Wangcun Xiaoxi Pagoda

Wangcun Xiaoxi Pagoda

Wangcun Xiaoxi Pagoda is a cultural heritage site protected by Huangshan City.

Xiaoxi Pagoda is located at the western water outlet of Xiaoxi Village, Wangcun Town, approximately forty kilometers south of She County (pronounced shè), Huangshan City.

Xiaoxi Pagoda was built during the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty. It is an octagonal, seven-story pavilion-style brick pagoda, of which only four stories remain, standing about twenty meters tall. Legend has it that the original plan was to build seven stories, but due to improper construction, it was left unfinished with only four. Another version says that after the seven stories were built, they were struck by lightning, and the top three stories collapsed, leaving only the bottom four.

The second to fourth stories of Xiaoxi Pagoda each have doors on all sides, with a Buddhist niche on either side of each door. The lower eaves of the front facade feature black-and-white decorative patterns (the paintings under each layer’s eaves are still well-preserved today), mostly themed around fortune, prosperity, and longevity. The base of the pagoda contains a chamber, along with a stone stairway for climbing. The pagoda is overgrown with wild vines, and the top is covered with lush trees. There are multiple cracks in the topmost level, and fissures have appeared on the body of the fourth story.

When selecting sites for ancient villages, the people of Huizhou idealized locations nestled against mountains and beside water—places embraced by hills and encircled by streams, backed by mountains and facing water. Typically, ancient villages were built either in misty valleys surrounded by mountains and clouds or in mountain hollows where ranges converge and waters gather. Every ancient village had a water outlet, and these outlets were always planted with renowned trees and fine flora, along with pavilions, towers, and pagodas, to help lock in and accumulate wealth—forming the idyllic rural scenery described as “green trees huddle by the village, blue hills slant beyond the town.” Xiaoxi Village in She County is no exception. The ancestors of Xiaoxi Village took advantage of the terrain at the water outlet, responding to the landscape and filling in gaps by constructing a pavilion and pagoda as symbolic protective structures.

Xiaoxi Pagoda in She County has been designated as a cultural heritage site protected by Huangshan City.

Wangcun Town: Located in the southern part of She County and along the Xin’an River, Wangcun Town is ten kilometers from the downtown area of Huangshan City and faces the “Huashan Mystery Caves” across the river. The Huizhou-Hangzhou Expressway runs through the town. To the northeast, it borders Tunxi District, Huizhou District, and Xiuning County, while to the southwest, it neighbors Xiongcun Township, Sencun Township, Shaolian Township, and Shimeng Township within the county. The town covers a total land area of 87.3 square kilometers, governs 16 village committees and 163 villager groups, with a total population of over 23,100, including more than 5,000 in the town center. Agriculture in Wangcun Town is primarily grain-based, making it one of the four key grain-producing areas in She County and an important... More details about Wangcun Town++