Chigang tower

Chigang tower

Located in xinshitou, Southeast of Guangzhou Bridge, Chigang tower is one of the existing ancient towers in Guangzhou. It is located in Chigang, hence its name. Built in 1619, it is the third Fengshui pagoda after Pazhou pagoda and lotus pagoda. Pazhou tower is located 40 Li southeast of Guangzhou City, Lianhua tower is located 80 Li southeast of Guangzhou City, and Chigang tower is located under the southeast city, forming the "Pearl River Three Towers" of "Suo Er Jiang" and "Shuhai Kou" to gather the "atmosphere of supporting public opinion". Therefore, the tower is majestic and towering, echoing the Pazhou tower in the East, becoming the Fengshui twin towers of the Pearl River at the estuary of Guangzhou.

brief introduction

Chigang tower is located in red sandstone, so it is called Chigang. At an altitude of 20-30 meters, it was originally in the Pearl River. Later, it was filled with farmland and fish ponds. Villages were formed in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Similar to the Buddhist relic pagoda, the pagoda is an octagonal green brick pagoda. The tower is more than 50 meters high, with 9 floors on the outside and 17 floors inside.

The diameter of the tower bottom is 12.5 meters and the height is about 50 meters.

There are three doors on the first floor, each of which is built with stone steps.

Inside the chamber of the first floor tower, there is a granite slab of "worshiping the tower in front of God". The wall of the north gate tower was demolished with a large number of green bricks. During the period of the Republic of China, it was restored with red bricks. A granite tablet of 0.36x0.27m was embedded in the restoration site, on which a notice of banning stealing tower bricks by Panyu county government was engraved.

The west gate has a two-story (dark) tower on the steps. The steps are of the type of passing through the core wall around the flat seat, circling to the top floor. The existing wooden floor has collapsed and cannot be boarded.

Each level of the tower has a shrine. The base of the tower is made of red sandstone, the surface is gray porphyry, and the east side is later repaired with granite.

There are stone steps to the base at the door opening on three sides.

Like the tower, the base of the tower is octagonal, 5.5 meters long and 1 meter high on each side. On each side, there are stone statues of "tottalis with foreigners' image", with vivid expression. It is a rare masterpiece of Ming Dynasty stone carving.

The surface of the tower is painted with white ash, and there is a red pillar in each octagonal layer. There is a square on the head of the pillar, which is stacked with dental bricks.

Each floor above the second floor has a waist eaves, on which the platform is raised by brick teeth. Visitors can walk out of the tower and look out from the platform.

The top of the tower is an octagonal top. There is an old Tasha nearby, but it doesn't exist today.

history

Chigang pagoda is a Fengshui pagoda built in Ming Dynasty. It is located on a red sandstone hill in Chigang, Haizhu District, Guangzhou. In 1619, it was initiated by Wang Mingxuan.

In 1621-1627, the project was continued by Li Daiwen, a Foshan native who later became the Secretary of the Ministry of household.

Chigang tower is a municipal cultural relic protection unit in Guangzhou. It is one of the most distinctive ancient towers in Ming Dynasty architecture in Guangzhou. Together with Pazhou tower and lotus tower, it is known as the three Ming Dynasty towers in Guangzhou.

The tower was built in 1619, the 47th year of Wanli period in the Ming Dynasty. It is a green brick tower of pavilion type. It is octagonal in plane and octagonal in bore. The height of the tower is 53.7 meters. The diameter of the first floor is 12.5 meters. It has a 9-level appearance and 17 floors inside.

In 1998, Guangzhou Cultural Relics Management Department raised 1.6 million yuan to rescue and protect the Chigang tower. The maintenance project was completed on June 1, 1999 and passed the quality acceptance.

In the Qing Dynasty, there were two ancient pagodas in the Henan area of Guangzhou. They used to be very conspicuous because of their towering height. However, because of the high-rise buildings nearby, they were much overshadowed. Therefore, many Guangzhou citizens often ignored their existence.

One of the two ancient pagodas is the "Hai'ao pagoda" located in Pazhou, namely the "Pazhou pagoda"; the other is the "Chigang pagoda" located in Chigang.

These two ancient pagodas were built in the Wanli year of Shenzong in the Ming Dynasty.

The "Hai'ao tower" in Pazhou was built in the 25th year of Wanli, 1597 A.D., while the "Chigang tower" was not built until the 47th year of Wanli, 1619 A.D., so Guangzhou had "Hai'ao tower" first and then "Chigang tower".

The origin of the name of the pagoda

The foundation of Chigang tower is built on a small hill of red sandstone. There is a red area nearby, so the hill is called "Chigang", and the tower is called "Chigang tower". Chigang tower is located in red sandstone, so it is called Chigang.

