Where is the location of Gaozhou Baoguang Tower?
Gaozhou Baoguang Tower is a national key cultural relic protection unit.
Gaozhou Baoguang Pagoda is located on the west bank of Jianjiang River in Gaozhou City. In the fourth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1576), the prefect Zhang Bangyi raised funds to build it in the name of the town's Feng Shui. It is a pavilion-style brick tower with stairs that fold up inside the wall. The tower is octagonal in plan, has nine levels in appearance, and is 65.8 meters high. It is the tallest existing ancient tower in Guangdong, and the bottom floor is 5.72 meters long on each side. On each floor, the waist eaves and flat seats are built with alternating water chestnut bricks and linear bricks. There are 24 granite reliefs on the eight sides of the tower base, 3 on each side. The patterns include wealth and auspiciousness, twin phoenixes rising to the sun, clouds and cranes flying together, fish leaping over the dragon gate, etc.; each sculpture is 1.45 meters long and 0.55 meters high. There are bamboo-shaped stone sculptures separated by them. The bamboo-shaped stone sculptures are 0.55 meters high and 0.28 meters wide. There are statues of Hercules inlaid on the 8 corners. The statue is 0.55 meters high and 0.38 meters wide. There are four Buddha statues on each floor of the pagoda, which are gorgeously decorated with bright pastels, so the people also call Baoguang Pagoda the "Pink Pagoda". Repairs were carried out in 1992.
Since ancient times, Gaozhou Baoguang Pagoda, the first of the four lower prefectures, has been famous far and wide. It is the tallest tower in Guangdong and is listed as a key cultural relic protection unit in Guangdong Province. Gaozhou Baoguang Pagoda, praised by the people as "the majestic ancient city of South China", was built in the fourth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1576). It was initiated by the prefect Zhang Bangyi at that time. It is located at the end of the West Bank Village on the outskirts of Gaozhou City and stands at the bend of Jianjiang River. Where there is turbulence. The "Guangxu Reconstruction of Maoming County Chronicles" of the Qing Dynasty contains: "Baoguang Pagoda was built on the bank of Jianjiangxi River in the fourth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty by Zhang Bangyi, the prefect of the prefecture. It is nine stories high and extremely majestic. It is located at the water mouth of the town and county. The old labor expense book says: Consumption The price of white gold was 130,000 yuan, and Li _, a native of the city, donated 80,000 yuan. In the ninth year of the flood in the sixth year of Xianfeng, the people of the county renovated and cultivated its roots and grass to eliminate the water and make the tower foundation permanent. ”
Baoguang Pagoda is 62 meters high, has nine and a half floors, and is octagonal in shape. The tower body has a clear outline. The tower base is 11 meters in diameter and 2.3 meters high. It is made of green bricks and sugar ash. The surroundings of the tower are inlaid with granite, engraved with exquisite and beautiful relief patterns such as "carp leaping over the dragon gate, plum blossoms running towards the deer, twin phoenixes rising to the sun, flying birds and beasts". Each relief is 145 cm long and 55 cm high. The entire tower base is ** *Inlaid with 23 relief patterns. A stone statue of Hercules is installed in each of the north, southeast and north corners. The strongman holds the tower with his hands to stabilize the base of the tower. The building materials of the tower are all stacked blue bricks and sugar ash, which are very strong. Each floor of the tower has four windows that are higher than a person's head in the east, south, west and north. The stairs in the tower are spiral-shaped. There is a Buddha statue in the four corners of each floor. Step by step, you can reach the top of the tower. The tower is majestic, simple and solemn. Climbing to the top of the tower, you can have a panoramic view of the beautiful Gaozhou city scenery, which is so beautiful.
At the foot of Baoguang Pagoda, there is still a house where the migrant workers lived when Baoguang Pagoda was built. This house is called "Zhou Family House". It is said that when the pagoda was built, all the men, women and children of the Zhou family worked as migrant workers. Because the family was poor, the Zhou family sold one of their boys as a pagoda warrior, which moved the government. The government allocated money to help the Zhou family and repair their houses. It is said that This house is the same age as the Baoguang Pagoda and became the best residential building in the Ming Dynasty.
There are still many legendary stories circulating among the people about the construction of Baoguang Pagoda. According to legend, when the Baoguang Pagoda was built, a hundred people worked, but every day when it was time to eat, there was always an extra meal. Everyone felt strange that there were one hundred people working, but why only ninety-nine people ate? Doesn’t this mean there are “immortals” helping out? Some people say that the incarnation of Pan Maoming came to help build the tower. Some people say that the huge and arduous tower construction project moved the gods, so the gods sent a general to come down to earth to help with the work. In short, there are many folk stories about this tower in the past dynasties. There are so many legends that they are too numerous to mention.
Since ancient times, when literati and tourists climbed the Baoguang Pagoda, they were inspired to chant or rhyme, leaving behind thousands of good poems and essays. The most representative one is the magistrate of Gaozhou County in the Ming Dynasty. Zhang Xiao's "Poem of Climbing the Baoguang Pagoda in Autumn": "The nine-level river flows in the floating picture, and I pick off my clothes and open my tired eyes in the excitement. Male clams from thousands of miles blow their short sleeves, and the four mountains are sparse and rainy in high autumn. Half of the body is clear in the morning, and the clouds are falling. The low couplets float far away, looking back at the dust ring and separated by the trees, like birds flying among the clouds. "One year during the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, the eunuch Zhou Chaoxun of the Yuan Dynasty and the Taishi Yang Yi came home from the capital to visit their relatives, and they met to climb the Baoguang Pagoda in autumn. , when the two were climbing the pagoda, Zhou Chaoxun of the Yuan Dynasty immediately blurted out the seven-character quatrain of "Climbing the Baoguang Pagoda in Autumn": "I feel the cool breeze rising to the sky, my colleagues are walking lightly and carefree. The beautiful scenery of the city outline is lingering on the water, and the Taishi God Yi chases the waves.
Immediately, Taishi Yang Yi leaned over the river from the tower and thought for a while, then recited the seven unique poems of "Brother Yi Yunfeng and Chaoxun Qiu Deng Baoguang Pagoda": "The vast river hugs my waist, and the high city is full of pride from the view." Rao. I chanted Zen thoughts in the pagoda, and held hands to express the tide of Yuan poems. "At this time, two court officials from Gaozhou were reciting poems and making music on the Baoguang Pagoda. The singing rippled the Jianjiang River for a long time.
Gaozhou Baoguang Pagoda has experienced five hundred years of history. After years of vicissitudes and the test of wind, rain, thunder and lightning, since the tower was built in the quicksand area of Jianjiang Rapids, floods and quicksand posed serious threats to Baoguang Tower. Therefore, in the sixth year of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty (1859 AD), it was destroyed by floods. The base of the pagoda was damaged, but it had been repaired and a lot of vegetation was planted to kill the water and protect the pagoda base forever. In 1964, the Gaozhou County People's Government repaired the Baoguang Pagoda. In 1993, the Gaozhou City People's Government recruited archaeological experts. According to the opinions of the people, a comprehensive major repair was carried out, including flood control embankment, expansion of the tower base, reinforcement of the tower body, recasting of the tower brake, reinstallation of lightning protection equipment, opening of Baoguang Park, etc. This place has also become a good place for people to travel, leisure and entertainment.
In June 1989, the Guangdong Provincial People's Government announced it as a cultural relics protection unit.
On October 7, 2019, Gaozhou Baoguang Tower was selected into the eighth batch of national key cultural relics protection units.