Shengjin Tower (Rope and Gold Pagoda)
By admin on 2015-03-03

Attraction Type:

• Ancient Architectures in China

Shengjin Tower (Rope and Gold Pagoda) stands on the east side of Shengjinta Street, Nanchang, which was built in late Tang Dynasty (A.D. 904-907). It is said that centuries ago, a monk found a iron box buried in the ground by accident, which contained 4 sets of golden ropes, 3 ancient swords and a golden vase full of Buddha’s relics. Thus the tower, which was built on the very place years later, hence the name.

Shengjin Tower is a typical Attic-styled bricky timberwork building, with a height of 50.86 meters. Grave Sumeru as the stand, this tower appears as a 7-floor building but actually, it has one more dark layer. The whole body was designed as a regular octahedron, with pear-shaped copper top, 7 eaves paved with blue bricks marking each layer. Each layer has 4 real gates and 4 fake doors. Doors of the first layer were decorated with moon-shaped pattern, propitious-cloud-shaped pattern on 2^nd and 3^rd layers, flame-shaped pattern decorated on 4^thto 7^th layers.

There is a spiral staircase up to the pear-shaped copper top from the very first layer, which decorates a 3-meter high ornament. The inner frame of the ornament is made from camphorwood, which protected by thick copper stripes with gold gilding.