Longhua Pagoda

Longhua Pagoda, also called Zhensi Pagoda, is located in Longhua County, Shanghai City. The exact construction time of the Pagoda is not known yet.

Longhua Pagoda, with a wood-and-brick structure, has seven storeys totally 40.64 meters high, with an external octagonal form and internal square attic form. Inside the Pagoda, there are four doors on the four walls and four niches on the other four walls but without Buddha statues in the niches. There are wooden floor slabs and staircases on each floor, with extruding brick arches under the floor slabs. A double arch is installed at the corner of the outer eaves and pillars in the shape of wooden rafters support the bottom corridors. There are decorative patterns on square timbers and the bottom of the pillars is in the shape of a profile of a seven-stringed plucked musical instrument.

When Longhua Pagoda was repaired in 1954, the underground hall was excavated out and the brick foundation of the Pagoda became outstanding. The brick foundation has 20 layers of bricks of 0.335 meters long, 0.16 meters wide and 0.075 meters thick each. Under the foundation there is a layer of stow-wood of 0.13 meters thick, and spiles of 0.14 × 0.18 meters are found under the stow-wood. In regard to Longhua Pagoda, there are many legends such as the one about gold carps appearing in the plate on the top of the Pagoda.

In 1984, Longhua Pagoda underwent a large-scale renovation. The center pillar was restored, and a new pagoda top consisting of 18 components with a weight of about 4.5 tons was installed. After the renovation, Longhua Pagoda looks even more simple and towering.