Beautiful brick carvings, as if created by nature | Xiuding Temple Pagoda in Anyang, Henan

[See the Central Plains in Henan·Anyang·Ancient and Bizarre, As if Created by Nature] We saw many pagodas along the way on this trip, including the Nan'an Temple Pagoda in Weixian, the Jueshan Temple Pagoda in Lingqiu, the Yuanjue Temple Pagoda in Hunyuan, the Guangsheng Temple Pagoda in Hongdong, etc. However, this pagoda is so strange. It looks like a pagoda but it is not. It is short and fat. It is really unremarkable from a distance, but when you approach it step by step, you can only marvel at it again and again - this is the beautiful "strange" pagoda 30 kilometers away from the outskirts of Anyang - the Xiuding Temple Pagoda. The Xiuding Temple Pagoda was first built in the Northern Qi Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, the four sides of the pagoda were inlaid with more than 3,000 high-relief bricks. The brick carvings are a clever combination of various patterns such as strong men, ladies, children, animals, flowers, etc. It is simply as if it were created by nature and is extremely beautiful! You know, these brick carvings have gone through more than 1,200 years and have experienced many misfortunes. Although some have been damaged and lost, it is not easy for them to be well preserved to this day, and there is only one such building in China. Tips: Xiuding Temple Pagoda is the only existing Tang Dynasty brick-structured pagoda in China with its entire surface inlaid with molded decorative tiles. The tower is single-storey, with a square plan and pointed roofs at the four corners. The original height was about 20 meters, but the top of the tower has been destroyed. The tower is 9.3 meters high and 8.3 meters wide on each side. It consists of three parts: the base, the tower body, and the top. The entire tower is inlaid with high-relief bricks, and the four walls of the tower are decorated with molded diamond, rectangle, triangle, parallelogram, pentagon and various shapes of carved bricks combining straight lines and curves, leaving no blank space. The tower has an exquisite composition and rigorous structure, and a close look reveals magnificent brick reliefs throughout. There are horseshoe-shaped corner columns with round flowers at the four corners, and climbing secondary columns with rolling dragons on both sides. The upper eaves project outward to form a canopy, and the concave gourd decoration serves as the roof. From a distance, it looks like a luxurious square sedan facing south and north. According to statistics, the high relief bricks inlaid in the Xiuding Temple Pagoda include real people, warriors, maids, flying apsaras, musicians, boys, strong men, dragons, tigers, lions, Pegasus, pythons, various flowers, ribbons, etc., totaling 3,775 pieces, covering an area of ​​300 square meters. There are 89 kinds of carved bricks with different patterns and shapes in the whole tower, 30 kinds of carved bricks have been excavated and collected, totaling 119 kinds. 📝Note tips: Please contact the cultural relics protection officer to see if it is open in the near future (visit is allowed).