Ziwei Pavilion

Ziwei Pavilion

Ziwei Pavilion is a cultural relic protection unit of Lianyungang City.

Ziwei Pavilion is located at Hukou Ridge in Sucheng Township, Lianyun District. Monk Zhenya, also known as Yancan, was the abbot of Faji Temple in Sucheng. A figure from the late Qing and early Republican period, he served in the military in his early years before becoming a monk. He had extensive connections with local landowners, tenant farmers, and officials, making him a notable local figure. In 1926, he built Ziwei Pavilion, which is square-shaped and constructed entirely of stone. The pavilion is 3.8 meters high, with an eaves width of 3.3 meters and column height of 1.6 meters. The columns are built alternately with square and round stone blocks, symbolizing the concept of “square heaven and round earth.” The top is built using layered square stone slabs in a corbelled style, consisting of nine layers to form a dome-shaped caisson ceiling. A flat, spherical stone, 38 cm in height and 52 cm in diameter, is placed on the roof of the pavilion. It has a circular column hole in the center, 6 cm in diameter. The south-facing plaque of the pavilion is inscribed with the characters “Ziwei Pavilion” (子午亭), while the north-facing one reads “Looking at Clouds and Following the Sun” (瞻云就日). Both plaques are dated with the inscriptions “Built by Zhenya in the first year of the Republic of China, 1926 (丙寅)” and “Inscribed by Zhenya in the Year of Bingyin (丙寅年),” respectively. The pavilion features a rigorous structure, with a simple and natural architectural style. It holds certain reference value for studying Buddhist activities in the Sucheng area during the Republican era, and its construction methods and architectural style also offer insights worth learning from. It was designated as part of the second batch of cultural relic protection units of Lianyungang City in 1993.