Zhunti Tower

Zhunti Tower

Zhunti Tower is a cultural relic protection unit of Runan County.

Zhunti Tower is located in Little South Sea Park, Runan, about forty meters from the city moat, within the grounds of the Runan Gardening School.

In the 24th year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty (1545), a severe drought left no rainfall, rivers dried up, the earth cracked, and no crops grew. To pray for rain and receive a divine response, Prince Chongzhuang, following an imperial edict, built this tower. It was named “Zhunti” (a transliteration from Sanskrit meaning “pure” or “clean,” and also one of the six forms of the Bodhisattva Guanyin in Esoteric Buddhism), with the hope of invoking blessings from the deities for the arrival of life-giving rain. During the late Ming period of warfare, the monk’s quarters and corridors at the rear hall were all destroyed. In the 8th year of the Shunzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1651), Tui Wang Daoxin renovated Zhunti Tower.

The tower is a single-eave, nine-ridged, hip-and-gable style structure, spanning five bays with a width of 18 meters, a depth of 8.8 meters from front to back, and a height of 12 meters. Its roof is covered with yellow-green glazed tiles. Situated on two levels of stone platforms, the tower appears majestic, grand, and ancient in style. The first platform covers an area of 323.4 square meters, with five steps each one meter high, leading step-by-step up to the main hall. The two-tiered platform is surrounded by three-foot-high white marble pillars, which no longer exist today, though the surrounding bluestone bases remain.

Inside, there are seven purlins, with double-step beams at the front and rear. The eave columns are 4.5 meters high, with flat column tops and drum-shaped bases. The lintels are adorned with carved wooden decorations. At the center of the main ridge sits a precious vase, with large dragon heads positioned at both ends. Along each row of eave tiles, there are 218 glazed Buddhist statues, each half a foot tall, vividly crafted and lifelike.

The walls around Zhunti Tower and both platform levels are constructed from bluestones measuring 35 cm in length, 15 cm in width, and 8 cm in thickness. In 1951 and 1959, the county government carried out two restoration projects on the tower, preserving its architectural features from the early Qing Dynasty. Despite the passage of time and years of weathering, its grand and majestic appearance remains. It provides valuable historical material for the study of ancient architecture and is now a key cultural relic protection unit of Runan County.