Zhenjiang tower

Zhenjiang tower

Located three kilometers southeast of Qionglai City, Zhenjiang pagoda is the tallest ancient pagoda in Chengdu and the tallest existing Fengshui Pagoda in China. Built on the Moraine in the middle of the Nanhe River, it has gone through numerous severe tests of wind, flood and earthquake disasters, and still stands tall. It is a rare material for us to study the history of ancient architecture and ancient high-rise buildings. It was built in 1782 in the 47th year of Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty. The Zhenjiang tower faces south from the north, and three characters "Zhenjiang tower" are embedded on the southwest third floor door of the tower.

brief introduction

Zhenjiang tower is rammed with soil, and there are stairs in the tower. In China, tower is a unique and common architectural form, most of which are brick tower and wooden tower, while Earth Tower such as Zhenjiang tower is rare.

Since Buddhism was introduced into China, for a long period of time, pagodas and Buddhist temples have formed an indissoluble bond. It can be said that if there are pagodas, there must be temples. After the middle of Ming Dynasty, some pagodas were separated from Buddhism, and their site selection was based on geomantic omen. They either stood in the downtown, or in the cold mountain, or guarding the riverside. Zhenjiang tower is an ancient tower built for the purpose of protecting Fengshui. The pagoda, formerly known as Huilan pagoda, was rebuilt three times in the Qing Dynasty on the foundation of the Ming Dynasty pagoda. According to the records of Qiongzhou, "in 1616, Yuan Zhaowen, a prefectural herdsman, began to build Zhenjiang tower, and Yang Shen, a county Jinshi, wrote a tablet. At the end of Chongzhen, it was destroyed by war. " The first reconstruction of the pagoda was in the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty and was presided over by Xu Shimin. Later, due to the interference of various factors, only the bottom part was completed at that time. Later, it was built in the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, half of which was completed. It was not until the early years of the reign of Emperor Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty that Li Yuxuan, an official of the prefecture, finally took charge of the project and changed the name of Zhenjiang pagoda to Huilan Wenfeng pagoda. Local people used to call it Huilan pagoda.

The predecessors built Zhenjiang tower for the purpose of controlling flood and taming the river. Over the past two hundred years since its establishment, Zhenjiang tower has been standing in the middle of the stream with a majestic momentum. It is "far away from the mountains of 72 peaks and near the lake waves of more than 800 Li", adding a lot of color to the scenery of Dongting Lake.

Design style

Zhenjiang tower, 75.48m high, is the tallest ancient tower in Chengdu. It is known as the highest existing ancient tower built for the purpose of protecting Fengshui in China. The pagoda, once known as Huilan pagoda, was rebuilt three times in the Qing Dynasty on the foundation of the Ming Dynasty pagoda. Zhenjiang tower has 13 floors, and the tower type is double tower. Inside the tower, there is a square core column, up to the bottom of the ninth floor. The central column of the pagoda is hollow, and there are niches in it, which are dedicated to eight historical figures. From bottom to top, they are Wu Zixu, Fan Li, Guan Yu, Li Bing, Su Shi, Feng Shixing, Yue Fei and Kuixing, who dominate the fate of scholars. Above the ninth floor, the interior is empty, and only one vertical wooden ladder is set for people to go up and down.

There is a copper gourd shaped Tasha on the top of the pagoda, which is commonly known as the top of the pagoda. It looks golden from a distance, but people who don't know it think it is the top of the pagoda. The plane of the tower is hexagonal, and the base of the tower is made of red sandstone. Each side is 7.2 meters long. On the base of the tower, the body of the tower is built with green bricks, each layer is astringent and inward, and the order is reduced. Inside the tower, there is a square core column, up to the bottom of the ninth floor. The inscription on the plaque outside the tower on each floor is also related to the people worshipped in the tower. For example, beishixing in the sixth floor niches was the number one scholar in the sixth year of Xuanhe in the Northern Song Dynasty (1124). According to Western Sichuan folklore, he was the first number one scholar in Sichuan, and he was called the son of heaven. The inscription on the plaque outside the tower on this floor: "Kejia Yanmian" means that there are many talented people in Sichuan. Up to the ninth floor, the tower is completely empty, with only one vertical wooden ladder for people to go up and down. At the same time, because there is no sacrifice inside, there is no plaque outside the tower. The five storey tower is named "Wuchang tower", which is composed of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faith. Confucianism is very strong.

Zhenjiang tower is the only ancient tower open to the outside world in Chengdu. Visitors can enter from the first floor of the tower gate and spiral up the ladder between the wall and the core column of the tower, until after the ninth floor, they can climb to the top floor along the wooden ladder. There are arched windows on six sides of each floor, which can ventilate and transmit light, and also can jump to view by the window. When visitors climb to the top floor, they can have a panoramic view of the ancient city of Qiongzhou and the surrounding mountains from six aspects.

