Laishui Longyan Temple Pagoda

Laishui Longyan Temple Pagoda

Laishui Longyan Temple Pagoda is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Laishui Longyan Temple Pagoda (originally named Zhenjiang Pagoda), dated to the Liao Dynasty, is located 11 kilometers northwest of Laishui County town, west of Zhongshuidong Village on the east bank of the Qingshui River, commonly known as Shuidong Pagoda. Legend has it that in ancient times, the Qingshui River here often experienced flash floods that submerged farmlands. To control the disaster, the pagoda was built to subdue it. The area is embraced by lush green hills, graced with meandering waters, and enveloped in the hazy beauty of willows—a scene so picturesque that the pagoda, standing at its heart, enhances the idyllic landscape.

It is introduced that the pagoda has a square floor plan, 2.7 meters on each side, with a prismatic body shape and slight tapering from top to bottom. It is a seven-story hollow brick pagoda with closely arranged eaves. The pagoda stands 14 meters tall. From ground level to the first eave, there is a south-facing arched gate, carved from white marble. The pagoda spire consists of an octagonal base and double-layered upward-facing lotus petals made of brick carvings, supporting a gourd-shaped finial.

Laishui Zhenjiang Pagoda is located 11 kilometers northwest of Laishui County town, west of Zhongshuidong Village in Loucun Township, on the east bank of the Qingshui River, also called Shuidong Pagoda. The pagoda has a square floor plan, 2.7 meters on each side, with a prismatic body shape and slight tapering from top to bottom. It is a seven-story hollow brick pagoda with closely arranged eaves. The pagoda stands 14 meters tall. The first story forms the main body of the pagoda, featuring a south-facing arched gate. The lintel of the gate is carved from white marble, decorated with bas-relief scroll patterns along the edges, and inscribed with regular script characters reading “Namo All Buddhas of the Ten Directions, Namo Countless Bodhisattvas, Namo the Western Pure Land.”

The pagoda has a square floor plan, 2.7 meters on each side, with a prismatic body shape and slight tapering from top to bottom. It is a seven-story hollow brick pagoda with closely arranged eaves. The pagoda stands 14 meters tall. The first story forms the main body of the pagoda, featuring a south-facing arched gate. The lintel of the gate is carved from white marble, decorated with bas-relief scroll patterns along the edges, and inscribed with regular script characters reading “Namo All Buddhas of the Ten Directions, Namo Countless Bodhisattvas, Namo the Western Pure Land.” The right side of the gate frame is inscribed in intaglio with the words “Renovated in the 23rd Year of the Wanli Era.” Originally, the interior housed a Buddha niche, though the statues are no longer present. The seven layers of eaves are supported using a corbeling technique, with outwardly projecting brick corners resembling lotus petals. The pagoda spire features an octagonal base, topped with double-layered lotus petals and a gourd-shaped finial.

The original construction date of the pagoda is unknown. According to research in the early Republican era by Fu Zengxiang and Zhou Zhaoxiang in their work *Laiyi Travel Notes*, it was built in the second year of the Xiantian era of the Tang Dynasty (713 AD), though the basis for this claim remains unclear. In recent years, many experts in ancient architecture have studied the structure and concluded, based on architectural style, materials, and structural features, that it is a Tang Dynasty pagoda.

On October 7, 2019, Laishui Longyan Temple Pagoda was included in the eighth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Eighth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units