Wan'an Seven Ancient Pagodas

Wan'an Seven Ancient Pagodas

The Wan'an Seven Ancient Pagodas is a cultural tourism attraction.

Since the Tang Dynasty, numerous pagodas have been built in Wan'an County, standing in clusters and competing in splendor. To this day, over ten well-preserved pagodas remain, among which the seven most famous are: the Mianjin Relic Pagoda from the Tang Dynasty, the Guijiang Flying Pagoda from the Song Dynasty, the Baoshan Cultural Wind Pagoda from the Yuan Dynasty, the Lutian Young Lady Pagoda from the Ming Dynasty, the Gaopi Guanyin Pagoda from the Ming Dynasty, the Baijia Chongwen Pagoda from the Ming Dynasty, and the County Town Cultural Pagoda from the Qing Dynasty.

These ancient pagodas vary in style and feature elegant designs, adding a brilliant touch to the local ancient architecture. The legendary stories surrounding them further shroud these pagodas in an air of mystery.

Tang Dynasty: Mianjin Relic Pagoda

Mianjin Township in Wan'an County and Bizhou Township in Suichuan County are connected by mountains, one of which is called Tianlong Mountain. Tianlong Mountain features deep valleys, high peaks, lush forests, crisscrossing streams and waterfalls, and stunning scenery, making it a sacred Buddhist site since ancient times. During the Tang Dynasty, the Tianlong Temple was built here and was quite famous in the Jiangnan region, but it gradually declined during the wars of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Two relic pagodas are located on the ruins of the old Tianlong Temple.

Song Dynasty: Guijiang Flying Pagoda

The Flying Pagoda is situated on a flat area at the head of Baiyi Village in Guijiang Township, backed by the Wukong (note: to be verified) clan ancestral hall to the north, residential houses to the south, and the Suichuan River to the west. The entire pagoda is built with blue bricks and a mixture of mud and sand, without a base, hollow inside, and without stairs. It has six leading corners and six stories, stands 15 meters tall, and has an outer diameter of 9 meters, tapering layer by layer from the bottom up. Each level has two symmetrical arched windows. Standing alongside the ancestral hall, residential houses, woods, and green mountains, it resembles a natural garden with a unique charm. As the ancients wrote in the Baiyi clan genealogy: “The ancient pagoda stands like a brush beside the flowing water, truly a grand sight in the village!” The Flying Pagoda is slender in appearance and beautifully shaped. Judging from its structure and the clan records, it was built during the Song Dynasty. Although the ancient pagoda has endured over a thousand years of weathering and is now mottled and incomplete, it still retains its original character. Experts speculate that the lack of a base may be due to vertical sinking over the centuries. Legend has it that the Flying Pagoda flew from Suichuan to this location during the Song Dynasty, breaking into three parts: the base remained in place, the main body landed elsewhere, and the tail flew to Baiyi, hence the name “Flying Pagoda.”

Yuan Dynasty: Baoshan Cultural Wind Pagoda

The Cultural Wind Pagoda is located on Lotus Mountain in Shuinan Village, Baoshan Township, facing the Wuli Pass Tea Pavilion from afar. The pagoda has six sides and five stories, stands 9 meters tall, and has a base diameter of 6 meters, taking the shape of a cone. From a distance, the entire pagoda resembles a budding lotus flower, gracefully standing atop Lotus Mountain. The pagoda is entirely constructed with red-surfaced stone strips, tung oil, glutinous rice, and lime mortar, making it sturdy and exceptionally well-preserved. Its materials are rare among pagodas in the Jiangnan region. Legend has it that during the late Yuan Dynasty, when the Wei family ancestors settled in Shuinan and built the Wei Family Ancestral Hall, they faced many misfortunes due to geographical constraints. After consulting a feng shui master, they were advised to erect a pagoda on Lotus Mountain opposite the ancestral hall to correct the imbalance and suppress evil. Lotus Mountain was overgrown with grass and shrubs, and the stream below meandered westward. The Cultural Wind Pagoda, standing atop the mountain and echoing the ancestral hall, preserves its ancient charm to this day. According to local elders, the pagoda has been around for twenty-four generations, and it is preliminarily estimated to have been built in the late Yuan or early Ming Dynasty.

Ming Dynasty: Lutian Young Lady Pagoda

The Lutian Young Lady Pagoda is located next to Yintang Village in Lutian Town, about 1 kilometer west of the Changgan Highway, with green mountains on its other three sides. The pagoda is a pavilion-style hollow structure with flying eaves, built with blue bricks and glutinous rice mortar. It stands 30 meters tall, has eight sides and nine stories, is solid at the bottom and hollow at the top, and has an arched door behind the base that allows access to spiral staircases along the inner wall to view the scenic countryside. Originally, there was also a spiral path above the fifth story that led to the top of the pagoda. Each level of the pagoda’s exterior is adorned with sawtooth-shaped flying eaves and decorative borders, giving it a solemn, dignified, and elegant appearance. Legend has it that the original spire was a heavy iron dome weighing several hundred pounds, which was toppled and shattered into fragments. To this day, people still find and collect pieces of the iron dome near the ancient pagoda. It is said that a slightly smaller pagoda was also built on the mountainside a few hundred meters north of this pagoda, both constructed by two sisters from a wealthy family in ancient times. The existing pagoda was built by the elder sister, while the other was built by the younger one. The younger sister’s pagoda, situated higher up, violated the traditional hierarchy of seniority, and was struck by lightning and destroyed, leaving only ruins, while the Young Lady Pagoda remains intact to this day. The name “Young Lady Pagoda” may have originated from this story. The pagoda boasts a magnificent exterior and a meticulously crafted interior structure. Despite enduring hundreds of years of wind and rain, it remains solid and unyielding. During the 1958 period, when a reservoir was being built in the area and builders attempted to blast the pagoda’s foundation three times using explosives, the pagoda stood firm without sustaining any damage.

