Baizi pagoda

Baizi pagoda

Baizi pagoda is a national key cultural relic protection unit. It is located on Jiulong Mountain, about 10 kilometers northeast of Macheng City, Hubei Province. It is under the jurisdiction of Baizi pagoda village, Yanhe town. Baizi pagoda is a brick Pagoda with hexagonal pavilions, lotus shaped flat seats and vertical lattice windows are the prevailing architectural style in Tang Dynasty, and the ball shaped windows have the style of Five Dynasties. It was originally nine floors. When the Japanese invaders invaded China, they destroyed the top of the tower and the eighth and ninth floors. There are seven and a half floors now, with a remnant height of 34.72 meters.

Brief introduction of cultural relics

According to the annals of Macheng County, the ninth year of Kangxi, it is said that in the fourth year of emperor Dezong of Tang Dynasty (783), the pagoda was built in response to the Zen master. The pagoda was nine steps high and covered with an iron wok. On the side of the wok, there was a cypress root. Every autumn and afternoon, the pagoda was invisible.

Therefore, "Baizi qiuyin" is one of the eight sceneries of Macheng. Beside the pagoda are "Tangwang cave", "Longjing" and "Temple". 50 meters south of the tower is the "Jiulong Temple", which is a three open brick and wood structure building.

There are monks and protectors of Baizi pagoda. In addition, the sites of Longtan Temple and Diaoyutai, where Li Zhi, a famous thinker of the Ming Dynasty, gave lectures and wrote works, are also nearby.

Age of manufacture

Baizi pagoda was built in 783 A.D. in the fourth year of Jianzhong of Tang Dynasty, more than 1200 years ago.

The tower base is in Jiulong Mountain. Jiulongshan is composed of volcanic rocks.

Standing on the top of the tower, visitors can see nine barren red stone hills, which are hard to grow. Baizi tower is just on the top of the central mountain.

Manufacturing materials

Stone, brick

Construction site

Jiulongshan National Geopark, baizita village, yanjiahe Town, Macheng City, Hubei Province.

Construction process

In the fourth year of Jianzhong (783) of Tang Dynasty, it was built by Xuying Zen master, and later generations had many repairs.

According to the annals of Macheng county published in the 60th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, "the name of Baizi pagoda was also created in the Tang Dynasty. It is nine feet and nine feet, which is the hope of a city.". At the same time, it also records the legend of "Baizi qiuyin".

The existing seven storey brick pagoda, with a residual height of 34.7 meters and a bottom length of 5 meters, is built in layers.

In the south of the tower gate, it is arched with niches on the inner wall, with semicircular single ticket doors and windows on the second floor and above. The first to fifth floors are through stairs, and the spiral stairs on the fifth floor and above.

The tower eaves and waist eaves are equipped with Dou Gong. The first to sixth floors of the tower eaves are supported by seven step Dougong, and the fifth step Dougong is used above the seventh floor.

Li Zhi, a philosopher of the Ming Dynasty, once gave lectures here for more than ten years. Today, it has been opened up as the Kowloon National Geopark.

In May 2006, Baizi pagoda was approved as the Sixth Batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council.

Folklore

Ten kilometers northeast of Macheng City, there is a Jiulong Mountain, which meanders through nine mountains. It meets in one place and crawls under the Millennium Baizi tower. It is said that Baizi pagoda was built by Xuying Zen master in the period of emperor Dezong of Tang Dynasty. It is a brick pagoda of Shu pavilion type. The plane of the pagoda is a regular hexagon with spiral steps inside. At noon on the first day of autumn every year, there is no shadow around the tower, which is called "Baizi qiuyin".

According to folklore, this place is surrounded by the roof of Jiulong and has the air of emperor.

In the Tang Dynasty, there was a Feng Shui man who told his son to wrap his body with nine straw ropes before he died. After 49 days of closing the door, he was buried in Jiulong Mountain, and then went home to shoot three arrows at the north.

Unfortunately, the son could not bear to be scolded by his mother for not working for a long time. On the 48th day, he shot three precious arrows from the head, ribs and crotch of the king of Tang Dynasty.

The king of the Tang Dynasty was so angry that he built a tower in Jiulong Mountain to suppress it.

Under the Baizi pagoda, there is a temple full of trees. In front of the temple, there is a bamboo garden, two ancient cypresses and a stone pond. It is quiet and quiet. From a distance, it looks like the dragon's head. It is really a wonderful mountain.

Historical story

geographical environment

The majestic Dabie Mountains bend into a fan-shaped shape along the border of Hubei, Henan and Anhui. The soil on the southern slope is washed down by rain. Over time, it has accumulated into a fertile water lifting plain, giving birth to a beautiful and rich historical and cultural city of yanjiahe.

Yanjiahe town in Macheng, Hubei Province is located in the upper reaches of JuShui river. It has beautiful mountains and waters, pleasant seasons, fertile land and rich products. It is the main birthplace of JuShui civilization.

As early as 7000 years ago, human beings came here, relying on the unique geographical conditions and rich natural resources to survive and pass on.

Princes contending for supremacy

The northern control of Tianzhong, Wuguan shape victory, East wuhui, shield Jianghuai. The mountains and rivers of yanjiahe were the battlefields and the targets of the feudal lords in the early history of China.

