Fu'an Lingxiao Pagoda

Fu'an Lingxiao Pagoda

Fu'an Lingxiao Pagoda is a cultural heritage site protected at the provincial level in Fujian Province.

Lingxiao Pagoda, commonly known as Jiangjiadu Pagoda, is located on Qiding Mountain (also called Wenbi Mountain) behind Jiangjiadu Village in the southern part of Fu'an City. It is a feng shui pagoda and a provincial-level cultural heritage site.

The pagoda was built in the second year of the Chongzhen era of the Ming Dynasty (1629) and completed in the fourth year. It is an octagonal seven-story stone pagoda in pavilion style. Before restoration, it had only six stories remaining due to lightning damage, with a residual height of 22 meters. It has now been restored to seven stories along with the finial. In October 1984, it was designated as a county-level protected cultural relic. Repairs were carried out in April 2007 and completed in October 2008. It is now a provincial-level cultural heritage site.

Additional information: Jiangjiadu Pagoda is situated on Wenbi Mountain in the southern part of Fu'an City. The entire pagoda is constructed of stone, featuring an octagonal seven-story pavilion-style design. Currently, six stories remain, with a residual height of 22 meters. The base is built with block stones, standing 0.4 meters high and spanning 8 meters diagonally. Each story of the pagoda body is built with rectangular stone blocks laid lengthwise, with corner stones erected vertically at equal floor heights. The first and second stories of the pagoda body are 3 meters tall, with each successive story slightly narrowing. Each story's eaves are made of three layers of stacked stones, standing 1 meter high with an overhang of 0.8 meters, sloping downward to form a pitched surface. The north side of the first story has a door, the east and west sides of the second story have doors, and the third story has doors on the north and south. Internal passageways connect the doors on adjacent stories, linking all the way up to the top. The doors are 2.5 meters high and 0.8 meters wide, with their tops built in a “人” (human-shaped) gable pattern. (Before restoration) The entire pagoda was quite damaged—the top was broken, stonework was loose, and the structure leaned noticeably to the west.

According to the Fu'an County Annals, the pagoda was constructed under the direction of Magistrate Liang Zhaoyang in the second year of the Chongzhen era of the Ming Dynasty, and completed by Magistrate Wu Sanzhu in the fourth year. No repairs have been made since liberation to the present day. The pagoda finial and seventh story had long collapsed and no longer exist; currently, only six stories remain. The structural form is a through-core design surrounding a flat terrace, with each level’s terrace gradually shrinking as the pagoda narrows. The first-story doorway faces northeast, is 2.5 meters high and 0.8 meters wide, with a "人" shaped top. The second story and above have two offset doorways. Inside the pagoda core, stone steps lead to the second-story flat terrace, then one walks halfway around the terrace before ascending via stairs into the second-story core chamber. Turning 90 degrees, one climbs to reach the third-story terrace. This pattern repeats—circling the flat terrace to access the core chamber—until reaching the seventh-story core. The pagoda has a circumference of 21.8 meters and a residual height of 19.15 meters. The base is built with block stones; the foundation is 30.5 meters in circumference, 0.4 meters high, and 8 meters diagonally. The pagoda body is built with upright strip stones, with corner stones the same height as the floor. Eaves are 1 meter high with a 0.8-meter overhang, formed by three layers of stacked stones with curved front edges resembling arches. The true flat terraces feature bracket sets at each of the eight corners for support, merging the terrace and eave into one unit that allows for both walking and sightseeing.

Related information: (In Jiangjiadu Village,) on Qiding Mountain, Magistrate Liang Zhaoyang built Lingxiao Pagoda in the second year of the Chongzhen era (1629). It stands opposite another pagoda on Tianma Mountain in the southern suburbs, forming a paired presence that guards Fu'an. Fu'an City has included Lingxiao Pagoda in its cultural relic restoration projects.

Ancient Pagoda Legend: On the southeastern side of Han City also stands a pagoda on Tianma Mountain (known as the Seven-Star Pagoda; no existing records, possibly destroyed early. – Fu note). The two pagodas stand facing each other across a stream. Legend says that long, long ago, Tianma Mountain and Qiding Mountain were once joined together. The two pagodas atop them were a devoted married couple, always together and inseparable. But because they played and lingered all day, neglecting their duties, a celestial crane sent by the heavens to patrol reported them. The Queen Mother of Heaven, furious, angrily swiped her golden hairpin between the two pagodas, splitting them apart and creating a golden stream between them—which later generations call the Fuchun Stream. The Queen Mother also assigned the Eight Immortals to guard the two pagodas, allowing them to meet only at night when everyone was asleep.