千年傳奇保國寺

徐學敏+邱明亮

2013年12月8日由我國國學泰斗、杭州西泠印社第七任社長饒宗頤先生撰寫碑文的寧波保國寺大殿千年紀念碑揭幕。與此同時，寧波市第五個歷史文化名城保護日活動也正式拉開帷幕。2013年是寧波保國寺大殿建成1000周年。寧波保國寺屬1961年國務院公布的第一批全國重點文物保護單位，是寧波歷史文化名城的代表性文化遺產。本次歷史文化名城保護日系列活動的主題圍繞“城市·建筑·文化”展開，內容包括文化志愿者誦讀千年紀念碑碑文、文化遺產保

寧波保國寺鳥瞰全景圖 A birds eye view of Baoguo Temple in Ningbo

護發展學術研討、國際建筑師論壇報告、古建筑經典模型展覽、城鎮規劃設計國際競賽、國際友好合作簽約等，給這座千年古建增添了濃厚的文化氣息。

神奇古建

千歲之喜，舉世關注。保國寺又名靈山寺，位于寧波市江北區洪塘鎮北的靈山山腹之中，距寧波市區15公里。保國寺原寺創建于東漢，現存的保國寺大殿為北宋大中祥符六年（1013）重建，是中國現存最古老的木結構建筑之一，也是中國江南幸存的最古老最完整的木結構建筑。它由山門、天王殿、大殿等建筑組成，占地面積1.3萬余平方米，建筑面積6000余平方米。

寧波保國寺大殿迄今整整有1000年了。保國寺大雄寶殿的建筑風格特異，巧奪天工，是保國寺建筑之精華。大雄寶殿是寺內主建筑，重檐歇山式，其面

35米）， .13（91米），進深三間 .闊三間（11

成縱向長方形。大雄寶殿氣勢雄偉，全部結構皆用斗拱裼巧妙銜接，并運用精確的榫卯技術，不用一釘而將建筑物的各個構件牢固地結合在一起，承托起整個殿堂屋頂的重量。大家都稱它為無梁殿。為什么稱無梁殿呢？因為這座大殿

在建筑上有其獨到之處：平面布

置進深大于面闊，呈縱長方形；在

前槽天花板上絕妙地安置了三個

鏤空藻井。它采用了復雜的斗拱結

構，斗拱與昂都用榫卯巧妙地銜

接在一起，不用一枚釘子，整座大

殿穩巧有致，有很好的防風抗震

能力；柱子的設計更是別具匠心，外觀呈瓜棱狀，柱心由四根小柱拼合，外面再包鑲四瓣木條，既節約木材，又不影響牢固，且外形美觀。

聯合國教科文組織駐華代表評價稱，保國寺大殿代表了世界范圍內木結構文化遺產的驕傲，具有重要的歷史、藝術和科學價值。它是宋《營造法式》的典型實例，反映了當時建筑的獨特風格、在力學研究上達到較高水平。

這座木構殿宇在地震、臺風、多雨、潮濕的環境、氣候條件下得以保存1000年，這是人類建筑史上的奇跡！不知有多少專家學者望之感嘆，思之敬仰。尋覓著隱藏其中的許許多多千古不解之謎。故宮博物院院長、中國文物學會會長單霽翔說：“在它的斗拱梁柱間，到底蘊藏著多少秘密？科學家們探尋的腳步一直沒有停止過?！?/p>

飛鳥愛在梁上壘窩筑巢，蜘蛛也常在房架吐絲張網，年代越久遠的建筑物，越能吸引飛鳥、昆蟲前來棲息。然而，寧波的保國寺卻是蟲鳥的“天然禁區”。保國寺除了木結構建筑的一“奇”之外，另一“奇”就是大殿的每個角落不見鳥雀筑巢、蛛絲懸梁，更見不到蟲蛀蟻蝕。原來大殿的建筑材料中，有一種帶刺激性香味的黃檜，散發出為禽蟲所畏聞的氣味。也有一種說法是因為特殊的建筑結構而產生出聲波振動的風流，從而驅逐了鳥雀蟲類。

在上世紀50年代保國寺大殿的文物價值被發現之時，它已經是一座古代建筑的遺存，不再具有佛寺的功能?，F在的保國寺更成為一座展示、傳承、弘揚民族優秀古代建筑文化的博物館，這種保護與利用的模式得到了國內外專家學者的高度評價，也得到了社會公眾的普遍認同。

守望遺珍

保國寺大殿已經屹立了1000年，可謂是一部“凝固的木頭寫成的史書”，然而這部特殊的史書還能流傳多少歲月呢？下一個1000年，這座神秘的古剎將如何更好地續寫它的歷史輝煌呢？

同濟大學建筑與城市規劃學院的一位教授對保國寺大殿進行了長期的監測，他認為保國寺文物建筑群雖然多年來一直不斷地進行著保護和維修，然而由于文物建筑的特殊性，相比戰爭、火災等，那些人們眼睛看不到的自然環境的種種不利因素，對保國寺文物建筑群有著持續的、難以避免的危害。

保國寺大殿需要合理維修已成了當今專家們的共識，但怎么修、何時修、什么樣的維修才算是真正的保護，成了當前的重大課題。中國文物學會付清遠副會長說：“保國寺大殿只要屋頂上不漏雨，地基不下沉，加強保養，很大程度上還可以再延續千年。我們的保護維修措施，要體現盡可能少的干預，堅持最大的保養?！?/p>

