Suzhou Bao'en Temple Pagoda

Suzhou Bao'en Temple Pagoda

Suzhou Bao'en Temple Pagoda is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Suzhou Bao'en Temple Pagoda was rebuilt during the Shaoxing era of the Southern Song Dynasty (1131–1162). It is an octagonal, nine-story structure with a brick body and wooden eaves, and was an important landmark within the city of Southern Jiang (present-day Suzhou). It was already depicted on the Pingjiang Map stele and is now known as the North Temple Pagoda. It remains a key focal point along Suzhou’s main streets. The interior of Bao'en Temple Pagoda features a double-layered sleeve structure, with square inner chamber rooms on each level of the octagonal core, and wooden stairs located in the corridors between the two sleeves. Each level has a flat terrace with railings, and the ground floor has a subsidiary eave (a surrounding corridor around the pagoda body). These features are similar to those of the Shakyamuni Pagoda in Shanxi. However, the eaves of the subsidiary level and the first floor of the pagoda body slope downward in one continuous pitch, without double eaves, which differs from the Shakyamuni Pagoda. Each face of the brick pagoda body is divided into three bays, with the central bay housing a door. The wooden structural components were renovated during the Guangxu era of the Qing Dynasty. The eaves are tall and slender, and many supporting columns were added to the flat terraces, partially altering the original design. Walls connect the columns of the subsidiary eave, with a plan diameter of 30 meters, similar to that of the Shakyamuni Pagoda. The total height of the pagoda reaches 76 meters, nearly 9 meters taller than the Shakyamuni Pagoda. Although the pagoda is massive in scale, it has four more stories than the Shakyamuni Pagoda and a more slender and taller proportion. Coupled with the lofty eaves, it exudes both grandeur and an elegant grace, still reflecting the architectural artistry of the Jiangnan region.

Further Reading:

· First and Second Batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units