Bangshan Wen Tower

Bangshan Wen Tower

Bangshan Wen Tower is a cultural relic protection unit of Long’an County.

“Luoyi, the Butterfly City, boasts timeless beauty, and Bangshan Wen Tower stands as its most elegant gem.” Bangshan Wen Tower is one of the Eight Scenic Spots of Luoyi and a rare treasure in the architectural art of Long’an.

Bangshan Wen Tower was built in the 22nd year of the Guangxu reign during the Qing Dynasty (1896 AD) and has a history of over a hundred years. It is situated atop Dongduxiu Mountain, three kilometers east of the county town, where the winding Youjiang River flows gracefully at its feet. Here, the river, the pagoda, and the Butterfly City complement each other, forming a picturesque scene. There are several legends about the construction of this tower: One says that when looking east from the county town, Dongduxiu Mountain rises above the chaotic ridges, resembling a giant beast glaring menacingly at the county seat, causing successive county magistrates to have short terms in office. To suppress the bad “feng shui,” Magistrate Chu Xingzhou instructed local gentry to rally the citizens to donate funds for building the tower on this mountain. Another tale claims that Dongduxiu Mountain made people from nine nearby villages sharp-tongued and gluttonous, so constructing a pagoda resembling a writing brush pointing to the sky would prevent them from doing evil. The third story says that Dongduxiu Mountain, located downstream of Yanjiang, is low and small, allowing the wealth of the Yanjiang River to flow away through the Youjiang into the East China Sea. Thus, the gentry and residents of Yanjiang requested the tower’s construction to halt the feng shui and retain the wealth. After the tower was built, an annual banquet was held using the rental income from the fields of Bangshan Academy to worship the tower, inviting local scholars and dignitaries, hence the name Bangshan Wen Tower.

The pagoda stands atop Dongduxiu Mountain, which rises 201 meters above sea level. This mountain towers alone amid flat fields and mountain villages, with rugged rocks and a proud stance, forming a sharp contrast to the surrounding rolling earthen ridges. At its foot, lush trees cluster densely, forming a massive green base. From the mountainside to the summit, various shrubs grow thickly. Climbing up the rugged path, you sometimes brush past branches and leaves, and at other times are forced to crawl through tree hollows.

The pagoda soars straight into the sky, standing solemnly. It was built with two hundred thousand high-quality blue bricks and is twenty-eight meters tall, facing west from the east. Its exterior is a hexagonal three-tiered structure. The arched doorway at the base faces the Confucian Temple gate in the county town. On both sides of the archway is a couplet: the upper line reads, “Bangshan monopolizes the top spot, people ascend to scholarly honors,” and the lower line reads, “Wen Tower stands solitary on the ridge, officials emerge as heroes,” with the horizontal inscription reading “Bangshan Wen Tower.” The exterior of the pagoda is painted with colorful images of dragons, phoenixes, qilins, flowers, insects, fish, pavilions, towers, and portraits of notable figures—vivid and lifelike. At the top of the pagoda is a large round vat shaped like a gourd, with an iron rod standing vertically as an axis, about fifteen centimeters in diameter. Inside, the pagoda has an octagonal six-story structure, with stairs and floors on each level made of bright red nanmu wood. The first to fifth levels house altars with no fewer than seventy statues and plaques, including those of Confucius, the sage of sages, Guanyin Bodhisattva, and ancestral tablets. Each figure is exquisitely sculpted, vivid and uniquely charming. The pagoda walls are thick and extremely sturdy. The first and second levels are 165 cm thick, the third and fourth 130 cm, and the fifth and sixth 90 cm. Each side of every level has ten unframed round windows, each about 70 cm in diameter, allowing people to sit inside. Outside the pagoda is a 1.7-meter-high wall, with the entrance on the northeast side and a couplet on the gate reading, “Heaven opens the Dragon-Tiger List, literary fortune shines like the Dipper and Ox.”

The pagoda is sturdy and beautiful, truly a scenic marvel, attracting a constant stream of visitors. When you climb the tower for sightseeing, many near and distant scenes, as well as mountain and water views, stretch out before your eyes. Overlooking the Butterfly City, you see high-rises standing elegantly; gazing down at the Youjiang River, your heart surges with waves of thoughts; looking afar at the Yanjiang River, the misty expanse clears your mind; and scanning the surroundings, you take in Qiaojian’s Horse Saddle Mountain, Pingshan’s Daming Mountain, Lianlong’s Xixiu Mountain, and Pingguo’s Jiuning Mountain. Truly, climbing the tower and looking into the distance inspires lofty ambitions, refreshing the heart and soul, bringing boundless joy.

Since its construction, Bangshan Wen Tower has endured many hardships and suffered repeated disasters. Without a lightning rod, it was struck by lightning several times, but fortunately, the damage was minor. During the War of Resistance, Japanese planes bombarded the Butterfly City, and the pagoda was also targeted. During the land reform period, the Buddha statues, spirit tablets, and carved images inside the tower were destroyed as feudal remnants. During the Cultural Revolution, the statue of Confucius was smashed as part of the campaign against the “Four Olds.” Later, the tower was neglected, and aside from some remaining floorboards on the second level, all other relics were either burned or stolen due to disrepair over time.

Today, although Bangshan Wen Tower has weathered centuries of change, its majestic presence remains, still standing proudly atop Dongduxiu Mountain, drawing the admiration of passersby. Whenever people see the Bangshan Wen Tower, a sense of reverence naturally arises. The towering structure faces the numerous buildings of the Butterfly City across the river, complementing each other and adding a radiant touch to the beautiful land of Long’an.

Scenic Area Address: Dongduxiu Mountain, three li east of Long’an County, Nanning City