriction. Its form is relatively free, and most are built with funds raised by believers or with financial aid from the state and localities.

V. Chinese-Style Pagodas The pagoda has become an important type of Chinese architectural art. Chinese monasteries, mainly of a tower-type and dense-eave style, are created in light of the prototype of Indian pagodas, and towers emerged in large quantities in China’s Han Dynasty.

VI. Homework 1. Review the useful phrases, expressions and sentences in Unit 12, which will be checked next week. 2. Read the passage on page , and remember the useful expressions and sentences in the article.