According to records, during the period of Xian Tong in the Tang Dynasty (860-874), a monk named Jiao Yun was given "seven Buddhist relics (note: the cremated remains of Sakyamuni) and the tiger face of Ashoka" by the Sangha master (also known as the Great Sage Bodhisattva in Sizhou) when he visited Chang 'an. After returning to China, he built a stone pagoda and hid it, so the inner pagoda was the Buddha's bone pagoda. The stone pagoda was built in the fourth year of Zhonghe (884) and in the first year of Ganning (894). It is called the relic stone pagoda of Shangcheng Temple. The inner tower of Fei Ying Tower is a pavilion stone tower with eight sides and five floors. It consists of 100 pieces of blue and white stone carvings in Taihu Lake, excluding pagodas with a tower height of 15 meters. Xumishan Mountain is the essence of stone pagoda carving, and the lions on its waist and eight sides are lifelike, and the whole stone pagoda is indeed a great treasure of carving art in Tang Dynasty. The building components such as waist eaves, flat seats and bucket arches on all floors of the stone pagoda are carefully carved and have regular shapes. Stone arches are made of ancient "stolen hearts", especially the spindle-shaped melon-shaped inclined columns and basin cover columns carved at the tower corner, which can only be seen outside the main hall of Ningbo Guobao Temple. The four sides of the tower are carved with door-shaped shrines, which are carved with large Buddhist stories and thousands of Buddha statues, and the composition is rigorous and meticulous. The most wonderful thing is the Guanyin statue in the north of the fourth floor, which is lifelike and breathtaking. The inner tower was built in the middle of the Tang Dynasty (884), and then collapsed and abandoned. The existing stone pagoda was rebuilt in Shaoxing, Gaozong in the Southern Song Dynasty (i.e.1131~1162).
The outer tower was built during the Kaibao period in the Northern Song Dynasty.
The Outer Pagoda was built in the Kaibao period of the Northern Song Dynasty (968 ~ 976), collapsed by lightning in the 22nd year of Shaoxing (1 152), rebuilt in the Pingping period of the Southern Song Dynasty (1234 ~ 1236), and was repaired many times in the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Because there is divine light in the stone pagoda (), a wooden pagoda was built outside the stone pagoda for protection during the Kaibao period of the Northern Song Dynasty (968-976), and it became the "Tarita". According to the reasons for the construction of the outer tower, the name of the tower was taken from the second word in the Buddhist language "sarira flywheel, radiant" and renamed as Fei Ying Tower; Shangcheng Temple was renamed "Fei Ying Temple" because of its tower.
The outer tower of Fei Ying Tower is a pavilion-style pagoda with a mixed structure of brick and wood, which is very common in the south of the Yangtze River. It has seven floors and eight sides and is 55 meters high. It is magnificent, simple and dignified. Its distinctive architectural style in the Song Dynasty is flat and stretched wing angles, simple and simple eaves, huge bucket arches made of materials and rod-shaped railings. Because it is a stone tower, the structure of the outer tower is more peculiar. The lower four floors are hollow, and the flat seats and escalators of each floor are suspended along the inner wall and communicated with the outer flat seats of each floor; The upper three floors are unified, the fourth and seventh floors are flat-coded ceilings, and the six-story underframe is designed with a cross beam of 1,000 kilograms, hanging a 27-meter-high tower core column, which is directly inserted into the gate tip. The roof beam frame is a diagonal column structure, which is solid and spectacular. The outer tower bucket arch is characterized by huge materials and many specifications. There are 348 wooden archways inside and outside the tower, in addition to the Dingtou archway under the milk mound and a large number of brick carvings. Among them, the practice of "seven floors are double arches, double rafters and double arches" is rare in existing ancient wooden structures. The stairs leading to the tower are located in the auxiliary corridor. Climb the stairs and spiral up to the top floor. You can savor the exquisite stone carving art of the stone pagoda on the wooden ladder hovering around it and overlook the scenery of Huzhou ancient city from the height of the outer pagoda. Fei Ying Tower is unpretentious, with red walls and blue tiles. There is an ancient ginkgo tree next to the Fei Ying Tower, which can be embraced by several people and complement the ancient pagoda.
There is also a sad love story in Fei Ying Tower. It is said that Chen Baxian, the Emperor of the Southern Dynasties, fell in love with a Fei Ying girl when he was young, and met Phyl and didn't marry. In order to become a monarch, Chen Baxian went through all kinds of difficulties and obstacles, trying to marry Fei Ying. Unexpectedly, Miss Fei Ying died of depression because she refused to marry someone else. Therefore, Chen Baxian built the Fei Ying Tower to commemorate his bosom friend. Although this story is clearly dependent, people are still willing to tell it. After all, good feelings are always desirable.
For thousands of years, literati and celebrities have been chanting the title of Fei Ying Tower. In the Song Dynasty, Su Shi defended Huzhou many times and boarded the Fei Ying Tower. There is a poem that says: "I suddenly climb the highest tower and see poverty." Zhao Feng is in urban and rural areas, and the clouds are floating. " Zhao Mengfu's poem "Climbing to the English Tower" in Yuan Dynasty said: "The ladder rises hundreds of feet, overlooking the empty bird's back. Qianli Lake is full of autumn colors, and there are many fireworks and sunsets. Fish and dragons roll to help the boat, while geese hide from the net. Who planted thousands of oranges in the mountains and looked sideways at the east Dongting wave. "
During the period of 1929, Fei Ying Tower collapsed suddenly due to long-term water leakage due to disrepair. Both the inner and outer towers have been hit hard, and the ancient pagoda has been eroded by wind and rain, which makes the ancient pagoda increasingly broken and makes tourists feel embarrassed. After the founding of New China, it was protected and maintained. 196 1 April, Fei Ying Tower was listed as a provincial key cultural relics protection unit. 198 1 year, the investigation team of ancient pagodas of China Cultural Relics Protection Technology Association and the experts of ancient architecture of National Cultural Relics Protection Technology Research Institute successively went to Huzhou for serious investigation and field investigation, and confirmed that it was a rare ancient pagoda treasure in China. 1982 is listed as a key maintenance project. With the approval of National Cultural Heritage Administration, more than one million yuan was allocated to overhaul the Fei Ying Tower, which lasted for five years and was completed at the end of 1986. Opened on New Year's Day (1987), approved by the State Council, it was announced as a national key cultural relics protection unit.
Don't miss the Fei Ying Tower when you arrive in Huzhou.