Leifeng Pagoda
Leifeng Pagoda | |||||||
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Chinese | 雷峰塔 | ||||||
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Leifeng Pagoda is a five story tall tower with eight sides, located on Sunset Hill south of the West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. Originally constructed in the year AD 975, it collapsed in 1924 but was rebuilt in 2002. Since then, it has become a popular tourist attraction. As a protected cultural heritage unit, the Ten Views of West Lake - Leifeng Sunset consists of the Sunset Hill, Leifeng Pagoda, the Imperial Monument (rebuilt in recent years) and the courtyard and other buildings.
History
Original
The original pagoda was built in 975 AD, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, at the order of King Zhongyi (Qian Chu) of Wuyue for his favorite concubine, Consort Huang. The Leifeng Pagoda was an octagonal, five-story structure built of brick and wood with a base built of bricks.
During the Ming dynasty, Japanese pirates attacked Hangzhou. Suspecting the pagoda contained weapons, they burned its wooden elements, leaving only the brick skeleton, which can be seen from Ming paintings of the West Lake.
Leifeng Pagoda was one of the ten sights of the West Lake because of the Legend of the White Snake. In the Chinese folk story “The Legend of White Snake”, the monk Fahai deceived Xu Xian to Jinshan Temple, and the White Lady ran into Jinshan to rescue Xu Xian, and was suppressed by Fahai under the Leifeng Pagoda.
Later, due to a superstition that the bricks from the tower could repel illness or prevent miscarriage, many people stole bricks from the tower to grind into powder. On the afternoon of September 25, 1924, the pagoda finally collapsed due to disrepair. At that time Lu Xun wrote two articles commenting on this event, using the pagoda to symbolize the collapse of pedantic traditional Chinese thoughts and expressing his hope for the future society. Xu Zhimo and Yu Pingbo also wrote poems and articles to commemorate the pagoda.
Reconstruction
In the 13th year of the Republic of China (1924), the brick tower of the Leifeng Pagoda fell into disrepair on 25 September and only the ruins remain.
In October 1999, the provincial and municipal governments decided to rebuild Leifeng Pagoda on top of the ruins of the old one. The new pagoda opened on 25 October 2002. It is composed of a 1400 tonne steel structure with 200 tonnes of copper parts. It contains four sightseeing elevators, and modern amenities such as air conditioning, television, and speakers. At the entrance of the pagoda, there are two autonomous escalators to carry visitors to the base of the pagoda.
The original base of the pagoda is kept in good condition, as well as the artifacts discovered in the underground chamber.
Historical development
In the second year of Taiping Xingguo era of the Northern Song Dynasty (977 AD), the king of Wu Yue, Qian Chu, built a 7-storey tower named Huangfei Pagoda to offer Buddha's relics and pray for national peace and prosperity. Later, it was renamed as Leifeng Pagoda due to its location on Leifeng (Xizhao Mountain).
In the second year of Xuanhe in the Northern Song Dynasty (1120 AD),Leifeng Pagoda was destroyed by war and fire.
In the seventh year of the Qianlong era of the Southern Song Dynasty (1171), Master Zhiyou of Buddhism initiated the renovation of Leifeng Pagoda, only renovation to five floors.
During the Ming Jiajing period, the wooden eaves of the Leifeng Pagoda were destroyed by war, leaving only the reddish-brown brick tower core.
In the early Qing Dynasty, the Lei Feng Pagoda was still a reddish-brown brick tower. During his southern tour, Emperor Kangxi gave the name"Lei Feng Evening Glow" to it.
In the late Qing Dynasty, the Lei Feng Pagoda had fallen into disrepair due to its age, and the ignorant people had stolen bricks, weakening the foundation of the tower.
On September 25, 1924, in the thirteenth year of the Republic of China, the Lei Feng Pagoda collapsed due to excessive brick theft and excavation, as well as nearby construction work causing vibrations at the site.
In the year 1935, the Chinese architect Liang Sicheng put forward the idea of rebuilding the Leifeng Pagoda and suggested restoring it to its original state.
In May 1983, China's State Council approved the plan for the reconstruction of the Leifeng Pagoda project in the Hangzhou City Master Plan.
In 1988, Zhejiang Travel Future Research Association, Hangzhou Tourism Economics Association, Hangzhou Garden Society, Hangzhou Buddhist Association, Lingyin Temple, Zhejiang Overseas Chinese Association, Hangzhou Overseas Chinese Association, Overseas Chinese Hotel, Qianjiang Evening News, Jiangnan Travel Newspaper, etc. jointly initiated to organize the Leifeng Pagoda Reconstruction Promotion Association in the form of a civil organization and drafted the reconstruction of the origin, but due to many reasons still could not be put into practice.
In July 1999, the Zhejiang Provincial Government and Hangzhou Municipal Government approved the reconstruction of Leifeng Pagoda to be officially included in the agenda.
On December 16, 2000, the reconstruction project of Leifeng Pagoda was officially opened.
On October 25, 2002, the reconstruction of Leifeng Pagoda was completed and officially opened to the public.