Cishi Pagoda is located southwest of Yueyang City, on the eastern lake front of Lake Dongting.As one of the earliest brick pagoda in Hunan province, the nearly 800-year-old Cishi Pagoda is plain and solemn. It has been
listed on the cultural relics under provincial protection in 1956 for its great values in history, art and science. It was also shortlisted for the 7th batch of key cultural relics under state protection and will be made public by State Council before long.
History and Legend
The origin of Cishi Pagoda can be traced back to the Budda tower built in 658 in the Tang dynasty and then a wooden pagoda constructed in 914 during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907-960 AD), which was unfortunately overwhelmed by a fire in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127 AD). The existing Cishi Pagoda was built in 1241 by Meng Gong (?-1246 AD), the military commissioner of Jinghu (now Hunan and Hubei provinces) in the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279 AD).
The patron who financed the Cishi Pagoda was a certain Madame Ci, who, not unlike the patrons who built Mulan Dam – Lady Qian Siniang and Mr. Lin Chongshi (especially the former) – spent her entire fortune on the project (that is reason enough to show respect to Cishi Pagoda!). The purpose of the pagoda was to evict – and thereafter ward off – evil spirits that might put a jinx on the Yangtze River, causing it to burst its banks, aka flood-inducing demons.
Features of the Cishi Pagoda
The Pagoda body is in wooden imitation structure of pavilion-style, towering 34.58 meters and covering an area of 46 square meters. Pagoda base is paved with five layers of thick and solid granites, while rest of the pagoda is built with black bricks, bonded with yellow sand mud. The ground floor of the pagoda is comparatively high with the remaining floors descending in height to top, and the floor width decreasing layers upon layer, forming gentle lines at the edge. Black bricks are covered with grey tiles to form the eaves, decorated with mortar-made lotus pattern.
The gate on the first floor used to link east-west direction but was sealed when the pagoda was in an overhaul during reign of Kangxi emperor (1662-1722 AD). From the second floor to above, there's a shrine on each direction, placing a fine figure of Buddha.
On the second floor, the eave gallery protrudes approximately 30 cm with detached columns around the nooks. This style is common in the remaining floors expect for 7th floor which is with handrails and balusters on eave gallery and bronze wind chimes hanging on eave angles. The octagonal pavilion roof with a ornament pole on the top is made up of components of Tibetan Buddhism style such as covering Buddhist alms bowl and
Xianglun (a ring runs through the pole). The base of
Xianglun connects pagoda base with eight iron chains.
As one of the earliest brick pagoda in Hunan province, the nearly 800-year-old Cishi Pagoda is plain and solemn. Its has been listed on the cultural relics under provincial protection in 1956 for its great values in history, art and science. It was also shortlisted for the 7th batch of key cultural relics under state protection and will be made public by State Council before long.
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