佛塔=Buddhist pagoda; 隋唐佛教造像=Buddhist images in the Sui and Tang dynasties; 山東佛教=Buddhism in Shandong Province; 僧朗=Senglang; 神通寺四門塔=Four Gate Pagoda, Shentong monastery; 阿閦佛=Ak?obhya Buddha
This article is divided into six sections. The first section deals with background matters. The second section is entitled “the origins and unique features of the Four Gate Pagoda’s architecture.” It discusses the origins of the Four Gate Pagoda’s architectural design, deriving from the creativity of the Indian stūpa. From the simple design of the round shape of an inverted bowl, it evolved into a four-sided structure with Buddha images carved into the upper portions. This article lists the following: existant instances of single-story, stone, four-sided images dating to before the Sui dynasty, Buddha images carved in high relief with a flat background, stone images in upper section of niche archways, Buddhist stūpas with relief or line-carving. This is done to pin down the style that was popular in pavilion-style, single-story pagodas from the sixth and seventh centuries. The third section is entitled “images used for worship within the pagodas.” It discusses the theme of four-sided pagoda Buddha images and scriptural references, which reflect the existence of belief in sūtras such as the Guan Fo sanmei hai jing觀佛三昧海經and the Golden Light Sūtra. The fourth section discusses the motivation of the Four Gate Pagoda’s donor and the background of the pagoda’s construction. The fifth section discusses the style of the faces and bodies of the four Buddhas within the pagoda and their historical significance. The sixth section summarizes the Four Gate Pagoda’s subsequent influence on the style of four-sided Buddha images and on the region near Jinan, Shandong province.
