East Tower and North Tower of Santai

East Tower and North Tower of Santai

The East Tower and North Tower of Santai are cultural relics protected at the provincial level in Sichuan Province.

In Dongshan Park in Santai County stands an East Tower, while opposite it on Tingziliang there stands a North Tower. A beautiful local legend surrounds these two towers.

Legend has it that long, long ago, two goddesses came down to earth from the heavens. They were two sisters, both very beautiful and kind. The sisters roamed the world, savoring all the joys and happiness of human life. One day, as they walked along, they began to quarrel. Both sisters then swore they would never marry and vowed to spend their lives doing good deeds for people. To prove their sincerity, they decided each would build a tower. They set themselves the task of completing the towers by the time the rooster crowed after starting work at nightfall. With this agreement made, the younger sister headed north as night fell, and the elder sister went east, each going to prepare for the construction of her tower.

The elder sister walked until she became parched, and stopped by Dongshan Temple to drink water. Guanyin (the Goddess of Mercy), seeing how exhausted she looked, asked why she was so tired. The elder sister told her story and was given advice by Guanyin, who directed her to build her tower on the grassy field on the mountainside. The elder sister got to work at the spot pointed out by the Goddess.

The younger sister too received divine guidance from the Bodhisattva at Qinquan Temple and selected a location on Tingziliang where she also started building.

The two sisters toiled away, putting all their energy into the work. Just as they were getting into full swing, they heard a sudden rooster’s crow from the valley below. In panic, the elder sister hastily covered her tower’s top with a stone gong taken from Dongshan Temple, while the younger sister, in haste, placed a pot taken from Qinquan Temple on her own tower's roof. It seems neither tower ended up being entirely perfect, and perhaps the sisters’ vows to remain unmarried were not so resolute after all. This is the origin of the story behind the construction of the two towers.

1. East Tower

Protected area: A zone extending 5 meters outward from the outer edge of the tower base.

Construction control zone: A zone extending 10 meters outward beyond the protected area.

2. North Tower

Protected area: A zone extending 5 meters outward from the outer edge of the tower base.

Construction control zone: A zone extending 10 meters outward beyond the protected area.

Further reading:

· Eighth Batch of Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units