Qiling Pagoda

Qiling Pagoda

Qiling Pagoda was first built in the first year of the Renshou era during the Sui Dynasty. It was one of the 30 Buddhist pagodas commissioned by Emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian, to celebrate his 60th birthday. The nine-story pagoda stands majestically atop Shu Ridge and houses Buddhist relics. Renowned Tang Dynasty poets such as Li Bai, Gao Shi, Liu Changqing, Bai Juyi, and Liu Yuxi all ascended the pagoda and composed poems there. Liu Yuxi wrote: “Step by step we climb without feeling the steepness; at the ninth level beyond the clouds, we lean on the railing. Suddenly laughter echoes from high above, drawing countless upward glances from visitors below.” From the poem, one can imagine the towering grandeur of Qiling Pagoda, which is why it has been praised as “the most precipitous and unique in all China.”

In the third year of the Huichang era during the reign of Emperor Wuzong of the Tang Dynasty, Qiling Pagoda was destroyed by fire, reducing this once-glorious landmark to ashes.

By the first year of the Jingde era during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty, the monk Kezheng had raised funds to rebuild a seven-story precious pagoda on the original site, naming it “Duobao,” which was later bestowed the imperial name “Pu’hui” by the court. This pagoda was also destroyed during the Southern Song Dynasty. For a thousand years, all that remained at Daming Temple was the inscription “Qiling Relics” on the mountain gate archway.

In the early 1990s, the towering and majestic Qiling Pagoda was rebuilt and rose once again from the earth, standing proudly atop Shu Ridge and becoming a city landmark of the ancient city of Yangzhou.

The newly built Qiling Pagoda is a nine-story square pavilion-style structure, with both its exterior and internal design entirely in the architectural style of the Tang Dynasty. The balconies, eaves, slender columns, and large brackets feature bold, rounded, and dynamic lines. The pagoda stands 73 meters tall and is constructed with reinforced concrete, making it grand in scale, solid in structure, and classic in form—both stately and dignified. Atop the pagoda is an 8.55-meter-high bronze spire. In front of the pagoda, the bell tower and drum tower stand facing each other, with morning bells and evening drums echoing through the air along with the soft sounds of Buddhist chants.

After the completion of Qiling Pagoda, U Kyaw Lwin, the mayor of Yangon, Myanmar, gifted five jade Buddha statues to Daming Temple, among which a reclining Buddha measuring 5.6 meters in length is extremely rare in China. Daming Temple specially built a Reclining Buddha Hall on the north side of Qiling Pagoda for public veneration.

In recent years, Daming Temple has renovated and expanded the Qiling Pagoda Square, and installed elevators inside the pagoda from the ground floor up to the seventh level. Climbing the pagoda offers panoramic views of the entire cityscape of Yangzhou.