Saltting Writing Brush Tower

Saltting Writing Brush Tower

The Saltting Writing Brush Tower is a cultural relic protection unit of Sichuan Province.

The tower is named Writing Brush Tower because it resembles a huge writing brush. Oriented from northwest to southeast, it covers an area of 144 square meters. Built in the fourteenth year of the Guangxu reign during the Qing Dynasty (1888), it is a seven-tiered, hexagonal pavilion-style brick pagoda with a single-tube structure and a spire top. The body of the pagoda rests on a three-tiered red sandstone base, which is hexagonal in shape, and the overall height of the pagoda is 31 meters. The exterior of the pagoda is constructed of blue bricks and finely fired earthenware components. Each of the seven tiers tapers upward slightly, with false windows on each level, and the interior is hollow up to the top. At the base of the first tier, each corner is supported by large red sandstone drums carved in high relief to stabilize the structure. Under the capstones of the eaves on each level, the pagoda features ceramic bas-reliefs depicting opera couplets, human figures, birds and beasts, flowers, and landscapes. The second to seventh tiers have cloud-dragon reliefs on their columns. Dragons with five claws are depicted swirling through the clouds on the second and third tiers, displaying a majestic momentum, and the words “Dragon Coiled, Tiger Crouched” are embedded there. On the fifth, sixth, and seventh tiers, iron bells hang from each corner. The front of the second tier bears a horizontal plaque inscribed with the incised characters “Clouds Steam, Rosy Clouds Glow,” and the column features a recessed, regular-script, ceramic-carved couplet: “The radiance of literary works outshines the North Star; scholarly honors in this neighborhood rise in the eastern pass.” The top of the pagoda is covered with gray tubular and flat tiles, and the finial takes the form of a gourd-shaped precious bottle. The Writing Brush Tower was built to invoke the flourishing of literary culture and to express hopes for the revitalization of the hometown. It boasts exquisite carving artistry, a beautifully unique design, rich traditional cultural significance, and is a specially constructed brick pagoda within Sichuan. It is also the most prominent ancient cultural symbol in Yanting County and a crystallization of the wisdom of the ancient laboring people. It holds significant value for the study of Qing Dynasty culture and arts.

In December 1986, the People's Government of Yanting County designated the Writing Brush Tower as a county-level cultural relic protection unit.

In June 2007, the People's Government of Sichuan Province designated the Writing Brush Tower as a provincial-level cultural relic protection unit.

Protection boundary: Extend 3 meters outward from the outer edge of the Writing Brush Tower.

Construction control zone: Extend 10 meters outward from the protection boundary.