Huangfu Temple Pagoda

Huangfu Temple Pagoda

Huangfu Temple Pagoda is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Huangfu Temple Pagoda is located 0.5 kilometers northeast of Sihuangfu Village, which lies about 7.5 kilometers northeast of Laishui County. It was originally a stupa of Pilu Temple in the area. After the temple was destroyed, only the pagoda and two ancient stone steles remained (currently, only one stele is preserved at Xigang in the west of the county). The pagoda came to be known as "Huangfu Temple Pagoda." According to the Laishui County Annals, the pagoda was built during the Dading era of the Jin Dynasty and has a history of nearly a thousand years.

The pagoda is an octagonal, thirteen-story solid structure with dense eaves, standing 22 meters tall with a diameter of 5 meters at the base. It sits on a square stone foundation. The lower part of the pagoda features two-tiered lotus bases made of stacked bricks, without any carved patterns. The slender middle section of the second tier also lacks carvings, but moving upward, each corner is adorned with a bracket set supporting projecting eaves. On the southern side of the midsection of the pagoda is an arched doorway over 2 meters high, featuring painted designs inside. Originally, there was a white marble statue of the Goddess Bai (which was knocked down and damaged during the Anti-Japanese War). The east, north, and west sides each have imitation brick-carved doors of the same style, along with four sides of finely crafted imitation brick windows. The gourd-shaped pagoda top is made of metal (traditionally said to be either copper or iron).

On April 25, 2005, Cao Jihai, a villager from Sihuangfu, accidentally discovered inscriptions on the pagoda top while surveying the ground level for a cattle farm. After careful examination by many, the inscriptions were identified: on the southeast side, it reads “The eighth day of the fourth lunar month in the eighth year of the Jiajing reign of the Great Ming, by Tong Li, resident of Lumuzhuang, his eldest son Tong Zhang, and second son Tong Yuan, who renovated the pagoda top.” On the southwest side, it reads “Pilu Temple of Laishui County, Yizhou, Baoding Prefecture, Zhili Province. Supervised by Monk Xu Jing, funded by Monk Lü Zhen of Fǎzhèn. Donated by Xing Tou Xing Zhen.” This pagoda was among the first batch of provincial-level key cultural relics protection units after the founding of the People’s Republic of China and underwent renovation in 1984.

In May 2013, Huangfu Temple Pagoda was announced as part of the seventh batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Second Batch of Hebei Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units