Liaocheng iron tower

Liaocheng iron tower

It is located in the southeast corner of Longxing Temple in Liaocheng City, Shandong Province. According to the style of the stone carvings on the base of the pagoda and the stone steles found during the repair, it can be inferred that the building was built in the Southern Song Dynasty or the Liao and Jin Dynasties.

Before liberation, it was in disrepair for a long time, most of it collapsed, and only five storeys were left at the bottom. In 1973, the government appropriated funds for renovation. The body and top of the tower, which had crashed over the years, were excavated from the ground for renovation and restoration. During the construction period, stone letters were found on the body and base of the five storey tower, with many bronze Bodhisattvas, porcelain vases and ancient coins of song and Yuan Dynasties on the outside. Inside the letter is a small silver coffin with the ashes of monks and relics. There are stone inscriptions on the outside of the stone letter, indicating that the original tower collapsed during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty. During the Tianshun period, it was rebuilt by the donation of monk gangsidu and gangxingshen of Dongchang mansion and the ancestral monk Dening of Longxing Temple. The tower has 13 layers of cast iron and is about 15.8 meters high. The base of the tower covers an area of 16 square meters, with stone relief of peacocks, unicorns, dragons and phoenixes, music and dance figures. There are doors and windows, brackets, tiles and eaves on all sides of the tower, which are only for viewing, but not for climbing. In 1977, the tower was announced as a key cultural relic protection unit in Shandong Province. In 2006, the tower was announced as the Sixth Batch of national key cultural relics protection units. The time is Song Dynasty.

Liaocheng spread a well-known folk song: "Dongchangfu, there are three treasures, iron tower, ancient building, yuhuanggao." The iron tower, which is known as one of the three treasures, is located on the West Bank of Liaocheng Dongguan canal and the southeast corner of Longxing Temple. The iron tower itself has not been remembered, and there is no record in the local literature. From the analysis and comparison of the shape and relief style of the tower, it was first built in the early Northern Song Dynasty and is the oldest existing building in the city.

Architectural features

The tower is an octagonal pavilion style pagoda. It has 12 floors and is 15.8 meters high. It is composed of the body and the base. The tower base is a stone square with asymmetric Xumi base, 2.90 meters high and 3.17 meters long at the bottom, covering an area of 10.50 square meters. The waist is embossed with exquisite designs such as Luxi, dragon and Phoenix, birds and animals, music and dance figures, etc. The body of the tower is cast in layers with cast iron imitating wood structure. The first layer has a pitch diameter of 1.53 meters and is assembled layer by layer. The iron shell is hollow and 6-10 cm thick. There are 12 floors in the building, and the leaning columns and brackets are the same as those on the first floor. Each floor has a waist eaves flat seat, which is made of four layers of single meter, surrounded by railings. There are purlin, eaves rafter, flying rafter, tile ridge and inclined ridge in the waist eaves. The tower body is divided layer by layer, and the top of the tower is equipped with a lotus gourd vase type tower brake.

artistic value

Liaocheng iron tower is one of the few iron and stone buildings in China. It is one of the six ancient iron towers in China. It has high research value in both architectural style and stone carving art.

Tower address

Dongguan ancient canal Riverside

Best travel time: all year round

Opening hours: all day

Address: Jiankang Road, Dongchangfu District, Liaocheng City, Shandong Province

Longitude: 115.98065426315

Latitude: 36.448422796801