Wan'an Chongwen Pagoda

Wan'an Chongwen Pagoda

Wan'an Chongwen Pagoda is a cultural heritage site protected at the provincial level in Jiangxi Province.

Wan'an Chongwen Pagoda is located by the Gan River in Tangshangdi, Baijia Township.

The Chongwen Pagoda boasts a tightly built structure, solid as a rock, with an elegant and imposing appearance. It has nine levels and eight sides, tapering inward from bottom to top. The pagoda is 32 meters high and has a base diameter of 10.2 meters. The main gate features bracket sets, and inside there is a spiral staircase that goes up to the fifth level.

Each level of the pagoda's façade alternates with hollow lattice windows, and the inner walls contain a spiral staircase. The southern side of the pagoda's top has bracket sets, and beneath the ninth level, the wall is inlaid with a stone tablet inscribed with: "Chongwen Pagoda was built in the Chenghua era of the Ming Dynasty." The entire pagoda is constructed with blue bricks bonded by glutinous rice mortar, resulting in a sturdy structure. Despite more than 500 years of weathering and multiple lightning strikes, it still stands firmly.

This ancient pagoda is a nine-story white-walled structure, majestic and imposing. The pagoda faces south and sits north, with a base diameter of 10.02 meters, a top diameter of 6.88 meters, a perimeter of 34.4 meters, and covers an area of 344.69 square meters. It is a brick-and-wood pavilion-style building, nine stories with eight sides, and stands 33 meters tall. The entire pagoda is built with plain blue bricks and tapers upward from the base. Originally, it had a spiral staircase, wooden beams, and brackets inside, with a small shrine built into each level of the façade. Today, only the shrines remain, as the other wooden components have been destroyed. The main entrance faces south and features bracket sets, while the top is crowned with a double-layered round gourd-shaped finial. On the front of the ninth level, there is an inscribed stone tablet with faded characters, and the spire has been destroyed.

Since ancient times, Wan'an has been known for its "abundant produce and rich culture." The name "Chongwen Pagoda" reflects the local reverence for scholarly pursuits. The pagoda is situated where the Gan River makes a sharp bend, built against towering cliffs with a deep pool below. At this spot, the water swirls and reverses direction in both winter and summer, creating a fascinating interplay of reflections. Known as the "Pearl Tower" or "Night Pearl Pagoda," the white Chongwen Pagoda also shines under the moonlight, illuminating the river path for passing boats like a bright pearl. Ancient literati held a special fondness for the pagoda. Northern Song poet Huang Tingjian, when serving as magistrate of Taihe County, wrote a poem about his visit to Nanta Temple: “For a moment, we shared tea amid incense smoke and chats; on a cold day, crows cried as wind rustled persimmon leaves. All worldly affairs melt into wine, and a hundred years pass like dreams in a great tree.” Su Shi, one of the Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song dynasties, also stayed overnight at Nanta Temple during his exile from the capital to Huizhou.

There are many legends about the origins of Chongwen Pagoda. One tale says that in 1188, during the Chunxi era of the Southern Song Dynasty, a plague ravaged the southern regions, displacing countless people and leaving many starving. A man in white sailed to Zita Beach in search of treasure to save the suffering. Locals spoke of golden oxen, golden roosters, and golden babies hidden in the sands—each a priceless treasure. Using straw bait from the year of the horse, he managed to lure a golden ox to the surface. Suddenly, fierce winds and towering waves capsized his boat, and the man perished in the torrent. The next day, a pagoda mysteriously emerged from the ground, sprouting like bamboo shoots atop the rocks.

Another legend tells of the late Yuan Dynasty, during the peasant wars between Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang at Poyang Lake. Chen Youliang’s military advisor was a monk, while Zhu Yuanzhang’s was the Taoist Liu Bowen. The monk and the Taoist faced off on the battlefield, unleashing magical powers that turned the field into a scene of carnage. The monk was defeated and fled along the Gan River to Zita Beach. The Taoist pursued relentlessly and threw his ancestral sword at the monk but missed, the blade embedding itself in the rock and transforming into a grand pagoda. Curiously, a pepper tree grew atop the pagoda, lush and evergreen like an umbrella, reminiscent of the bamboo verses by Zheng Banqiao, one of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou. Legend also says two snakes—one green and one red, daughters of the Dragon King of the Zitan Beach—guarded the pepper tree for life. During the Republican era, girls picking wild vegetables near Nandibaizhou in Luotang Bay even claimed to have seen two beauties (one in white, the other in red) bathing in the river beneath the ancient pagoda.

After the pagoda was built, poets and scholars flocked to admire it, often inspired to compose poetry. Some verses can still faintly be seen inscribed on the pagoda walls, though time has rendered the words illegible.

Wan'an Chongwen Pagoda has become a key cultural relic protection unit in Jiangxi Province and is listed in the "Dictionary of Scenic Spots in China."

Further Reading:

· Second Batch of Jiangxi Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units