為了保國寺的下一個千年之約，有關部門正在大力推動科技保護，已經與國內建筑專業高等院校，如清華大學、東南大學、同濟大學等建立了教學研究基地，并啟動了與浙江大學合作的抗風壓、載荷傳感信息測量，共建保國寺大殿科技保護監測體系，實時對大殿進行全面的健康“體檢”。保國寺博物館方面表示，要堅持不懈地研究大殿營造技術與地理環境之謎，期望探索出一套系統的科學解答方法，為大殿維修制定相關技術標準，確保這座千年大殿“延年益壽”。

保國寺大雄寶殿被稱為“無梁殿”，在臺風、多雨、潮濕的江南環境中得以保存一千年，科學家評價：“這是人類建筑史上的奇跡?！?/p>

An external view of the Great Buddhas Hall， which has withstood the test of time for over 1，000 years. The wooden structure is widely regarded as a miracle of architecture.

Baoguo Temple – A Thousand-Year-

Long Legend

By Xu Xuemin & Qiu Mingliang

The grand opening of a special ceremony sponsored by the cultural administration au-thority of Ningbo in commemoration of the millennium of the Baoguo Temple， on Sep-tember 26， 2013， drew in a huge turnout and was attended by a galaxy of calligraphers and painting artists who contributed their share of the cultural aura of the osmanthus scented occasion.

Submission of calligraphy works and paintings for the 2013 millennium celebra-tion started in 2012. The resulting ‘thousand-meter-long painting scroll featured at the opening ceremony vividly unfolds the ar-chitectural， scenic and cultural charm of this thousand-year-old temple.

Also known as Lingshan Temple be-cause of its location in the hinterland of the Lingshan area in northern Hongtang Town， Jiangbei District， about 15km from down-town Ningbo， Baoguo Temple was built in the Eastern Han Dynasty （25-220AD）. The main hall of the extant structure was rebuilt in 1013 during the Northern Song （960-1127），

and is one of the oldest and best-conserved wooden temple structures in the southern banks of the Yangtze River area and in Chi-

na. Covering about an area of 13，000 square

meters， the temple complex has a build-up

area of about 6000 square meters and is now

under state-level protection.

Surviving numerous natural disasters and the atrocity of extreme weather over the past 1，000 years， the wooden structure is justifi-ably a miracle in the worlds history of archi-tecture. Generations of scholars and archi-tects have been confused， and enchanted， by the unfathomable enigma created by ancient artisans for their progeny to marvel at， if not see through.

One of the accidental findings by archae-ologists and architects involved in a recent renovation and protection project on the tem-ple that kicked off in June， 2013 is that 12 of the stone lotus-shaped plinths of this time-tested wooden structure were a legacy from the late Tang Dynasty （618-907） and early Northern Song Dynasty. Laid out symmetri-cally， the plinths serve as the column base of the Guanyin Hall of the temple， confirmed by experts from the Cultural Relics Preserva-tion Office of Ningbo and the Nanjing-based Southeast University.

The age-old temple is now listed， deserv-ingly， in the countrys first Cultural Relics Protection Directory issued by the State Council. The architectural essence of the structure is embodied by the Great Bud-dhas Hall. Serving as the centerpiece of the temple， the Great Buddhas Hall features a rectangle structure and a hipped roof with double eaves. Constructed entirely by a sys-tem of brackets inserted between the top of every column and crossbeam and perfected by the precision of traditional Chinese tenon-and-mortise expertise， the hall is a piece of art that is dubbed ‘a beamless hall.

Behind the aesthetic beauty and extremely elaborate structural mechanism achieved by ancient Chinese carpenters is the artistry that would leave any modern architect too infe-rior to bear comparison， making the temple a hallmark of the Song Dynasty architecture and a significant cultural， artistic and scientif-ic asset in the architectural history of China.

Cypress， a very special construction mate-rial used in the structure， creates a forbidden zone for spiders and birds， preventing the temple from being gnawed away by inhabit-ing birds and insects.

However， some experts attribute the

insect-resistant quality of the structure to the

sound wave vibrations generated structurally by the wooden compound itself.

Interestingly， the present-day Baoguo Temple does not fall into the conventional ‘temple category. It is now a ‘monk-less temple， or more precisely， a museum that makes one feel like walking around a sacred palace frozen in time.

The question is： Will the glory and beauty of the temple shine through another millen-nium？

According to a professor from the Architecture and Ur-ban Planning School of Tongji University who has been monitoring the ‘health status of the temple structure from the architectural angle for years， the biggest threats to the temple com-plex are not the fatal catastrophes as wars and fires but the seemingly insignificant adverse factors such as temperature and humidity.

Although the consensus that the temple -especially the Great Buddha Hall - is in need of refurbishment， has been reached， archeo-logical experts and architects have to work out concrete methods and procedures.

“We have enough scientific grounds to believe that the temple can maintain its re-splendence for another 1，000 years on the conditions that the roof can remain strong enough to ward off rain erosion and that the groundwork of the structure does not sink. The most important policy is ‘minimum inter-vention and maximum maintenance， so that the original structural system can be left alone to achieve longevity，” advised a deputy chair-man of Chinese Society of Cultural Relics.