The earliest pagoda in China - Putong Pagoda. There is a world-famous pagoda in Nangong City, Hebei Province - Putong Pagoda. It is located in Putong Temple in Nangong City and was first built in the reign of Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han Dynasty. It was completed on the 15th day of the first lunar month in the 15th year of Yongping (AD 67). It has a history of more than 1,900 years and was built one year earlier than the Baima Temple Pagoda in Luoyang, Henan. According to the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty": "It is said that Emperor Ming slept in the Nangong at night and dreamed of a golden man growing up with a light on his head, so he asked his officials. Or he said: 'There is a god in the west, named Buddha. His shape is six feet long, and The emperor then sent Tianzhu to inquire about Buddhism and Taoism, so he wrote in the first volume of "The Biography of Eminent Monks": "Emperor Ming Dynasty Liu Zhuang Yongping ordered the doctor Cai Min and his disciple Qin Jing to go to Tianzhu in the Western Regions. Seeking Buddhism, I met Shemo Teng and Zhu Falan in Yueshi (now Afghanistan) and invited them to come to China..." According to legend, the site for building the pagoda was chosen in Nangong City because Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty Liu Zhuang followed his father Liu Xiu, Emperor Guangwu. When Wang Mang was chasing after him, he once stopped in the Nangong Palace, where he burned his clothes on the stove, ate and rested under the Gale Pavilion. Liu Xiuyan said that this place is a geomantic treasure. When Mo Teng and Zhu Falan were on their way back to Luoyang, Emperor Ming Liu Zhuang ordered them to build a pagoda near Dafeng Pavilion in Nangong. This tower is an octagonal solid brick tower with 9 levels. The tower is 33 meters high and the bottom floor is 5 meters in diameter. The tower body has eaves at each level, and brackets are placed under the eaves. Directly south of the Xumizuo of the pagoda, there is a doorway that reaches to the center of the pagoda. There is a brick well under the center of the pagoda. Three stone Buddhas sit on the east, west and north sides of the brick well. This method of building a Buddhist niche is really rare. In the long years of wind and rain erosion, Putong Pagoda has been rebuilt and maintained in various dynasties such as Wei (Three Kingdoms), Tang, and Song Dynasties. During the fifteenth year of Jiajing's reign in the Ming Dynasty, a lot of funds were raised for repairs, and a large scale of construction was started. The tower was renovated according to the architectural style of the Ming Dynasty. In the 1966 Xingtai earthquake, three bronze Buddhas were knocked off the top of the tower. They were all red copper Bodhisattva statues. The largest one was Guanyin Bodhisattva, which was 41 centimeters tall and weighed 8.25 kilograms. Guanyin Bodhisattva sat peacefully in the "Haitian Buddha Kingdom" (Putuo Mountain, a small island in the East China Sea) On the coast, holding Buddhist scriptures, chanting scriptures, wearing Buddhist beads, one foot is pedaling on the coast, with a lotus under one foot, and one foot is stretching into the sea. A lotus grows in the water. The sea is rolling, and seahorses, fish, and conches are floating on it. Such as marine animals, Buddhist scriptures, ingots and other objects, the solemn image of Guanyin Bodhisattva, who is compassionate and saves all living beings, is lifelike. There is an inscription on the back: "On the 15th day of the first lunar month in the 15th year of Yongping, it was rebuilt by Tripitaka Gong, Frank Dal'er, in the 15th year of Yongping. It was rebuilt by Monk Hai on the 5th day of the first lunar month in the fourth year of Taihe. It was rebuilt on the 15th day of the seventh month in the 15th year of Jiajing..." The pagoda The name "Putong" comes from the explanation in the Buddhist scripture "Miaofa Lotus Sutra: Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva's Universal Door": "Pu Tong means universal." In Buddhism, "Pudu" refers to the great kindness and compassion to save all sentient beings. "Tong" means vermilion. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the imperial palace where the empress lived was painted in vermilion and was called "Tong Ting". Because there was a Bodhisattva enshrined in the Putong Temple behind the pagoda, and the pagoda body and the temple were both in vermilion, the word "Tong" was chosen, so the pagoda was named "Putong Pagoda". .
Reference material: "People's Daily Overseas Edition" (Page 8, August 14, 2004)