Lingxiao Pagoda, Zhengding, Hebei (Tang Dynasty) - one of the two extant half-timbered ancient pagodas in China

Lingxiao Pagoda is located in the former Tianning Temple on the north side of Dazhong Street in the old city of Zhengding County, Hebei Province. It has nine floors and is 42 meters high. It was built in the first year of Emperor Suzong of Tang Dynasty (756). It was originally named "Huiguang Pagoda". Because the tower body is all made of wood, the locals also call it "Wooden Pagoda". It is a national key cultural relic protection unit and one of the few existing wooden pagodas. The tower is octagonal in shape and is a pavilion-style tower with a brick bottom and wood top. The first to fourth floors are brick structures, and all floors above the fifth floor are wooden structures. There are only two existing half-timbered ancient towers in China, located in Zhengding, Hebei and Zhangye, Gansu, and the Lingxiao Tower was built much earlier. Tianning Temple was founded in the early years of Emperor Yizong of the Tang Dynasty (860-874). By the early years of the Republic of China, all the halls in the temple were destroyed, and the only major building left was the Lingxiao Pagoda. The foundation of Lingxiao Pagoda is rammed with plain yellow earth, which is a construction technique from the Tang Dynasty. In the center of the fourth floor of the Lingxiao Pagoda, there stands a huge bundled column made of nine round logs tied together and extending straight to the top of the tower. It is called the core column of the tower. The core column style was the main style of building towers before the Tang Dynasty. Architect Luo Zhewen said in his book "Ancient Chinese Towers" that this structure is a unique example in China's existing architecture. During the Northern Song Dynasty, the central pillar of the Lingxiao Pagoda decayed. After careful observation and research, as well as meticulous measurements and calculations, Monk Huai Bing made a replacement wooden pillar and successfully replaced the rotten wood. The Lingxiao Tower has been destroyed and rebuilt many times over the centuries. The first to fourth floors of the tower were rebuilt in the Song Dynasty on the remains of a Tang Dynasty tower, and the floors above were built in the Jin Dynasty. Although it is one tower with three features, it was never demolished and rebuilt each time. In 1966, the Xingtai earthquake occurred in Xingtai, Hebei, and the Lingxiao Pagoda above the seventh floor was severely damaged. In 1981, the cultural relics department of Hebei Province decided to rebuild the Lingxiao Pagoda. A comprehensive cultural relic survey was conducted on the Lingxiao Pagoda before the reconstruction. In February 1982, an underground palace was discovered under the base of the tower. In the underground palace of Lingxiao Pagoda, a semicircular stone casket was found, on which a small rectangular stone casket was placed. When the semicircular stone casket was opened, there was another bucket-shaped stone casket inside. The inscription "The tower was built during the reign of Emperor Daizong of Tang" is engraved on the bucket-shaped stone coffin. According to the inscriptions on the unearthed stone coffin, it was first built between the first year of Zhide reign of Emperor Suzong of the Tang Dynasty (756) and the fourteenth year of Dali reign of Emperor Daizong (779), rebuilt in the fifth year of Qingli reign of the Northern Song Dynasty (1045), and reconstructed in the first year of Huangtong reign of the Jin Dynasty (1141).