Lingguang Pagoda

　　Lingguang Pagoda was built during the Tang Dynasty by the Bohai Kingdom and is the oldest existing ancient pagoda in Northeast China. The pagoda faces south and sits to the north, overlooking the Yalu River to the south. It is a brick pagoda with closely layered eaves, designed in a pavilion style, featuring a square floor plan. Today, five stories remain, with an overall height of nearly 13 meters. The body of the pagoda tapers inward progressively from the bottom up, with the first story being the tallest at approximately 2.8 meters. Each level has corbelled eaves that extend outward, with slightly upturned corners, creating an elegant and graceful appearance. The front of the first story has an arched doorway about 1.65 meters high and 0.9 meters wide. The four sides of the first level are inlaid with large brown patterned bricks; the east and west sides feature engraved lotus petal motifs, while the south and north sides are adorned with carved cloud patterns. The outlines of these decorative bricks resemble characters — when read counterclockwise starting from the west side, they spell out the four characters “王立国土” (roughly translated as “the king establishes the land”). The second through fifth levels each have a square lattice window centered on all four sides. The fifth level is topped with a steeple that was added in modern times, consisting of four hemispherical metal bowls paired and inverted to resemble a gourd. Originally, the pagoda had no base platform; the current one was added in 1953. The construction of Lingguang Pagoda stands as historical evidence of the prevalence of Buddhism during the Tang Dynasty Bohai Kingdom period and serves as an example of high-rise architecture from that time, holding significant historical and cultural value. (National Cultural Heritage Administration)