Caijia Town Scripture Pillar

Caijia Town Scripture Pillar

The Caijia Town Scripture Pillar is a cultural relic protection unit of Shandong Province.

The Caijia Town Scripture Pillar is located in Caijia Town Village, Zhangjiawa Subdistrict Office. It dates back to the Tang Dynasty. On December 7, 2006, the Caijia Town Scripture Pillar was designated as part of the third batch of Provincial-Level Cultural Relics Protection Units by the People's Government of Shandong Province.

Caijia Town covers an area of 872 mu, with 220 households and a population of 759. The village was first established at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, and in the early Ming Dynasty, Cai Geng migrated here from Zaoqiang, Hebei, hence the name Caijia Town. At the southern end of Caijia Town Village stands a municipal-level key protected cultural relic — the Tang Dynasty Scripture Pillar. This pillar was built in 709 AD, has an octagonal shape, a lotus pedestal, and raised winged corners. It is 3.62 meters high and 2.24 meters in circumference. Each of its eight sides features relief inscriptions, some of which are parts of the Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī Sūtra, while others document the achievements of County Magistrate Jia Sixuan in governing Laiwu.

Apart from a few bullet marks, the body of the pillar remains largely intact. This scripture pillar was “respectfully made by Jia Sixuan of Ningling County, Songzhou, on the eighth day of the fourth month in the third year of the Jinglong era of the Tang Dynasty.” The western and southern sides of the pillar bear prefaces, while the other sides feature regular script inscriptions in intaglio. According to historical records, this scripture was translated by the Indian Brahmin monk Buddharaśmi and introduced to China in the first year of the Yifeng era during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang (Li Zhi). It became a popular form of stone engraving after the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty Scripture Pillar suggests that Ningling County had already reached a period of prosperity during the Tang era.

Legend has it that the area north of Caijia Town Village was the former site of Tang Dynasty Ningling County. In recent years, people have uncovered pottery shards, iron smelting slag, blue bricks, and tiles multiple times while digging. It is said that Ningling County was once a thriving county in the Tang Dynasty, with its southern gate located at the bridge west of today’s Caijia Town Village, which was later destroyed by a mysterious flood. Local legend also tells of a “Ghost Valley” to the northeast of Caijia Town Village, where a massive spring suddenly burst forth one night (later referred to as the “Opening of the Valley”), flooding the entire Ningling County into a flat plain, leaving nothing behind. No one knows exactly which year or month this occurred. It is also said that every 60 years, the old appearance of Ningling County can briefly appear on the bridge west of Caijia Town Village, like a mirage before vanishing. Of course, this is just a legend.

Zhangjiawa Subdistrict: Located in the northern suburbs of Laiwu District, Laiwu City, Shandong Province, Zhangjiawa Subdistrict features a natural arrangement of mountainous, hilly, and plains areas from east to west, with each type of land accounting for one-third of the total. It has two tributaries of the Wen River: Gangli River and Wangshan River. The subdistrict covers a total area of 82.87 square kilometers, with 49,200 mu of arable land, and governs 59 administrative villages and neighborhood committees, with a rural population of 50,000.

　The location is geographically advantageous, adjacent to the city, close to mines, and near transportation routes. The area hosts enterprises such as Luxi Metallurgical Mining Company, Laiwu Power Plant [1][2], Laiwu Iron Mine, the Laiwu Locomotive Depot of Jinan Railway Bureau, and the Fifth Geological Team of Shandong Province... More detailed information about Zhangjiawa Subdistrict ++

Further reading:

· Third Batch of Shandong Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units