Tianning Temple Lingxiao Pagoda

Tianning Temple Lingxiao Pagoda

Tianning Temple Lingxiao Pagoda is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Tianning Temple Lingxiao Pagoda, located within the former Tianning Temple on the north side of Dazhong Street, west of Longxing Temple in Zhengding, derives its name from its towering height. It is also commonly known as the Wooden Pagoda due to its largely wooden structure.

According to the Guangxu-era "Zhengding County Annals," both Tianning Temple and the Lingxiao Pagoda were built during the Weitong period (860–874 AD) of Emperor Yizong of the Tang Dynasty. At that time, the temple complex was grand and magnificent, with major structures such as the memorial archway, main gate, Heavenly King Hall, front hall, rear hall, and Lingxiao Pagoda arranged in sequence from south to north. The sounds of evening drums and morning bells echoed, and incense offerings flourished. In the early years of the Republic of China, the temple suffered repeated disasters, with halls being destroyed one after another, leaving only the Lingxiao Pagoda among the main structures.

The Lingxiao Pagoda is a nine-story, brick-and-wood pavilion-style pagoda with an octagonal floor plan, standing 41 meters tall atop an octagonal platform. The first to fourth stories of the pagoda were rebuilt during the Song Dynasty on the ruins of the original Tang Dynasty pagoda, and are entirely made of brick. The upper stories were reconstructed during the Jin Dynasty with a brick-and-wood structure. Each story features arched doorways or straight windows on the front facade. From the fourth to the ninth story, the brackets and upturned eaves are all made of wood. Starting from the fifth story, the height of each successive level decreases gradually, and the external contour tapers inward, giving the pagoda a light and graceful appearance.

The most distinctive feature of the Lingxiao Pagoda is the vertical wooden pillar at the center of the fourth story, which extends all the way to the top of the pagoda. This central pillar is connected to the outer eaves via eight radiating bracket arms. This structural design is unique in China and extremely rare. The pagoda’s construction differs from that of typical wooden pagodas as well as conventional brick-and-wood pagodas.

Over its more than thousand-year history, the Lingxiao Pagoda has suffered multiple instances of damage. On March 22, 1866, an earthquake destroyed the iron, hollow, jujube-shaped spire. Later, wind and rain caused the eighth and ninth stories to collapse as well. To protect this ancient pagoda, which holds significant importance in the history of ancient architecture, the government organized a comprehensive survey and, while striving to preserve its original appearance, carried out a complete dismantling and restoration in 1981.

In February 1982, during the survey process, an underground palace was discovered beneath the pagoda’s foundation. Upon excavation, a collection of valuable cultural relics was unearthed. Among them, two inscribed stone reliquaries from the second year of the Song Dynasty's Chongning era (1103 AD) and the sixth year of the Jin Dynasty's Huangtong era (1146 AD) provided reliable evidence for determining the exact date of the pagoda’s construction. According to the inscriptions on the two stone reliquaries, the pagoda was originally named Huiguang Pagoda, built during the reign of Emperor Daizong of the Tang Dynasty (762–799 AD), underwent major repairs in the fifth year of the Song Dynasty's Qingli era (1045 AD), and was renovated again in the fifth year of the Jin Dynasty's Huangtong era (1145 AD). These relic findings corrected and supplemented the records in the county annals. The pagoda is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Further Reading:

· Second Batch of Hebei Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Third Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units