Hangzhou >> Six Harmonies Pagoda

Attraction Typ: Historic Site

Location: City Centre - Central

Recommend: 4 Star

Six Harmonies Pagoda

Being a perfect symbol of brick-and-wood structure built in the ancient China, the Six Harmonies Pagoda is really one of the true masterpieces of ancient Chinese architectures.

Six Harmonies Pagoda (Chinese: 六和塔; pinyin: Liùhé Tǎ) is a perfect symbol of brick-and-wood structure built in the ancient China and one of the true masterpieces of ancient Chinese architectures.

The Six Harmonies Pagoda lies in Yuelun Hill on the north bank of the Qiangtang River and to the south of West Lake. It's firstly built in 970 during the Northern Song Dynasty by the king of Wuyue, who ruled the area of today's Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian province. The purpose of building the pagoda was to suppress the tidewaters. Since there was a temple called Temple of Six Harmonies, the pagoda was named accordingly to signify the harmony of heaven, earth, and the four directions of east, west, south and north.

The original pagoda has nine stories with a light on the top, 150 meters high, which serves as a navigation tower so that ships and boats on the Qiangtang River could see their way. Nowadays, the pagoda is octagonal, has thirteen levels on the exterior but seven levels on the interior, stands 59.89 meters high, and is one of the tallest pagodas in southern China.

The body of the pagoda was built of brick while the roofs were made of wood. Inside the pagoda winding staircases line the walls, leading to the top level. Each storey has a square room, its ceiling supported by brackets. The sunken panel on the ceiling was made by stacking bricks to form saw edges. The walls of the pagoda are carved with human figures, flowers, birds, fish, insects and other decorative patterns, all vividly done. The balconies with banisters around each storey are spacious and convenient for people to walk around and enjoy the beautiful landscape in the open.