Hebao Bao'en Temple Pagoda

Hebao Bao'en Temple Pagoda

Hebao Bao'en Temple Pagoda is a cultural relic protection unit of Chongqing Municipality.

Hebao Bao'en Temple Pagoda is located in Haiyue Village, Hebao Town, Rongchang County, and dates back to the Song Dynasty.

Hebao White Pagoda, also known as Rongchang White Pagoda or Rongchang Bao'en Pagoda, is located in Haiyue Village, Hebao Town, in the northern part of Rongchang County, Chongqing, about 17 kilometers from the county seat. It was first built in the second year of the Shaoxing era of the Southern Song Dynasty (1132 AD) and was an important part of the original Bao'en Temple complex. The pagoda is a hollow, seven-story, square stone structure imitating wooden architecture, standing 16 meters tall. The base is a plain, double-layered square measuring 5.2 meters on each side and 1 meter in height, with a door on the front of the ground floor.

The body of the pagoda consists of a single layer of stone walls with internal stone pillars, each 1.4 meters high. The third and fourth stories feature carvings of dragons and phoenixes. The pagoda tapers upward with each level, and each story contains either a niche or a cavity housing a seated Buddha on a lotus pedestal. Under the eaves of each level are carved brackets in the “one-dou-three-sheng” style, totaling 20 brackets. The pagoda has an imposing presence and a unique design, having withstood 800 years of weathering.

As for the origins of the Bao'en Pagoda, even local residents are unclear, though they speculate from the name that it may have been built by ancient people to commemorate a benefactor. Another theory suggests it was named after the original Bao'en Temple that once stood on the site. By the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the Bao'en Temple had been destroyed by fire, leaving only the pagoda. Today, the main body of the pagoda, its eaves, base, and internal stairway are largely intact.

Experts from the National Cultural Heritage Administration who conducted on-site inspections in Hebao Town described the Bao'en Pagoda as preserving “construction techniques characteristic of the Southern Song Dynasty,” giving it extremely high cultural relic value. Although many square pavilion-style pagodas were built after the Southern Song period, their construction methods differed. The Bao'en Pagoda extensively employed architectural features such as the “one-dou-three-sheng” bracket system and “dragon-phoenix dougong” supports, enabling the stone pagoda to withstand 800 years of history without collapsing—an extremely rare occurrence in China. As a result, Hebao White Pagoda is regarded by cultural heritage experts as a “construction specimen” of Southern Song stone pagodas. Locals report that although several minor earthquakes have occurred in the area over generations, the white pagoda has remained unscathed.

The pagoda holds valuable significance for the study of Song Dynasty stone pagodas, wooden architecture, carving art, and Buddhism. It also features distinctive local characteristics and is one of the rare surviving structures in Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality.

In 2000, Hebao Bao'en Temple Pagoda was designated by the Chongqing Municipal People's Government as one of the first batch of municipal cultural relic protection units.

Hebao Town: A town under the administration of Rongchang County. Established as Hebao Township in 1950, converted to a commune in 1958, reinstated as a township in 1984, and upgraded to a town in 1990. Located in the northern part of the county, it is 18.2 kilometers from the county seat. Covering an area of 69 square kilometers, it has a population of 43,000. The town governs 33 administrative villages including Tudi, Hetao, Dashih, Shimǎ, Hanwang, Jinniu, Lujiayan, Zhuanlong, Qinglong, Haiyue, Huangtan, Jingtang, Sankuai Bei, Gaochong, Yueguang, Caozi, Changwu, Fahua, Huilong, Shizi, Guanyinge, Baichang, Anlong, Mituo, Tiangong, Baiyang, Xiaowan, Leitai, Liangjiapo, Desheng, Longtan, Daxing, and Yongxing. ++Hebao Town detailed information++