Here is a short video of when I was in China on vacation. In the Pagoda Forest, Shaolin Temple.
BRIEF HISTORY
The pagoda forest in Shaolin Temple was a concentration of tomb pagodas for eminent monks, abbots and ranking monks at the temple. A rough count shows more than two hundred fifty tomb pagodas of various sizes, making it the biggest pagoda forest in China.
The forest stands at the foot of Shaoshi Mountain about half a kilometer west of Shaolin Temple and is composed of pagodas dating from 791 to 1803. Most are stone and brick structures of one to seven storeys, under fifteen meters high--much smaller than pagodas for Buddhist relics--but they all carry the exact year of their construction and many carvings and inscriptions. They are in a variety of styles, but are mainly multi-eaved and pavilion-style. Their shapes are varied, including polygonal, cylindrical, vase, conical and monolithic, making the pagoda forest an exhibition of ancient pagodas, carvings and calligraphy of various dynasties.
