Zhuozhou•Yong'an Temple Pagoda, a rare Liao Dynasty pagoda that has not undergone major repairs and remains in its original state

【Yong'an Temple Pagoda】 Located 10 kilometers east of Zhuozhou City, Baoding City, Hebei Province. Locals commonly refer to it as 'Tower Reflecting Tower'. Built within the original Yong'an Temple, the temple buildings were demolished in 1952, leaving only the pagoda, which was then named Yong'an Temple Pagoda. The Yong'an Temple Pagoda is an octagonal dense-eaves solid brick pagoda, consisting of three parts: the base, the body, and seven layers of dense eaves, with a height of 19.1 meters. The base is in the shape of a Sumeru pedestal, 3.5 meters high and 24.8 meters in circumference. The waist part of the base features geometric patterns and floral brick carvings, which are now damaged; the upper layer of the Sumeru pedestal has dougong and balustrade flat seats, with three layers of large upturned lotus petals carved in brick to support the pagoda body. Although the base is damaged, the typical features of Liao Dynasty brick pagodas, such as the waist, imitation wood flat seats, and upturned lotus petals, can still be seen. The pagoda body is 3.6 meters high, with a niche door on the south side, 2 meters high, 1 meter wide, and 0.72 meters thick, with the words 'Jie Na Xu Mi' written in ink on the front of the niche wall. The other sides have brick-carved partition niche doors and blind windows with embedded Sanskrit stone carvings above each window. Its design conforms to all the basic characteristics of Liao Dynasty dense-eaves pagodas: a true niche door on the south side with a central chamber inside; false niche doors on the east, west, and north sides; imitation wood straight-lattice windows at the corners; and eight large spirit pagodas carved at the corners, with no lintel under the Pubaifang, replaced by Ruyi cloud heads. In addition to the typical features of Liao Dynasty brick pagodas mentioned above, the unique aspect of the Yong'an Temple Pagoda is the white Sanskrit stone carvings embedded above the straight-lattice windows at the four corners, of which only two remain. The first layer of eaves has brick-carved dougong, with three sets on each side projecting out from the eaves, and the upper layers have corbelled eaves, with the eaves decreasing layer by layer from top to bottom. The original wooden corner beams had wind chimes, which are now missing. Due to damage and loss of the top layer of the pagoda, the shape of the pagoda finial is unknown. Although there are no records of this pagoda in various documents, its construction techniques and artistic style are identical to those of the Zhidu Temple Pagoda and Yunju Temple Pagoda in the ancient city of Zhuozhou, especially the brick dougong style, which is undoubtedly from the Liao Dynasty. Its fine carving, ornate decoration, elegant shape, and harmonious proportions make it a typical example of a Liao Dynasty dense-eaves pagoda. The Yong'an Temple Pagoda is currently almost the only one that has remained in its original state without major repairs. However, based on the current state of the base, it is known that the protection measures for this pagoda are intentional. There is always ongoing debate about whether and how to restore ancient buildings, and to what extent. The Yong'an Temple Pagoda seems to provide a specimen of maintaining the original state, allowing people to appreciate the style of Liao Dynasty pagodas while also provoking deep thought.