History of Dongshan Pagoda

Dongshan Pagoda is the only existing ground cultural relic with a thousand-year history in Jingmen, Hubei Province. It was built in the 13th year of Sui Dynasty (AD 593), 2 12 years earlier than Jingmen. The pagoda is 33.3 meters high, with a bottom circumference of 30.6 meters, seven floors and four octagons, with windows on the other side and a pointed top. The circumference of the tower foundation is 31.2m, and the height is 0.76m. There is a stone Sumi Mountain on the base, and a Tota King Kong is carved on each octagon of Sumi Mountain. The lintel on the bottom floor is engraved with the words "Changlintou Jiao". Starting from the ground floor, there is a spiral bluestone staircase leading to the top of the tower (260 meters above sea level), and each floor has a small room overlooking it. Dozens of stone tablets in the tower record the maintenance of the tower. 1949, the south corner of the tower was bombed, and 1954 was repaired. It is one of the well-preserved ancient pagodas in Hubei Province. 196 1 is listed as a key cultural relics protection unit in Hubei province. The lintel of the ancient pagoda is inlaid with the four characters of "the head of Changlin", which means the county magistrate of Changlin at that time, "the East Tower stands, and the head of Changlin is born". Because the name "Jingmen" didn't exist at that time, and the Changlin county magistrate was not in today's old city, its construction created a prerequisite for the birth and city construction of "Jingmen", and its founder was the Sui Dynasty monk Zhiyi. Zhiyi was born in Huarong, Jingzhou, formerly known as Chen Dean. He became a monk at the age of 65,438+08. In the 11th year of Emperor Kai of Sui Dynasty (A.D. 59,65,438+0), the King of Jin gave him a "wise man" and was honored as a "wise master". Zhiyi built 36 temples, taught 14000 monks, taught 36 disciples and wrote more than 140 books. In the 12th year of Emperor Wendi (AD 592), Zhi Zhi invited him to Jingxiang, returned to his hometown Jingzhou the following year, and founded yuquan temple in Dangyang. At the same time, Dongshan Pagoda was built in Jingmen, and the Dangyang Provincial Family Training Palace was returned to the literary queen in the jurisdiction of the Municipal Public Security Bureau (Phoenix Terrace). In history, Jingmen administrative center experienced a gradual evolution from southeast to northwest: state power-county power-Dangyang-county power-Wuning-Changning-Changlin-Jingmen. This evolution and integration took more than 2,000 years to locate in today's old city from the 2nd century BC/KLOC-0 to the end of the third year of the Stegosaurus in the Northern Song Dynasty (AD 962), thanks to Zhi Zhi. Of course, the geographical feng shui at the eastern foot of Mengshan Mountain is the main reason why Zhiyi chose Dongbao Mountain as the tower and training palace after Wen. Maybe he didn't think that what he did would lay the foundation for the later construction of Jingmen.