Ming Dynasty: Gaopi Guanyin Pagoda

The Guanyin Pagoda is located in Fuzhu Village, Gaopi Town. It is a hollow, flying-eave-style blue brick pagoda with six sides and seven stories, standing 12 meters tall, with a base circumference of 7 meters. Each story features a Guanyin deity in the bracket sets, and the second story’s front bracket set also contains a yellowish earthen brick stele. Most of the inscription on the stele has faded and is illegible, except for faintly visible characters such as “Namo Guanyin Bodhisattva,” “Wuyun Fuzhu,” and “Rebuilt in the 15th Year of the Chenghua Era of the Great Ming.” Hence, the pagoda gets its name from the Guanyin reference. Legend has it that every household in Fuzhu Village raised sheep, which were seen as symbols of good fortune. However, these sheep had a peculiar habit: they rested in the village during the day but went out to forage at night, much to the villagers’ annoyance. At the time, a feng shui master surnamed Ouyang wanted to drive the sheep to another village and told the villagers: “If you quietly build two pagodas at the village entrance at night, the sheep will no longer be able to leave.” The villagers believed him and indeed built two Guanyin Pagodas at the entrance. However, by the time the pagodas were completed, the sheep were out foraging, and after the pagodas were built, the sheep never returned. The southern pagoda at the original village entrance collapsed in a storm in 1931, leaving only this one remaining.

Ming Dynasty: Baijia Chongwen Pagoda

The Chongwen Pagoda is located on a hillside by the Gan River in Tangshang, Baijia Township. It was advocated for construction by Magistrate Yuan Shifeng during the Chenghua era of the Ming Dynasty (1465). Built beside steep cliffs, with a deep pool below where the water flows back and swirls, the pagoda’s reflection in the water creates a fascinating sight in both winter and summer. The Chongwen Pagoda is a pavilion-style hollow structure with flying eaves, built with blue bricks and glutinous rice mortar. Its structure is tight and solid as a rock, with a beautiful and majestic design. The pagoda has nine levels and eight sides, tapering inward from the bottom up. It stands 32 meters tall, with a base diameter of 10.2 meters. Each level features alternating hollow bracket windows, and the walls contain spiral staircases. The southern side of the pagoda has an auspicious bracket window, and the top is crowned with a double-layered spherical gourd. A stone tablet on the wall below the ninth level reads: “Chongwen Pagoda, built in the Chenghua year of the Ming Dynasty.” Wan’an has long been known for “abundant resources and flourishing culture,” so the name “Chongwen Pagoda” reflects the aspiration to honor scholarly pursuits. Additionally, because the pagoda is white, it emits a silvery-white glow at night when viewed from afar by passing boats, resembling a bright pearl illuminating the waterway—hence its other name, “Night Pearl Pagoda.” It has now been listed as a provincial cultural heritage protection site.

Qing Dynasty: County Town Cultural Pagoda

The Cultural Pagoda is located on Shihua Mountain, half a li outside the southern hills of Wan’an County Town, backed by the county town to the north and bordering the Gan River to the west. It is a solid, flying-eave-style brick pagoda with eight sides and seven levels, tapering inward from the bottom up. The pagoda stands 20 meters tall, with a base circumference of 14.8 meters and a diameter of 4.85 meters, all built with blue bricks and glutinous rice mortar. The surface of the pagoda is grayish-white, with alternating hollow bracket windows on each level. The eaves of the second and third levels feature sawtooth-shaped edges. Above the seventh level, the spire is topped with a carved bluestone gourd. The entire pagoda has a tight structure and is well-preserved. According to the *Wan County Annals*, it was advocated for construction by Magistrate Pan Zunxian during the Daoguang era of the Qing Dynasty, and funded entirely by Clerk Yan Xiang. Legend has it that Wan’an County Town is shaped like a raft (located at the intersection of Longxi Stream and the Gan River), and has historically produced many scholars and officials. However, regardless of whether they were locals or outsiders, successive magistrates of Wan’an often fell out of favor with the local gentry and were dismissed from office due to their actions. Pan Zunxian, knowledgeable in feng shui, proposed building the pagoda here to enhance the town’s prestige, but his true intention was to stabilize the “raft” and disrupt the feng shui to tame the local gentry, thereby securing lasting official fortune—this was the reason behind the pagoda’s construction.