Buddhist Temple seeks to preserve buildings facing Demolition

Buddhist Temple seeks to preserve buildings facing Demolition

Experts requested further discussions and consultations on the protection of a famous Buddhist temple, which required local government to demolish most of the buildings.

Located in the Chinese section of Silk Road, the Temple called Xingjiao, has been asked to demolish some buildings as part of the efforts of local governments after the Chinese Silk Road is named a World Heritage Site by Unesco, officials said Wednesday.

Xingjiao Temple, in the town of Duqu in Chang'an District, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, is famous because there are buried the remains of a famous Chinese Buddhist monk named Xuanzang.

During the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 EC), the monk became famous for his long journey of 17 years to bring the Buddhist scriptures from India to China, which was the inspiration for the classic novel "Journey to the West" written by Wu Cheng'en during Dynasty Ming (1368-1644).

The temple, with a history of 1300 years, asked to be included in the World Heritage List together with the pagoda. The temple received notice from the local government to demolish almost two thirds of its buildings before end of May this year.

A team that includes experts in urban planning, preservation of cultural relics and architecture carried out an investigation of for the conservation plan of the temple, said. removal will mainly focus on the buildings built by the monks themselves, as they have little value for cultural conservation. Nevertheless, the monks of the temple expressed concern by the plans: the monks said they support the program but do not want to eliminate so many buildings, because it would affect daily religious routine of the monks, (the different sections of the temple have their own functions,) according to a report by Nanfang Metropolitan Daily.

"Actually, the different proposals reflect two views on the protection of cultural relics," said Pang Shouyong, Minzu University professor of China in Beijing. To maintain an original image of the temple, a pagoda built mainly during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), it is reasonable that the government wants to "move" the other buildings. But those other buildings, built by monks in later times, as the of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) have become important parts of the temple, said Pan, who is an expert in the conservation of cultural relics.

Without the efforts of the monks at different periods, the pagoda could not have been preserved, he said. "Both parties should carefully discuss the project and openly express ideas for the conservation plan," said Pan Wang,

Presently: fate of temple will be updated