Xuege Pagoda in Bozhou

Xue Ge tower

synonym

Xuege Pagoda in Bozhou generally refers to xuege pagoda

Xuege pagoda, also known as Xuejia pagoda and Wenfeng pagoda, is located at xuege Road, Bozhou City, Anhui Province, next to the Han tomb in Guanyin Mountain. The whole tower is an octagonal seven storey pavilion type brick tower, 34.15 meters high and 23.36 meters long at the bottom. The base of the tower is laid with eight big bluestones.

Since the Qing Dynasty, there has hardly been a Jinshi in Bozhou. In 1772, the magistrate of Bozhou, Zheng Jiaotai, believed that the reason for the decline of Bozhou's literary style was related to geomantic omen. He proposed to build Wenfeng pagoda near the family temple of kaogong Xue Hui in the Ming Dynasty in the Southeast of the city to boost Bozhou's literary style.

According to legend, a huge Pearl was originally placed on the top of the gourd. During the Japanese occupation of Bozhou, they hired people to steal the jewels and bombarded the tower body with artillery fire. As a result, the top of the tower lost its brilliance and the tower body was riddled with bullet marks. Up to now, the southeast side of the third floor still has artillery marks.

On October 16, 2019, the State Council announced xuege pagoda as a national key cultural relic protection unit.

Historical evolution

In 1772, Zheng Jiaotai, the magistrate of Bozhou, built the xuege pagoda, also known as Wenfeng pagoda.

In 1812, he Tianqu, the gentry of Bozhou, donated money to build the second floor of xuege tower.

In 1798, Li Ming, the capital Secretary of Bozhou, built a mountain on the original site of xuege and rebuilt it into a temple, which was renamed Guanyin Mountain.

During the Anti Japanese War, Xue geta was shelled by the Japanese army in many places, with many scars.

On September 13, 2017, xuege pagoda protection project "Guanyin Mountain Han tomb site park" was officially opened to the public.

Architectural features

structure

Xuege pagoda is composed of three parts: underground palace, pagoda body and Tasha. The body of the tower is of brick structure, with a pavilion style architectural shape. It is straight and octagonal, with a total of seven floors, 34.15 meters high and 23.36 meters in circumference at the bottom. The base of the tower is laid by eight pieces of clear stones. The outer corner of each floor is a brick wooden square column. On the column is a brick Fang, on the Fang is a tower eaves, and under the Fang is decorated with brick carved brackets, birds and flowers. Inside the tower, there is a small South niche on the inner wall from the second to the sixth floor, which is a place for offering gods. Flat seats are set on each floor. You can walk from the interior of each floor of the tower to the outside eaves and look into the distance. The flat seat is supported by the bucket arch, and its actual function is the same as that of the balcony in modern architecture. Tasha octagonal cornice, vertical ridge, wind chime Ding, tube tile roof, exquisitely carved. The top of the tower is an iron lotus seat, on which a gourd shaped tower brake is cast, straight into the sky.

characteristic

Xuege pagoda is octagonal in plane. The first floor of the pagoda is slightly higher, with flat seats on each floor. You can walk from the interior of each floor of the pagoda to the outside eaves and look into the distance. The flat base is supported by the bucket arch. Although the whole tower was built twice, the combination is ingenious and there is no trace of deliberate carving. The inner part of the tower is a brick dome, and the inner part of the tower is a "wall folding type",

On the first floor, the brick curtain of the tower is well arranged. The "solitary tower in the sky" of xuege pagoda is one of the Eight Sights in ancient Bozhou. The seven storey pagoda, with its top and spire, is about nine feet high. It was the highest building in Bozhou at that time.

Cultural relics

On the wall of the first floor of xuege tower, there are exquisite brick carvings. The contents of brick carvings are mainly flowers, birds and animals. There are lotus platforms in every floor of xuege tower. The lotus platforms on each floor are surrounded by birds. In the Qing Dynasty, the supplement service for civil servants is mainly birds, which means the number one scholar, while the flowers mean blossoming, bearing fruit and winning the first place, praying for the prosperity of literary style.

Research value

historical value

Xuege pagoda is a typical work of brick pagoda construction technology in northern China. It is an important object of clearing pagoda. From the perspective of historical value, as the material evidence of historical evolution, xuege pagoda has a long history, exquisite workmanship, and has undergone renovation from generation to generation. It is of great value to study the evolution and change of educational development concept since the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

artistic value

Xuege pagoda is magnificent and handsome, which is a direct reflection of the superb level of architectural technology and social aesthetic concept in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. As one of the few octagonal pavilion style brick towers at present, xuege tower has a coordinated volume, rigorous structure, and a solid surface. It has stood tall after a hundred years and has a high degree of firmness.

History and culture

County records

According to the records of Bozhou: in the 37th year of Qianlong reign of Qing Dynasty, Zheng Jiaotai, the magistrate of Bozhou, discovered that since the Qing Dynasty, there has been almost no Jinshi in Bozhou except Wu Chuqi who had solved the Yuan Dynasty in the 41st year of Kangxi (1702). He believed that the reason for the lack of literary style in Bozhou was related to geomantic omen, and proposed to build Wenfeng pagoda near the family temple of kaogong Xue Hui in the Ming Dynasty in the southeast of the city in order to stimulate the literary style of Bozhou. Due to limited funds, only five floors were completed at that time. In 1812, he Tianqu, a state gentry, donated money to build a new two-story pagoda, which is now a seven level exquisite pagoda.

Legend

It is said that there is a pearl in the iron gourd on the tower, which can be seen more than ten miles outside Bozhou City at night. During the Anti Japanese War, the Japanese occupied Bozhou. When they heard that there was a relic on the top of the tower, they sent someone to steal it. From then on, I can't see the splendor of the sariki on xuege tower any more. In order to cover up the fact that they stole the treasure, the Japanese wanted to knock down the tower with cannons. Later, they were strongly resisted by Bozhou people, but they didn't succeed.

Cultural relics protection

On May 4, 1998, xuege pagoda was announced as a key cultural relic protection unit in Anhui Province.

In June 2001, the State Council protected the tower as a subsidiary building of Cao family tombs.

At the end of 2012, xuege tower was repaired once.

In 2013, Bozhou municipal government protected and repaired xuege tower.

In December 2016, the lighting project of xuegeta was officially completed.

In April 2019, the people's Government of Anhui Province issued a notice on dividing the protection scope and construction control zone of xuege tower.

On October 16, 2019, the State Council announced xuege pagoda as the eighth batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

Tourism information

Address: xuege tower is located in Xuejia lane, Qiaocheng District, Bozhou City.

Admission: free.

Transportation: take Bozhou bus No.6 and new No.3 to get off Guanyinshan Han tomb and get to xuege tower.

Address: xuege Road, Qiaocheng District, Bozhou City, Anhui Province

Longitude: 115.78438209117

Latitude: 33.863285137046

Chinese PinYin : Bo Zhou Xue Ge Ta