More than 2 kilometers south of Beijing, there is a county-level city Dingzhou in Hebei Province, which is where my ancestral home is located.
forty or fifty years have passed, and great changes have taken place in people and things there. During this period, I was most concerned about the ancient pagoda in Dingzhou.
Dingzhou ancient pagoda (above. Our reporter Feng Junqi) was built in the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty and has a history of more than 1, years. It is located in Kaiyuan Temple in Dingzhou City. It is the highest existing brick-and-wood ancient pagoda in China, magnificent and magnificent, and straight into the sky.
I have visited this ancient pagoda three times.
It was the first time I approached it during the Spring Festival in p>1969. At that time, I had not graduated from junior high school, and my cousin took me back to my hometown for a few days. After returning to his hometown and countryside, his first thought was to take me to Dingzhou City to see the tower. From a distance, a huge corner of the tower collapsed from beginning to end, which was a pity and also very dangerous. I was afraid that one day it would fall down and follow the Leifeng Tower.
At that time, I was still young, and during the "Cultural Revolution", I didn't have so many concepts of cultural heritage and cultural relics protection, and I didn't have the awareness of viewing places of interest. I saw that the pagoda temple was surrounded by dilapidated small houses, and the chaotic hawking market surrounded the ancient pagoda temple, making it difficult to get close.
after 22 years, during the national day in 1991, I approached it again. At that time, I accompanied my parents back to my hometown, which is more than 2 kilometers away from Dingzhou City. A relative said that he would take me around the city. There are quite a few places of interest in the small town, including Dingzhou Gongyuan, the only well-preserved ancient examination room for selecting scholars and tribute students in northern China, Zhongshan Han Tomb in the late period of ancient Zhongshan State, Xuelangzhai and Dongpo Shuanghuai related to Su Dongpo (who once worked here), Millennium Ginkgo Tree, Confucian Temple, Kuixingge and so on. But his first choice is still to show me the ancient pagoda, which shows its position in the eyes of local people. Of course, I am happy to go after all these years.
after more than 2 years' baptism, the ancient pagoda is still towering and standing, and it has not become the second pagoda of Leifeng. However, the surrounding environment has not changed much, and it can still be described as "dirty, chaotic and poor". The difference is that scaffolding was built around the tower. It is said that the country began to repair the ancient pagoda and invited experts in ancient architecture in Beijing. In fact, this is something I have been looking forward to for a long time, which also shows that the country's economic strength is improving, the technical conditions are mature, and the awareness of cultural relics protection of governments at all levels and local people has increased. This time, I approached it, but I didn't walk into it. Although it is still regrettable, it also adds new expectations.
after another 22 years, that is, during the labor day in 213, I approached it again. This time I took the initiative to go to it, because it has made me feel lingering.
the moment I approached it, it suddenly made people shine. After 17 years of repair, the ancient pagoda is finally shown with a complete and fresh look. There is a wide square in front of the tower. Some people play, some rest, some fly kites and some take pictures.
I really walked into it this time. The entrance to the tower is not big, the stairs are steep and long, and almost only one person can pass through. You need to pull a rope to climb, which really feels like climbing. Regardless of fatigue, panting in the tower structure, the next floor turns around and then goes up, so I finally climbed up the eighth entrance with my family. Overlooking the Jizhong Plain from the window hole, Dingzhou City has a panoramic view. After all, I also lamented the artistic conception of "every time I go to the top of the dome, I feel a little suspicious."
Dingzhou Tower, also known as Kaiyuan Temple Tower, is about 84 meters high and is known as "the first tower in China". During the confrontation between Song Dynasty and Liao Dynasty in history, this tower played an important role in the military, so it is also called "the enemy tower". In the tenth year of Guangxu reign in Qing Dynasty (1884), the outer wall of the northeast tower suddenly collapsed from top to bottom, so it was a miracle to survive in the world for a hundred years.
There is a saying in Hebei that Dingzhou Tower, a stone bridge in Zhaozhou, is a great bodhisattva in Zhengding. As early as 1961, Dingzhou Tower was listed as a "national key cultural relic protection unit" by the State Council, which shows that it has great historical and cultural heritage value. Now a new miracle has been born, and the overall restoration of the ancient pagoda has been completed through hard work. Among the splendid ancient cultural and architectural arts in China, this pearl embedded in the land of central Hebei is even more dazzling.
Although the ancient pagoda has been reborn, I feel that there are not many people or visitors who know about it. It may be because the ancient pagoda was partially damaged and has been closed for a long time, or the ability to receive tourists is very limited. This is exactly: Dingzhou ancient pagoda is the tallest, with a thousand-year-old majestic appearance and few people know it. I have to climb bravely in person, but I don't know that the dome is wonderful.