Ningzhou Pagoda

Ningzhou Pagoda

Ningzhou Pagoda is a cultural tourism attraction.

Ningzhou Pagoda

Ningzhou Pagoda, also known as Zhoupei, is located on the bank of a stream north of Liuching Canal in Zhouta Village, west of Zhongning County. Originally built in the second year of the Dashaun era of the Tang Dynasty (891 AD), it was a brick pagoda erected within the dockside temple by Fengning City (now Gucheng) to commemorate how Diao Yongjun of the Northern Wei Dynasty set up a dock here, where 200 ships were built in a single winter, thus initiating river navigation on the Yellow River.

The architectural style of Ningzhou Pagoda is rather unique. The base is solid and lies 2.67 meters below ground level. The foundation pit is several times larger than the base itself, with walls made of bricks and stones on all four sides. The pagoda stands in the center of the foundation pit, resembling a mast rising from within a ship’s hold. A local poem includes lines such as “The temple wall faces the boat, the pagoda mast peaks like a crab’s sail.” The pagoda has seven stories, with an octagonal floor plan, each side measuring five feet in width. The interior is hollow and circular, with a diameter of 1.5 meters. A spiral staircase built with interlocking bricks winds upward to the top. The pagoda body is covered with plain colored bricks, with lime used to seal the joints. The exterior features interlaced carved patterns, with wind chimes hanging at the corners. The spire is gourd-shaped, topped with a brass lotus-leaf pointed finial. The first level of the pagoda has an open doorway, while the seventh level has a southern entrance; the other levels each have one front door, one west door, and two east doors. On the northern side of the third level, there is a square brick plaque, with the four large characters “Ningzhou Pagoda” on the front, and inscriptions in small regular script engraved on the sides and bottom. According to records, two stories of the pagoda collapsed during an earthquake in the 48th year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1709 AD), and it was repaired in the 4th year of the Yongzheng reign (1726 AD). In the 9th year of the Republic of China (1920 AD), a major earthquake caused it to lean slightly to the east, but it later straightened itself. The pagoda temple originally housed a large bell, similar in shape and size to one in the Shikong Grottoes, believed to have been cast in the same mold, with a resonant toll.