historical origin

Empress "grassroots" built the tower for self-protection. The birth mother of Emperor Wanli in Ming Dynasty was empress dowager CI Sheng, surnamed Li, of humble origin. The pagoda of cishou temple was only a palace maid. Emperor Longqing favored it and gave birth to Emperor Wanli. Therefore, the mother was honored with her son. Emperor Longqing died at the age of 36 after six years in office. Although Li lost his husband in his early years, he was respected as the Empress Dowager. Emperor Wanli was only 10 years old when he ascended the throne, so the internal and external political affairs were once in the charge of Empress Dowager Li. However, because of her humble origin, although she was the Empress Dowager superficially, she was actually restricted everywhere. Even at dinner, she could not sit on an equal footing with Wanli and the empress, and could only stand. The life in the court was full of danger, so the Empress Dowager had to do everything to consolidate her hard won political position. So she claimed that she was reincarnated by the nine lotus Bodhisattva. During her reign, she built large-scale projects and Buddhist temples all over the country, inside and outside the capital. Zhenjiang Pagoda Temple is one of the most famous temples. Zhenjiang pagoda temple was built in the fourth year of Wanli (1576). The base site is the cemetery of eunuch Gu Dayong in Zhengde period of Ming Dynasty. It was built under the instruction of Empress Dowager Li. When building Zhenjiang Pagoda Temple, Empress Dowager Li used the best building materials and craftsmen at that time, and inquired about the construction process of the temple in detail. According to the records in the history of Ming Dynasty, due to the huge cost of Zhenjiang Pagoda Temple, Zhang Juzheng, a bachelor, once opposed the construction of Zhenjiang Pagoda Temple on the ground of lack of finance. This shows how luxurious and magnificent the Zhenjiang pagoda temple was built at that time. In the former Zhenjiang Pagoda Temple, there are a series of buildings, such as Tianwang hall, Drum Tower, bell tower, Yongan Wanshou tower, Yanshou hall, Ning'an Pavilion, etc. Among them, the plaque of Ning'an Pavilion is written by Empress Dowager Li, and the statue of nine lotus Bodhisattva is worshipped in the back hall. During the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, a fire destroyed all the buildings in the temple, leaving only a brick tower. According to the record of "a study of the past and the future", the pagoda temple in Zhenjiang was built by the empress dowager, the goddess of mercy. It was first built in the fourth year of Wanli and then completed in the sixth year of Wanli Empress Dowager CI Sheng recommended Ming Zhi for mu Kao, prayed for his descendants from Shenzong, and granted the famous town jiangta temple There is Yong'an shoutA, which is 13 levels high up into the clouds. " Therefore, it can be determined that this tower was once a part of Zhenjiang pagoda temple. In addition, the inscriptions on the stele "the treasure of Empress Dowager CI Sheng Xuan Wen Su" indicate that the owner of the pagoda is empress dowager Li. In the north of Zhenjiang Pagoda Temple, there are two stone tablets in the Wanli period. On the left is the statue of Avalokitesvara in Zizhu (also known as the statue of Jiulian Bodhisattva), and on the right are the statue of Avalokitesvara in Yulan and the statue of Guandi. Fish basket Avalokitesvara is based on the Buddhist scriptures "induction biography" and "fahua Zhiyan". According to the statistics of the national cultural relic survey in the 1980s, the picture of Guanyin in the fish basket, which is preserved in Linglong tower, is one of the only two in China, which is very precious. There is a Linglong Park in xibalizhuang on the Bank of Kunyu river. The tower in the park has a history of more than 400 years.

cultural antecedents

Since its completion, the Zhenjiang tower has been inscribed with plaques and couplets by celebrities of all ages, which has profound implication and strong writing power, adding a lot of color to the wooden tower.

Among them: in 1406, Zhu Di, Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty, led his troops to the northern expedition, stayed in Yingzhou, and went up to the city to enjoy the "Junji magic skill"; in 1508, Zhu houzhao, Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty, defeated the invading Tatar princes in Yanghe and Yingzhou, and went up to the tower to entertain the meritorious generals, he was entitled "wonders of the world". There are 54 plaques and couplets of Ming, Qing and Republic of China in the tower. Couplets also have excellent works, such as "pull out the sky, surrounded by clouds and mountains arch a column, riding the wind and walking on the moon, thousands of fireworks meet the clouds"; "check through the clouds, looking west at Yanmen danxiu small, Linglong invading Bihan, looking south at the dragon head Cuifeng low". In addition, as famous as Zhenjiang tower, a number of extremely precious Liao Dynasty cultural relics were found in the tower, especially the Liao Dynasty color printing, which filled the blank in the printing history of our country. Among the cultural relics, there are many scriptures, including manuscripts, wood block printed copies of Liao Dynasty, some of which are more than 30 meters long, which are rare in China. They provide valuable material for the study of the politics, economy and culture of Liao Dynasty.

Protection status

Zhenjiang tower is still in good condition after more than 900 years of wind and rain erosion, earthquake and war. In addition to its solid foundation and strict structure, the continuous maintenance of past dynasties is also an important reason, especially after the founding of new China, it has been systematically repaired and managed. From 1974 to 1981, the state allocated a large amount of special funds,

The high-quality timber tower is allocated for comprehensive repair, which makes this ancient high-rise Zhenjiang tower with the most complete protection, the most ingenious structure and the most spectacular appearance in the world take on a new look and stand tall. And with its long history, unique artistic style and superb architectural technology, it attracts tourists at home and abroad. To some extent, it has become one of the landmark buildings in Chengdu. 2、 The guardrails on the third and fourth floors are stacked octagonal shape, and the octagonal shape is also used at the top for natural lighting. The Sakyamuni pagoda of the Buddhist temple is integrated with modern architectural art, showing millions of years of civilization of Sichuan in front of the world.

Tourism value

The sunset scenic spot after the reconstruction of Zhenjiang tower covers an area of The main landscape and facilities are: Zhenjiang tower, sunset Pavilion, Miaoyin terrace, huiwenxuan, magnified Guangming Pavilion, ruyiyuan tourist center, ouxiangju restaurant, etc. as a scenic spot, Zhenjiang tower adds a unique style to the ancient city, which attracts people from all over the world to visit and admire it. Zhenjiang tower is famous for its unique charm.

Zhenjiang tower I and II

Chinese PinYin : Zhen Jiang Ta