Shanxi Yanbei Tour 12—Pianguan County, Ying County

Shanxi Yanbei Tour 12—Pianguan County, Ying County

We arrived at Pianguan County at about 2 o'clock in the afternoon. This time we went a lot better.

I ate hot-boiled mutton for lunch in the county, and found a hotel to rest.

At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, we set off to see the Wenbi Tower and the Pianguan Moat.

The Wenbi Pagoda on Dongshan Mountain in Pianguan County, also known as "Wenbi Lingxiao Pagoda", is a well-preserved hollow brick tower. It was built in the first year of Tianqi (1621) in the Ming Dynasty. It was originally a seven-story masonry structure and aniseed goose pagoda. In the eighth year of Chongzhen (1635), four floors were raised, with a total of eleven floors, and the words "Writing and Writing Lingxiao" were written on it. The tower is 35 meters high and the circumference of the tower base is 29 meters. In the seventh year of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty (1857), the Wenbi Lingxiao Pagoda was severely eroded by wind and rain. After the founding of New China, the people of Pianguan rebuilt the pagoda. It stands on the hillside, and we have to climb dozens of steps. We thought it was too high and didn't go up, so we only took a few photos below.

Pianguan City Guard Tower is located on the west hill of Pianguan County. And because it is located on the west mountain which looks like a tiger's head, it is also called Hutou pier. It was built in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. It is the commander of more than 2,000 beacons in Piantouguan. It is connected to Hequ City and Xiguan River Estuary in the west.) and guards the city; the signal of Shanxi Town is sent from this building first. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the moat building was majestic and has always been a landmark building in Pianguan. Unfortunately, in the middle of the last century, the moat was destroyed. Now it has been restored, but it is usually not open. We drove up and only looked outside.

Early the next morning, we set off from Pianguan to Ying County. There are 230 kilometers, but all the way is high-speed, and I arrived in Ying County before 11:00 noon.

The wooden pagoda in Ying County is very famous. I should have been there in 2000. At that time, there was only one tower, but now it has been built into a scenic spot.

This pagoda is also called the Sakyamuni Pagoda. It was built in the second year of Liao Qingning (1056 A.D.) and completed in the first year of Qingyuan (1195 A.D.) in the Southern Song Dynasty. It is the tallest and oldest wooden tower building in China. It is a key cultural relic protection unit and a national AAAA-level scenic spot. Together with the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy and the Eiffel Tower in Paris, it is also known as the "three strange towers in the world".

The wooden pagoda has five floors in appearance, but actually has nine floors. There is a dark layer between every two layers. Seen from the outside, this dark layer is a highly decorative bucket arch flat seat structure, but seen from the inside, it is a solid and strong structural layer, and the architectural treatment is extremely ingenious. During the reinforcement process of the past dynasties, many chord and meridional diagonal braces were scientifically added to the dark layer, forming a frame layer similar to modern ones. This structural layer has good mechanical properties. With these four ring beams, the strength and seismic performance of the wooden tower are greatly enhanced.

In addition to being eroded by day and night, four seasons, wind, frost, rain and snow, the Sakyamuni Pagoda has also suffered many strong earthquakes. There are more than a dozen earthquakes with an intensity above five degrees. The mystery of the pagoda's architectural structure, the particularity of the surrounding environment, and the factors of human protection make it a miracle that the wooden pagoda has survived for thousands of years.