In 506 BC, the Wu and Chu armies confronted each other in the territory of yanjiahe. Sun Wu, a military strategist, led the Wu army to cross the JuShui River first. Taking Baishan Mountain as the point, he arranged his troops, encouraged 30000 Wu troops to fight bravely, defeated 200000 Chu troops with the weak.

The blood of the soldiers of the two countries dyed more than 10 square kilometers of land around them red. Up to now, the mountains around Jiulong Mountain are still red from the outside to the inside.

In the first World War of Baiju, Chu's status as a great power disappeared, and it never recovered. However, the state of Wu went north to the Central Plains to make alliance with the princes, and became a hegemon in the spring and Autumn period.

Mahjong City

Yanjiahe area belonged to Nanjun in Qin Dynasty and Xiling in Han Dynasty. At the end of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, when the world was in chaos, shile was called emperor and sent majiu to yanjiahe.

Ma Qiu built a large-scale project here. According to the city, it was called Macheng. After the unification of China by Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty, Macheng was named as a county, and yanjiahe became the political, economic and cultural center of Macheng.

Until around 1330 ad, the rulers of Yuan Dynasty, who were used to cavalry, demolished the ancient city of yanjiahe with mountains as the screen and water as the barrier in order to reduce the threat of local power and peasant uprising, and moved the county to its present location.

Mahjong city was abandoned and became a ruin. However, it is worthy of Yan Jiahe's pride that the history of the county is more than 200 years longer than that of the present urban area.

Buddhist Architecture

Pagoda is a kind of Buddhist architecture. In ancient India, it is a place for sacrificing relics and a symbol of Buddha. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Buddhism was introduced into China, and this kind of foreign architectural form was also introduced, and began to appear widely in China.

The cypress seed pagoda on Jiulong Mountain in yanjiahe is a historical witness of the prevalence of Buddhism in Macheng. It is beautiful in shape, exquisite in structure and beautiful in craftsmanship. Except for a small number of crossbars, it is all made of specially made green bricks.

The body of the tower is composed of three parts: the outer wall, the cloister and the center of the tower, which gradually shrinks from bottom to top, and the overall outline is a regular hexagonal cone. The outer wall of each floor revolves according to the inner corridor, and there are spiritual windows, shrines and tower doors on each side in turn. Except for the first floor, which is south of the rock face, a top door is chiseled, and other alternate doors and windows are assumed.

Inside the center of the pagoda, there are two small niches in the upper corner of each floor, with Buddha statues in the middle. The layout is sparse and ingenious. Inside the tower, there are spiral footpaths made of green bricks for visitors to climb and overlook.

There is a cypress tree on the top of the tower, which grows from the roots of the flag. It is said that every year at noon on the first autumn day, there is no shadow around the tower, and "autumn shade of cypress seed" becomes famous.

Beside the pagoda are "tangwangdong", "Longjing" and "Temple". The Longtan Temple and Diaoyutai ruins, which were taught and written by Li Zhi, a famous thinker of the Ming Dynasty, are also nearby.

In sharp contrast to the exquisite and beautiful construction of the cypress seed pagoda, the land on Jiulong Mountain is barren and it is difficult to grow inch grass.

Years of wind erosion and rain erosion have already washed away the soil on the mountain, leaving mottled rocks and red clay, exposed in the air, showing a desolate Yadan landform.

Although Jiulong Mountain is not high, it has a clear outline and is majestic. Nine mountains, like nine serpentine dragons, roar around the main vein, like nine loyal guards, guarding the Millennium pagoda.

After the pagoda was introduced into China, it combined with Chinese traditional culture and gradually evolved into a kind of geomantic architecture, which became a symbol of condensing humanity, suppressing evil and protecting the environment and people.

In the eyes of believers, it is a symbol of Buddha, representing a kind of belief and a kind of declaration; in the eyes of literati, tower is a symbol of spirit, like a rising link, which can link heaven and earth, mountains and water together, giving people a kind of artistic enjoyment of high and low, moving and static. In the eyes of ordinary people, the tower is also a symbol of power and power. It is powerful and illustrious for a time. It can suppress evil spirits and protect peace.

Tradition of building pagodas

The ancients had a tradition of building pagodas in the heyday. The address of the tower is usually located in a beautiful place near the county seat. Yanjiahe was once the economic and cultural center of Macheng. It was surrounded by mountains on three sides, crisscrossed by rivers and crisscrossed by fields. It had a very important strategic position in the underdeveloped ancient times. It can be imagined that in the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, the faithful men and women and the emigrants went to the top of the Baizi tower to worship. Only in modern times, with the increasing development of land and water transportation, the economy of Songbu, Baiguo and other places rose one after another, which made the economic center move southward.

There are three types of ancient pagodas: Zhenshan pagoda, suoshui pagoda and Wenfeng pagoda. Baizi pagoda belongs to Zhenshan pagoda. There are two versions of its construction age. According to the records of Macheng county annals, it was built by an eminent monk called Xuying Zen master in the period of emperor Dezong of Tang Dynasty.

According to folklore, it was built by Dou Jiande, a general in the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. The ancients built towers in harmony with the surrounding environment.

The area around Baizi pagoda is prosperous and rich, with beautiful scenery, but the grass on Jiulong Mountain is hard to grow, which is different from the surrounding environment

Chinese PinYin : Bai Zi Ta