Shixiongshan Pagoda

Shixiongshan Pagoda

Shixiongshan Pagoda is a cultural relic protection unit of Guangdong Province.

The Ming Dynasty Wuhua Shixiongshan Pagoda is located on Shixiongshan Mountain in Tagang Village, Huacheng Town, Wuhua County. Construction began in the 40th year of the Wanli reign during the Ming Dynasty (1612), and was successively overseen by Cai Guobing, the regional administrator; Jiang Qi, the acting county magistrate; and Zhan Zizhong, the county magistrate. Minor repairs were carried out in the 59th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1794) and the 15th year of the Republic of China (1926). It is a pavilion-style brick pagoda, octagonal with nine tiers, and stands 35.5 meters tall. The base is a Sumeru pedestal built with stone slabs, each side measuring 5 meters and the base diameter 13.8 meters. The body of the pagoda is constructed from blue bricks with walls 4 meters thick. The staircase inside is a type that turns upward within the wall. Wooden flooring was installed from the first to the seventh tiers. Each level features eaves formed by corbelled brickwork. The second tier has a balcony. The top is crowned with an iron cast gourd-shaped finial. The door lintel bears an inscription in relief calligraphy reading "Worshipped for Generations" ("万代瞻仰"), written by Zhan Zizhong, the magistrate of Changle County (now Wuhua). It is dated “Dragon Boat Festival, the Year of Guichou, Wanli Reign” (“万历癸丑端阳”) and inscribed “Erected by Zhan Zizhong of Jinzhang” (“金漳詹子忠立”). Two steles documenting the pagoda’s renovations are preserved inside. Zhang Tieshan, a local poet of the Qing Dynasty, composed a couplet for the pagoda: “The mountain is the screen, the earth the mat, the moon the lamp, the misty clouds the pavilions; thunder drums and wind flutes celebrate a peaceful world. The pagoda is the pen, the sky the paper, the clouds the ink, the vast river the inkstone—sun dots and star specks compose grand cosmic prose.”

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, a mountain song ritual fair was held here for six days around the Ghost Festival. In the Republican era, it became a quinquennial event. Each time the fair took place, tens of thousands of locals and visitors from neighboring counties eagerly participated, filling the area with continuous singing. The pagoda is currently well-preserved.

In June 1989, the People's Government of Guangdong Province designated it as a cultural relic protection unit.

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of Guangdong Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units