Wanbu Huayan Sutra tower (white tower)

Wanbu Huayan Sutra tower (white tower)

White tower is also known as Wanbu Huayan Sutra tower. It is located in the southwest of Baita village in the eastern suburb of Saihan District, Hohhot City and the northwest corner of Fengzhou old city, 17 kilometers away from the urban area. It was built in the reign of emperor Shengzong of Liao Dynasty (983-1031), and has been maintained in all dynasties.

After repair, the tower brake was restored and the buried foundation was cleared.

The tower is a pavilion type brick and wood structure, with seven octagonal stories and a height of 55.6 meters.

The base is a waist binding xumizuo, and the upper part is built with a lotus petal.

The outer walls of the first and second floors of the pagoda are inlaid with brick statues of Buddha, Bodhisattva, heavenly king and strongman. The corner leaning column is a brick dragon column. On the south side of the first floor, there is a stone forehead embedded in the gate, and the seal script of Chinese characters is "Wanbu Huayan Sutra tower". Each floor is provided with a waist eaves and a flat seat, and a bucket arch is built under the waist eaves to support.

Inside the tower, there is a revolving staircase for visitors to climb to the seventh floor and enjoy the scenery.

There are six stone steles of the Jin Dynasty on the first floor of the tower, and there are inscriptions of visitors from different dynasties on each floor. In addition to a large number of Chinese characters, there are also inscriptions of Khitan characters, Nuzhen characters, weiwuti Mongolian characters, basiba characters, ancient Syrian characters and ancient Persian characters. Among them, the Chinese inscriptions in the second year of jindading (1162) were the earliest, and the inscriptions of Jin, yuan and Ming Dynasties were written by people from all over the country The eight directions, reflecting the relationship and social conditions among various nationalities at that time, are important historical materials for studying the history of northern nationalities and local history.

In order to protect this ancient building, the relevant units of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Hohhot invited experts in archaeology, history and architecture to study the white tower in the eastern suburb of Hohhot and determine the repair plan. From 1985 to 1987, it took three years to complete the renovation in three phases.

Address: Hexi Road, Saihan District, Hohhot

Longitude: 111.886629

Latitude: 40.838223