慈氏塔【英】

Jampa Tower

定义

原坐落在距莫高窟东南约15公里的三危山老君堂，为便于保护和研究，于1982年搬迁到莫高窟，是一座八边形平面土木结构的小型单层塔，总高约5米。建塔时代约在五代之宋初。此为供奉弥勒菩萨之塔。按佛典解释，“慈”是弥勒菩萨的姓氏。塔身南面辟门（搬迁后门向西开），门额上方墨书“慈氏之塔”四字，故名。

It is a tower originally located in Laojun Temple about 15 km southeast of Mount Sanwei. It was moved to the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang in 1982 for protection and research. It is a small octagonal one-storey tower made of clay and wood with a door on the south side (the door faces west after its relocation). About 5 meters high, it was built sometime around the Five Dynasties and the beginning of the Song Dynasty. It is built to worship Maitreya Bodhisattva. According to Buddhist scriptures, “Jampa” is the family name of Maitreya Bodhisattva and it is so named because over the door are inscribed four Chinese characters written in ink, meaning “the pagoda of the Jampa family”.