Structural features

This tower is a green brick tower of pavilion type, with octagonal plane and octagonal vertical shaft. The appearance is grade 9, with 17 layers inside, and the height is about 50 meters. The first floor has a diameter of 12.5 meters and a wall thickness of 3.8 meters. There are three doors. The north and South doors enter into the chamber of the tower on the first floor. There is a granite slab of "worship platform in front of God". The wall of the north gate tower has been removed with a large amount of green bricks. During the period of the Republic of China, it was restored with red bricks. A granite tablet of 0.36x0.27 meters was embedded in the restoration place, and a notice of banning stealing tower bricks was engraved on it by Panyu county government. The west gate has a two-story (dark) tower on the steps. The steps are of the type of passing through the core wall around the flat seat, circling to the top floor. The existing wooden floor has collapsed and cannot be boarded. Each level of the tower has a shrine. The base plane of the tower is octagonal, each side is 5.5 meters long and 1 meter high. It is built of red sandstone. The base plane was originally paved with gray porphyry, and the east side was later repaired with granite. There are stone steps to the base at the door opening on three sides. The octagons on the base of the pagoda are inlaid with the figures of western people in the 16th and 17th centuries. They have a vivid look. They are excellent stone carvings of the Ming Dynasty in Guangzhou. They are also important materials for studying the stone carvings of the Ming Dynasty and the overseas trade of Guangzhou. The soil and rocks at the foot of the pagoda are all red. The place name is Chigang, 20-30 meters above sea level. It was originally located in the Pearl River, and then it was silted up as farmland and fish ponds, forming a village in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Architectural features

The architectural form of Chigang tower is similar to that of Hai'ao tower. The two towers are octagonal in shape, with 17 storeys high inside, and the bottom floor is supported by the image of the westerners. It can be seen that the two towers are closely related. Pazhou's "Hai'ao pagoda" is still able to ascend the ranks, and it can be seen from all walks of life. Unfortunately, the Chigang tower was in disrepair for a long time, and its door was locked so deeply that it had to sigh from the outside. However, due to the aging of the building and the serious tilt of the tower, Guangzhou authorities will spend millions of yuan to rescue and repair the collapsed Chigang tower. Chigang tower, a municipal cultural relic protection unit, is located on the red sand hill in Chigang, Guangzhou. The pagoda was built in 1627, the 40th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty. It is an octagonal pavilion style green brick Pagoda with an octagonal shaft inside. The appearance is grade 9, the interior is divided into 17 layers, and the height is about 50 meters. The steps are of the type of passing through the central wall around the flat seat, circling to the top floor. The octagonal corner of the tower base is inlaid with the image of tortalis of the Westerners in the 16th and 17th centuries. It is a good work of stone carving in the Ming Dynasty in Guangzhou, and it is also a material object for the study of foreign exchanges in the Ming Dynasty.

architectural style

In the Ming Dynasty, Lingnan architecture generally followed the traditional methods, and had simple and lively local characteristics. Chigang tower and Pazhou tower are similar in style, retaining the characteristics of the pavilion style brick tower in the late Ming Dynasty. In the 47th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1619), it was initiated by Wang Ming. The project was not half finished, but stopped because of the shortage of funds. In Tianqi period (1621-1627), it was built by Li Daiwen. In 1844, Wu Chongyao and pan Shicheng donated money for reconstruction. The tower is octagonal in plane. The north and South gates enter into the chamber of the first floor tower. There is a granite slab engraved with "worship platform in front of God". The west gate has two dark layers on the steps, which are through the core wall and around the flat seat. Each level is set with a shrine. The tower body is painted with white mortar, the corner is painted with vermilion leaning column, and the column head is painted with vermilion architrave. Six layers of water chestnut tooth bricks are stacked on the architrave, and the eaves are stacked above the second floor. Four layers of diamond tooth bricks are stacked on the eaves, and the platform is stacked. The top of the pagoda is octagonal and there is no Tasha. On the top of the pagoda are two iron casting basins. On one of the basins is the inscription: "Qinjia buzhengshi's title is to choose Dao, Panyu's Pan Shicheng's title is to choose the inner zhenglang, Nanhai's Wu Chongyao's reconstruction of Daoguang of the Qing Dynasty, Jichun Jiriji and luzao". The foundation plane of the tower is octagonal, each side is 5.5 meters long and 1 meter high. It is built with red sandstone. The original foundation surface is paved with gray sandstone, and the eastern part is paved with granite. On the first floor, from the stone class to the base, and at the corner of the tower base, there are western images of tortalis, with a vivid look. A 0.36M 0.27m granite stele is embedded in the north of the tower, on which is engraved a notice of banning stealing tower bricks by Panyu county government during the period of the Republic of China. The tower was announced as a municipal cultural relic protection unit in 1989.

repair

Chigang pagoda has been repaired since it was built. However, due to the aging of mud brick for many years, the damage is very serious. The most dangerous thing is that it has been tilted 1.05 meters by experts the year before last, so it is in danger of collapse at any time. According to the policy of "protection first, rescue first", Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of culture has completed the rescue and maintenance plan of the tower as early as 1996, but it has not been implemented due to lack of funds and other reasons. Guangzhou city will spend 1.5 million yuan on the restoration of the red pagoda body for the purpose of righting, reinforcing and repairing cracks in line with the principle of keeping the cultural relics in their original state.

Characteristic scenic spots

Chigang pagoda, a special scenic spot

As a municipal cultural protection unit, the renovation project of Chigang tower is nearly completed, and the supporting lighting project has also made great efforts. According to reports, the whole tower is decorated with six sets of lighting systems. First, the tile surface of each layer, and then the guardrail part of each layer, are illuminated by two sets of lights respectively; each layer of the eight walls of the tower body is illuminated by a warm yellow wall washing lamp, while the concave niche part on the wall is illuminated by a white wall washing lamp, forming different color temperatures

Chinese PinYin : Chi Gang Ta