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The Jinglue Platform and Zhenwu Pavilion

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The Zhenwu Pavilion in Rong County is located within the ancient city of Rongzhou. The entire pavilion is constructed from wood and is hailed as the “Outstanding Architectural Marvel of Southern China,” being truly one of a kind. Along with Yueyang Tower in Hunan, Yellow Crane Tower in Hubei, and Tengwang Pavilion in Jiangxi, Zhenwu Pavilion is recognized as one of the Four Great Towers (Pavilions) of Ancient Jiangnan. In 1982, it was designated as part of the second batch of Major National Historical and Cultural Sites...

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The Jinglue Platform and Zhenwu Pavilion is a Major National Historical and Cultural Site.

The Zhenwu Pavilion in Rong County is located within the ancient city of Rongzhou. The entire pavilion is built entirely of wood and is praised as the “Outstanding Architectural Marvel of Southern China,” being unique in the world. Together with Yueyang Tower in Hunan, Yellow Crane Tower in Hubei, and Tengwang Pavilion in Jiangxi, Zhenwu Pavilion is known as one of the Four Great Towers (Pavilions) of Ancient Jiangnan. In 1982, it was listed as part of the second batch of Major National Historical and Cultural Sites. For over 440 years, the Zhenwu Pavilion has withstood five earthquakes and four major typhoons yet remains intact — it is the only one among the Four Great Towers (Pavilions) that has never been rebuilt and has survived to this day in its original form. Despite the heavy load from the upper floorboards, beams, supporting columns, roof tiles, and ridge decorations, the column bases are suspended in mid-air without touching the ground, making this the most ingenious and unique part of the pavilion’s structure.

The Zhenwu Pavilion in Rong County

The Jinglue Platform and Zhenwu Pavilion was first built in the third year of the Dali era of the Tang Dynasty (768 AD). According to historical records, at that time, the famous poet Yuan Jie, serving as the Regional Military Commissioner of Rongzhou, constructed the Jinglue Platform for military drills and scenic enjoyment. The platform is about 50 meters long, 15 meters wide, and roughly 4 meters high, with a rammed earth core and brick-and-stone walls on all sides, making it solid and stable. In the tenth year of the Hongwu era of the Ming Dynasty (1377 AD), the “Xuanwu Palace was built atop it” to enshrine the Zhenwu God (the Dark Warrior) to suppress the Fire God. In the first year of the Wanli era (1573 AD), large-scale construction was carried out to expand it into a three-story pavilion facing south, surrounded by corridors, walls, bells, tripods, and other auxiliary buildings and facilities. After centuries of weathering and cycles of rise and decline, only the Zhenwu Pavilion still stands firmly and has been preserved to this day.

The Zhenwu Pavilion in Rong County

The Zhenwu Pavilion is 13.2 meters tall, 13.8 meters wide, and 11.2 meters deep, and is a uniquely styled wooden structure. The entire pavilion is assembled using nearly 3,000 ironwood components of varying sizes, hard as stone, which are riveted, linked, interlocked, and mutually supported to form a beautifully unified, stable, and harmonious whole.

The Zhenwu Pavilion in Rong County

The base of the pavilion has no walls connecting it to the courtyard, giving it a spacious and open feel. Among the twenty straight and upright massive pillars, eight run all the way to the top floor, serving as the main supports bearing the load of the entire three-story structure. The pillars are connected by beams and brackets, and each pillar is adorned with four dougong (bracket sets) that hold up four diagonal beams, effectively supporting the pavilion. The second floor has four supporting pillars that bear the floorboards, beams, supporting columns, and roof tiles of the upper level, yet the base pillars are suspended 3 centimeters above the ground — the most unique and ingenious part of the entire structure. This structural method involves running eighteen beams through the outer pillars in two layers on the suspended columns, forming two sets of tightly integrated “lever-style” bracket sets. The front ends of the brackets support the wide outer eaves, while the rear ends lift the suspended inner columns. This unique “lever structure,” which maintains the building’s balance like a scale, is extremely rare in architectural history. The entire pavilion was built without a single iron nail, relying entirely on mortise-and-tenon joints. Despite more than 400 years of wind, rain, and earthquakes, it remains unscathed, making it a masterpiece of ancient Chinese architecture. (National Cultural Heritage Administration)

The Zhenwu Pavilion in Rong County