Buddhist monasteries · The kingdom of Dali · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Chongsheng

Chongsheng is the great royal temple below the Cangshan at the north-west edge of the Yangjumie plain.

Its Qianxun pagoda (16 storeys, about 69 m) was built between 823 and 859 under Nanzhao, and the two small pagodas to the north and south are of the Five Dynasties or the early Northern Song (Chinese Wikipedia, 崇圣寺三塔). Between seven and ten of the twenty-two Dali kings are said to have ended as monks, and the Chinese page on the Three Pagodas says nine took the robe at Chongsheng, so a king's retirement is traditionally to a house such as this. The clean-up of 1976 found a Guanyin image of eighth-century style at the pagoda top (Chinese Wikipedia, 大理国).

The halls that stand today are modern; we read no description of its estates, monks or revenue in the Dali period.

Who holds it

Title
Abbot of the royal temple (name not known); the patron is the Duan king
Since
not pinned
Born
not known
Family
royal patronage (Duan)
Confidence
low

No abbot is named in any source we read.

What it holds

  • The temple precinct below the Cangshan with the three pagodas
  • Estates, bonded households and revenue: not known

How it was acquired

Founded under Nanzhao; the great pagoda 823 to 859 (Chinese Wikipedia).

Allies and rivals

The Duan kings are patrons and, by tradition, retired monks. The Gao chancellors patronise the Azhali clergy and build elsewhere.

How things stand that morning

Flourishing as the royal temple; the king is old and devout. If his reign ends in 1200 by abdication, tradition puts him in a house like this.

Wealth

Not itemised in any source we read.

Military

None: a monastery with no guard shown.

Threats

  • None shown.

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

  1. 1200, month not knownThe reign of Duan Zhixing ends: by death, or by abdication into a monastery as many Dali kings did.Depends on: The lists giving 1200 as the last year; whether it was abdication is not known (one unsourced modern compilation says he died in July 1200). Stopped by: His death in office, or no end in 1200.

Where the sources disagree

  • Board 'chongsheng-three-pagodas' (secure): 'eight of them have done so, and the reigning one will not'. The sources we read give seven (zh, 大理国), nine (zh, 崇圣寺三塔) and ten (English) of the 22 kings; none gives eight, and 'the reigning one will not' is a prediction we cannot support.
  • The campaign board entry coordinate 25.626 N 100.156 E is about 9 km south of the pagodas; we place them at 25.71 N 100.15 E.

Evidence: The pagoda dates and the kings-as-monks tradition are in two Wikipedia pages; nothing on the temple's estates.

"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.

On the map: A circle for a lone temple; the real precinct and its estates are not known.

Primary sources for Dali

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

Sources and studies

  1. Chinese Wikipedia, 崇圣寺三塔 (read this session)
  2. Wikipedia, Chongsheng Temple (Yunnan) (read this session)
  3. Chinese Wikipedia, 大理国 (read this session: the eight fu, four jun, four zhen and thirty-seven bu; it cites Yang Shen's Dian zai ji, Wang Song's Yunnan beizhengzhi, Ni Lu's Nanzhao yeshi, the Baigu tongji qianshu)
  4. Wikipedia, Dali Kingdom (read this session)
  5. OMNIA board, notes_msy.txt and places_msy.tsv (a lead, not a source)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.