Wuxiang Temple

Wuxiang Temple

Wuxiang Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

Wuxiang Temple

The Wuxiang Temple Tourist Resort is located in the Honglan area of Lishui County, surrounded by mountains, lush forests, and integrated lake and mountain scenery. With its elegant and pleasant environment, numerous cultural relics and historic sites scattered throughout, it is a uniquely charming leisure resort area, historically renowned as the "No. 1 Scenic Wonder of Lishui."

Yongshou Temple Pagoda is located in the northwest suburbs of Lishui County, by the Qinhuai River, with the Ning-Lishui Highway running past the pagoda. Yongshou Temple Pagoda is a feng shui pagoda built during the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty. At that time, Lishui had a sparse population, stagnant literary culture, and a struggling economy. Feng shui practitioners attributed this to the poor “feng shui” of Lishui. They believed that although the county was surrounded by mountains on three sides, it had an opening to the northwest, allowing the Qinhuai River to flow northward into Nanjing, carrying away Lishui’s wealth and talent. To address this, in the 34th year of the Wanli reign (1606), Magistrate Xu Liangyan initiated the construction of the pagoda, with funding jointly raised by officials and the public, to block the water outlet and compensate for the missing elements in the landscape. By December of the 35th year of the Wanli reign (1607), the pagoda was completed and named Yongchang Pagoda, symbolizing the wish for everlasting prosperity in the county. It was later renamed Yongshou Pagoda by imperial decree. A Yongshou Temple was built around the pagoda. In the 5th year of the Shunzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty, Yongshou Temple housed nearly 100 monks, making it the largest temple in Lishui County. In the 44th year of the Kangxi reign (1705), the pagoda suffered severe damage from a fire. In the 1st year of the Qianlong reign (1736), local resident Xiao Kehong led the community in renovating it. In the late Qing Dynasty, the pagoda caught fire again, leaving only the brick structure remaining.

Yongshou Temple Pagoda is a brick pagoda modeled after a wooden pavilion-style tower, with an octagonal floor plan and seven stories, standing 32.5 meters tall. The pagoda sits atop a white stone Sumeru pedestal about one meter high, with each side of the pedestal measuring 3.2 meters and featuring a waist molding adorned with cloud patterns and the popular Ming Dynasty scroll motifs. The pagoda gradually tapers from the bottom up, creating a very graceful form. The inner chamber has a square layout, with the levels staggered in construction. The first level has doors on the four cardinal directions, with decorative false doors on the other sides. Each door is flanked by a pair of brick-carved Vajra guardians, totaling sixteen pieces. The brick carvings measure 98 cm in length, 47.5 cm in width, and 6 cm in thickness. The Vajras are clad in armor and hold weapons, appearing very majestic. Thirteen pieces remain today, two of which—measuring 66 cm in length and 33 cm in width—were added during the Qing Dynasty renovations. The upper levels also feature doors on four sides, with the orientation of the doors changing between levels. The bracket sets, rafters, and beams at the top of each level are all constructed from carved bricks. Wind chimes hang from the eaves of each level, producing a tinkling sound in the breeze. Surrounding the pagoda is a circular stone base, also octagonal, with each side measuring 5.7 meters and standing about 60 cm above the ground. The stone wall is 25 cm wide, with lotus petal engravings facing both upward and downward at the middle and corners.

After centuries of weathering and repeated fires, the precious finial at the top of the pagoda has fallen off, the interior floors and staircases have been completely destroyed, and the main body of the pagoda is covered in cracks, with natural weathering worsening over time. As a landmark of Lishui County, Yongshou Temple Pagoda may be lost to our generation if not restored and protected. Therefore, in 1992, the Lishui County government, heeding public opinion, decided to relocate the grain and oil processing plant next to the pagoda and raise funds from the local residents to urgently repair Yongshou Temple Pagoda and restore its former glory.