Yuankuita

Yuankuita

Yuan kuitua, located in tongpa village, eight miles east of Songkou Town, Meixian District, Meizhou City, and on the North Bank of Meijiang river, was initiated by Li Shichun, a scholar of the Imperial Academy and a minister of the eastern palace in the late Ming Dynasty (Li Erhe, the 18th leader of the first year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, known as Lingnan Master). It was first built in 1619, the 40th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, and lasted for 10 years. It was completed in 1629, the second year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty. The structure of the ancient pagoda is octagonal, with seven stories and a height of more than 40 meters. The bottom layer is made of square granite, and the other layers are built with blue bricks. The top of the pagoda is inlaid with iron casting gourd, with a bottom diameter of about 1.5 meters and a weight of more than 10000 Jin. Kuitar of Yuan Dynasty was designated as the cultural relic protection unit of Meixian County in 1987. On June 29, 1989, it was announced as the third batch of cultural relics protection units of Guangdong Province by the people's Government of Guangdong Province.

Historical evolution

Yuan Kui pagoda, commonly known as Songkou pagoda, is located in Tongpan village, 8 km away from Songkou Town, Meixian District, Meizhou city. It was built in 1619, the 47th year of Wanli period, and completed in 1629, which took 10 years. It is said that the reason is that erhezhong had been defeated in four times of going to Beijing after the Yuan Dynasty, and felt that the mountain and river Wenfeng at the exit of Meixi in Songkou was not good, and wanted to build a tower to make up for the deficiency of Fengshui. The place to build the tower is at the turning of Songkou river. The tower is a pavilion type, octagonal, 7-story, more than 40 meters high. At the top of the tower, there is a cast iron gourd with a bottom diameter of about 1.5 meters and a weight of more than ten thousand jin. So far, no one can tell how it was placed on the top of the tower. The base of the tower is made of square granite, and the other layers are made of green bricks.

Yuankui pagoda is located on the parasol by the Meijiang river, Songkou Town, Meixian District, Meizhou city. It is about 50km away from Meizhou city and 4km away from songkouxu town. The pagoda is the oldest and relatively complete one in Meixian district. In 1982, Guangdong Post and Telecommunications Bureau used ten famous pagodas as postage tickets, among which yuankui pagoda is one.

Yuankui pagoda was built in 1619 and completed in 1629. It took 10 years to build. It was raised by Li Shichun (No. Erhe), the official minister and academician of the city. It is said that Li Shichun went to Beijing four times after the liberation of the Yuan Dynasty, but he was frustrated. He thought that the "mountain and river Wenfeng" at the exit of Meixi in Songkou was not good, so he built a tower to make up for the deficiency of "Fengshui". The place to build the tower is at the turning of Songkou river. At the beginning of its construction, the tower was called "Songkou tower", and it was renamed "yuankui tower" in 1629, the second year of Li Shichun's zhonghuikui reign.

On the first floor, the stone gate and couplet were written by Li Shichun, and the regular script was engraved in granite. The gate's forehead is "yuankuita". The couplet of the gate is "the front of the pavilion, a pillar as the mainstay of the middle stream; the peak is beautiful in the sky, and the light of kuibi rises for thousands of years". The tower is 39.5 meters high. It is an octagonal eight story brick tower with imitative Pavilion layout. The whole tower is built with green bricks except that the base and the first floor are built with granite. The tower cavity is provided with spiral stairs from 154 to the seventh floor. In November 1987, yuankuita was designated as one of the second batch of key cultural relics protection units in Meixian district. In June 1989, the people's Government of Guangdong Province designated yuankui pagoda as one of the third batch of provincial key cultural relics protection units in Guangdong Province.

Structural features

The tower is 39.5 meters high. The gate of the tower faces northwest and Southeast. It is an octagonal nine story brick tower with imitation Pavilion layout. The structure of the tower steps is "through the wall and around the flat seat". The doors and windows of each layer are staggered layer by layer. Only the flat seat of the top layer is surrounded by railings. Under the eaves of the tower are painted with animal patterns such as dragon, leopard and unicorn. The top of the tower is inlaid with a cast iron gourd with a bottom diameter of about 1.5 meters and a weight of more than 10000 Jin. No one can tell how the iron gourd was placed on the top of the tower. If you want to climb the top of the tower, you can spiral up the 154 spiral stone steps inside. The top floor is surrounded by stone railings nearly one meter wide. Climbing on the top of the towering tower and looking out from the fence, you can see the villages in the fields and the green bamboo forest. Overlooking the Meijiang river, you can see the splashing waves and whirling turbulence.

At the main gate at the bottom of the tower, there is a couplet written by Li Shichun, which reads: "the orchid goes back in front of the pavilion, one pillar is the mainstay of the middle stream; the peak is beautiful outside the sky, and the light of kuibi rises for thousands of years." On the left side of the tower is Wenchang Pavilion, where Li Shichun collected books and taught.

Related Legends

It is said that at some time yuankuitar flew into a pair of centipede spirits, and every night they made a terrible scream, disturbing the neighbors. So the villagers invited the mage to do the work, and caught a rooster and locked it in the tower. That night it was really quiet. People thought it would be safe in the future, so they took the rooster away. But at night, the centipede spirit began to make trouble again. People can't bear to shut the rooster in the tower all the time. One day, there was a thunderstorm, and a flash of lightning came to yuankui pagoda. The top of yuankui pagoda was struck by lightning and a big hole was missing. From then on, yuankui pagoda regained its former calm. Did yuankuita ever fly into centipede essence? There is no way to verify this, but the top of yuankui tower was indeed missing by lightning. The gap on the top of yuankui tower was later repaired by the relevant departments of Meixian District People's Government of Meizhou city to raise funds for the protection of cultural relics.

Yuan Kui tower, known as the tower under the pool. When the river is full, the river under the cliff is full of pools. When the water rises, it is surging and surging, with thousands of horses galloping, and the scenery is spectacular. For more than 300 years, yuankui pagoda has been standing on the North Bank of Meijiang river. Overseas Chinese must pass under this pagoda when they go abroad to take a boat. People who are far away from home will always look up at its majestic posture and go away. For many years, this ancient tower, a symbol of home, has been standing in the hearts of overseas children.

Transportation guide

Yuankuita is located in Songkou Town, Meixian District, Meizhou city. After getting off from the railway station, you can take a bus of 1 yuan, a tricycle of 5 yuan and a taxi of more than 10 yuan to Yuemei station. After you get to Yuemei station in Meijiang district, you can take a 10 yuan minibus to Songkou town. When you get to the town, you can taste the famous local snacks of Songkou, such as stewed sweet mutton, fried meat balls, sweet fish fried powder, Meizhou salt baked chicken feet, Meizhou pickled noodles, and then you can go to yuankuita by motorcycle for about 5 yuan.

Longitude: 116.40958404541

Latitude: 24.497283935547

Chinese PinYin : Yuan Kui Ta