Gujing Brick Pagoda

Gujing Brick Pagoda

The Gujing Brick Pagoda is located in a field 500 meters southwest of Gujing Natural Village, Zhuang’an Village, Xinxu Town. Its construction date is not recorded, but it features architectural styles from the Yuan Dynasty. Originally, there were three pagodas; now, one is intact and another is partially preserved, both sharing the same design and standing about 15 meters apart. The eastern pagoda faces northeast and is a tightly-eaved, solid octagonal brick pagoda situated on the east side. Its original finial in the shape of a sacred bottle has collapsed, leaving five remaining stories built atop a square stone base that is 1.04 meters high and 12 meters in circumference. The pagoda’s current height is 5.4 meters, tapering slightly with each ascending level, with the bottom layer measuring 1.1 meters per side. The heights of the first to fifth levels are 0.9, 0.9, 0.8, 0.6, and 0.4 meters respectively, separated by tiled eaves composed of flat tiles, cylindrical tiles, and drip tiles. The pagoda’s eaves flair upwards at the eight corners, featuring arched brick brackets, covered with cylindrical tiles, and adorned with drip tiles engraved with patterns such as water lilies, necklaces, scrolling clouds, and dragons playing with pearls. On the western side of the second and fifth levels, there is a door-like niche each, originally housing stone-carved Buddha statues. The western pagoda retains only parts of the bottom two levels, with a remaining height of 1.8 meters—its first level measures 1 meter per side and the second 0.9 meters. Both brick pagodas were constructed using red bricks and coated with white plaster, although most of the exterior plaster has now peeled off. The name “Gujing” originates from “Gu Jing” (literally “Gu’s Well”), and the area was originally inhabited by residents surnamed Gu. Legend has it that this place was known as the “Sparrow’s Nest,” and villagers, fearing the sparrows would fly away, built three brick pagodas representing three “net poles,” symbolizing a net cast to protect the sparrows.