Shawan Baofeng Pagoda

Shawan Baofeng Pagoda

On Da Mao Hill in Shawan, which stands higher than all the surrounding hills, there once stood a towering "pagoda over a hundred feet tall, known as "Baofeng Pagoda." At sunset, its shadow would stretch as far as "Mai Village," hence the name, called “Tower Peak Sunset,” and together with “Daytime Market at Lotus Peak,” it was one of the ancient Six Scenic Spots of Shawan.

Baofeng Pagoda was long a landmark of Shawan and a spiritual beacon for the older generations of Shawan people. In the 19th year of the Republic of China (1930), Liang Zhaokui documented the full text about Baofeng Pagoda in his book "The Ancient Six Scenic Spots of Shawan":

The mountain range extends from Lianzi Peak to Da Mao Ridge, which rises steeply and towers above all other hills in Shawan. The tomb of my earliest ancestor, Liang Xun—a Jinshi scholar of the Southern Song Dynasty—is located at its summit. At the highest point behind the tomb lies the site of an ancient pagoda, seven stories high and about a hundred feet tall, reaching into the clouds. It is said that Baofeng Pagoda was first built during the Ming Dynasty, and that it was during this time that scholarship flourished—figures such as the father-and-son duo Lun Yugang and Lun Yu, as well as the Grand Secretary Huo Wenmin, achieved remarkable success in imperial examinations and official careers, excelling across the nation. Whenever the sun set behind the mountains, the pagoda’s shadow would blur into the distance, resembling the reflection of Leifeng Pagoda on West Lake’s Nanping Hill. It is said that in the Jiaqing era of the Qing Dynasty, certain villagers, influenced by feng shui beliefs, felt the pagoda’s shadow cast an unlucky influence and secretly destroyed it. Not long after, the foundation collapsed. Some bricks still remain today. According to an inscription on a stele, the pagoda was built between the Dingmao and Wuchen years of the Jiaqing reign (i.e., 1807–1808) and renovated in the 23rd year of Jiaqing (1818, the year of Wuyin). Some say it was originally located on Baota Ridge—which indeed took its name from the pagoda—and was later relocated here. The left-side gate tower of Lianfeng Academy bears the inscription "Baofeng Pagoda Path." Even today, visitors who climb the hill and gaze out often sigh, imagining the sight of the pagoda before its collapse.