Huqiu Tower

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Huqiu Pagoda
Huqiu Pagoda
The pagoda as viewed from the tiger hill
The pagoda as viewed from the tiger hill

The Yunyan Pagoda (Tiger Hill Pagoda),[1] is a Chinese pagoda situated outside Changmen, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province. It has several other names, including Huqiu Tower, the 'Leaning Tower of China' (as referred to by historian O.G. Ingles)[1] and the Yunyan Temple Tower. The tower was built in the later period of the Five Dynasties (907-960 AD), completed by the second year of the Song Dynasty. The tower rises to a height of 47 m (154 ft). It is a seven-story octangular building built with blue bricks. In more than a thousand years the tower has gradually slanted due to forces of nature. Now the top and bottom of the tower vary by 2.32 meters. The entire structure weighs some 7,000,000 kg (7000 tonnes), supported by internal brick columns.[2] However, the tower leans roughly 3 degrees due to the cracking of two supporting columns.[2]

The tower leans because the foundation is originally half rock and the other half is on soil. In 1957, efforts were made to stabilize the tower and prevent further leaning. Concrete was also pumped into the soil forming a stronger foundation. During the reinforcement process, a stone casket containing Buddhist scriptures were found. The container had an inscription noted the completion date of the tower as the seventeenth day of the twelfth month by the second year of the reign of Jianlong (961 AD); according to O.G Ingles it was built in 959.[2] O.G. Ingles writes that the better name for the Tiger Hill Pagoda should be the "'Leaning Tower of China', since it predates the famous Italian structure."[2] The uppermost stories of the tower were actually built as an addition during the reign of the Chongzhen Emperor (1628–1644), the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty.[2]

Although it is seven stories, there are no built-in staircases. People climbed to upper stories using movable ladders.

As of January 2007 public access to the top of the tower is allowed.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Ingles (1982), 144.
  2. ^ a b c d e Ingles (1982), 145.

[edit] References

  • Ingles, O.G. "Impressions of a Civil Engineer in China," The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs (Number 7, 1982): 141–150.

[edit] See also

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