Longchuan Lower Pagoda

Longchuan Lower Pagoda

The Longchuan Lower Pagoda is a cultural relic protection unit of Guangdong Province.

The Lower Pagoda is located in Tafeng Village, Tianxin Town. Built during the Song Dynasty, it is a cultural relic protection unit of Guangdong Province and is also known as the “Fairy Pagoda.” It was originally constructed in the second year of the Xuanhe era of the Northern Song Dynasty (1120) and was renovated in the 33rd year of the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty (1605). It has a history of 885 years to date. Bricks inscribed with text on the pagoda body bear the characters “Xuanyue Second Year, Gengzi.” The Lower Pagoda is a seven-story, four-sided, flat-plan, pavilion-style brick pagoda. It stands 25 meters tall and has a yellowish-gray exterior. Its foundation is supported by granite strip stones, and the rest is built entirely of bricks. The first story has sides that are 4.4 meters long, with one actual doorway on the western side leading into the interior cavity and three false doors on the other sides. Stories two and above are hollow with no internal stairway, and all four sides feature false doors. The outer walls of the pagoda do not have balconies or bracket sets; instead, they use interlocking layers of dentil bricks and line bricks to form eaves. Each story has a significant taper, giving the structure a cone-like shape as it rises. This pagoda is the only Song Dynasty four-sided brick pagoda with a flat plan among ancient pagodas in eastern Guangdong.

In 1989, the Guangdong Provincial Government listed the Lower Pagoda as a “Cultural Relic Protection Unit of Guangdong Province.”

Tianxin Town: Tianxin Town is located in the central-eastern part of Longchuan County, along the upper reaches of the Han River. It borders Daping in Xingning and HuiLong in Longchuan to the east, Lumu to the west, Shikeng and Tiechang to the south, and Chiguang to the north. The terrain is higher in the northeast and lower in the southwest, with undulating hills. In March 1977, Tianxin Commune was established after being split from Lumu Commune. In November 1983, it was designated as a district, and in 1990, it became a town, a status it retains to this day. The town covers a total area of 88.2 square kilometers, including 92,000 mu of mountainous land and 21,400 mu of arable land. It administers 16 administrative villages, 178 economic cooperatives, 14 enterprises and institutions, one residents' committee, and has a total population... More detailed information about Tianxin Town++

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units of Guangdong Province