The Jia Chen Lane Brick Pagoda

The Jia Chen Lane Brick Pagoda

The Jia Chen Lane Brick Pagoda is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Era: Song Dynasty

Address: Southern end of Jia Chen Lane, East Ganjiang Road, Gusu District, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China

This pagoda is a five-story, eight-sided pavilion-style structure built with blue bricks in imitation of wooden architecture. It stands 6.82 meters tall with a base width of 0.51 meters. Each level features alternating dentil courses and flat eave tiles that project the waist eaves. Below the eaves, the wall surfaces subtly display architraves, column capitals, and corner brackets. A balcony is constructed above the eaves, with alternate sides featuring arched doorways and recessed lattice windows. The positions of the four doors and four windows are staggered on each level.

The exact date of the pagoda’s construction is unknown. Due to its structural style resembling other surviving brick pagodas from the Song Dynasty in the Suzhou area, and its marking on the Song-era Pingjiang Map, it has long been considered a Song Dynasty pagoda. However, thermoluminescence testing of the bricks indicates they were fired during the late Tang to the end of the Five Dynasties period. Furthermore, some architectural details of the pagoda still exhibit characteristics of Tang Dynasty construction, so its precise age remains to be confirmed. The Qing Dynasty text Wu Men Biao Yin recorded seven small brick pagodas within Suzhou city, of which only this one remains today. During the Republican era, the pagoda was once enclosed within residential buildings. In the 1993 restoration, these houses were demolished to create a pagoda courtyard, and the fifth story, pagoda top, and finial were also reconstructed.

On June 5, 2006, the Jia Chen Lane Brick Pagoda was designated as part of the Sixth Batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units