Guifeng Pagoda

Guifeng Pagoda

Guifeng Pagoda is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Guifeng Pagoda is located on Nandi Road, Yuancheng District, Heyuan City, facing the confluence of the Dongjiang and Xinfengjiang rivers. It derives its name from being built atop Guifeng Mountain.

Guifeng Pagoda was built in the second year of the Shaoxing era of the Southern Song Dynasty (1132) and underwent renovation in the 30th year of the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty. It is a hexagonal, seven-story pavilion-style brick pagoda, standing 42.6 meters in total height, and comprises a base, body, and finial. Though it appears to have seven stories on the outside, internally it is divided into one visible and one hidden level, totaling thirteen stories. Each level features one actual door; passing through the door and circling around the balcony allows access to higher levels. The exterior of each story is adorned with brickwork imitating wooden elements such as columns, lintels, arches, and false doors. The corbelled brick eaves and balconies vary in width per level, with wooden balustrades installed on the balconies. The first-floor eaves are embellished with carved patterns. The pagoda tapers inward from top to bottom, with a surrounding lower gallery.

Guifeng Pagoda has a clearly recorded construction date, providing reliable evidence for the study of Lingnan-style Song Dynasty pagodas.

Legend has it that immortals, moved by the plight of Heyuan residents who suffered annual flooding, took pity and placed a giant turtle at the confluence of the Xinfengjiang and Dongjiang rivers, transforming it into a hill. A pagoda was then erected to subdue the water demon. Hence, the hill is called Guifeng Mountain, and the pagoda is named Guifeng Pagoda. Built in the second year of the Shaoxing era of the Southern Song Dynasty (1132 AD), it is the earliest datable pavilion-style brick pagoda of the Southern Song in Guangdong Province.

The pagoda has a hexagonal floor plan. The first floor has an outer side length of 4.8 meters, an inner side length of 1.6 meters, and walls 0.3 meters thick, with a total height of 42.6 meters. The main entrance faces east. While the pagoda appears to have seven stories externally, it actually contains fourteen—seven visible and seven hidden—rising like bamboo segments, each tier narrowing slightly. Each level is outfitted with fir wood flooring covered with square bricks; the hidden tiers include two penetrating doors and four Buddha niches. The visible tiers have one door leading to the next level’s platform and five doorways opening to the surrounding balconies. Spiral staircases lead to the top. The pagoda is built from blue bricks, with balconies and eaves supported by staggered dog-tooth bricks layered between floors, resulting in broader eaves than on other pagodas. Wooden railings are installed on the balconies, with corner pillars at each of the six angles per level, connected by horizontal rail beams—typical of Song-style brick pagodas mimicking wooden architecture. The eaves of each level now feature gray glazed tiles with decorative drip tiles, while copper bells hang beneath the corner beams. After 857 years of weathering, the original pagoda top has been lost, the base buried under silt, the eaves and balconies collapsed, and the roof tiles gone. The original wooden flooring inside each level has also been completely destroyed.

Externally seven stories and internally fourteen, Guifeng Pagoda is a brick imitation of a pavilion-style tower. Hexagonal in shape, it has a base side length of 5 meters and is hollow inside, with 3-meter-thick base walls. Internal brick staircases lead straight up through the walls to each floor, and circumnavigating the external balconies allows ascent to the top. Before restoration, the pagoda top had been destroyed, leaving a residual height of 32 meters. Prior to restoration, the main structure remained largely intact, showing no tilting or cracks. Originally built with yellow mud mortar, the bricks came in two colors—blue and red—and varied greatly in size, with over 30 different specifications. The base of the pagoda had been buried under accumulated soil, and two large banyan trees grew at the northeast corner. Analysis of beam holes on the first floor and archaeological excavation of the foundation suggest there was once a surrounding gallery (sub-order), with roughly 3-meter-tall wooden beams, brackets, and tiled roofing extending from each of the six corners of the first level. Each level of the pagoda steps inward, with eaves and balconies formed by corbelled dentil bricks.

After Heyuan became a prefecture-level city in 1989, with support from provincial authorities, Guifeng Pagoda was approved for restoration. The project strictly adhered to the principles of “restoring the old as it was” and “not altering the original appearance of the cultural relic.” Locally, there’s a legend that “Heyuan Pagoda has no top,” but experts have confirmed that the pagoda originally did have a top, which was lost due to the “collapse of the first level in the second year of the Xianfeng era, Renzi” (recorded in the Heyuan County Annals). This “collapse of the first level” refers to the original pagoda top. Moreover, a large horizontal beam found on the sixth level inside the pagoda shaft before restoration served as physical evidence that it once supported the top. Analysis of beam holes on the first floor’s exterior and unearthed column bases around the foundation confirm the former existence of a surrounding gallery—essentially, 4-meter-long wooden beams extended from each corner of the first level, forming a “pagoda skirt.” This feature has now been restored in the Song style. During the restoration process, several dated bricks were discovered. One bears the inscription “Brick made on November 29, the second year of Shaoxing, Renzi”; another reads “Renovated in the 30th year of Wanli.” These inscribed bricks not only solved the mystery of the pagoda’s original construction date but also confirmed that it was renovated once during the Ming Wanli era. The restored Guifeng Pagoda appears even more majestic and graceful. From its upper levels, visitors can enjoy panoramic views of both the old and new urban districts. Now open as a tourist attraction, it draws large numbers of domestic and international visitors.

Given its long history, typical pagoda style, and status as a renowned ancient site along the Dongjiang River, Guifeng Pagoda holds significant historical, artistic, and scientific value. Restoring the pagoda plays an important historical and practical role in preserving cultural relics, promoting tourism, and enriching public cultural life. On May 25, 2006, as a Song Dynasty architectural structure, Guifeng Pagoda was approved by the State Council for inclusion in the sixth group of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Guifeng Pagoda has long been ranked first among the “Eight Scenic Spots of Heyuan” and is also known as the “First Pagoda of the Dongjiang River.” It is among the first batch of key cultural relics protected by Guangdong Province.

Time Needed

1 hour

Location

Guifeng Mountain, Yuancheng District, Heyuan City, Guangdong Province

Shangcheng Subdistrict: Established in March 1997 when the former Yuancheng Town was divided into subdistricts, Shangcheng Subdistrict is located in the old town area. It borders the Dongjiang River to the east, Yuannan Town to the south, Xinjiang Subdistrict to the west, and the Xinfengjiang River to the north. The subdistrict office is located at No. 74 Huancheng East Road. It currently serves as the political, economic, and cultural center of Yuancheng District, covering a total area of 3.5 square kilometers, with a registered population of 39,292, 7,590 households, and six community committees: Shangcheng, Xiacheng, Xiajiao, Gongyuan, Xinxing, and Nanhu. The subdistrict office houses departments such as Party and Government Affairs, Subdistrict Administration, Economic Development, Family Planning, and Social Affairs... More details about Shangcheng Subdistrict++

Further Reading:

· First Batch of Guangdong Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units