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April 1, 2010

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Home » City specials » Hangzhou

Legend of the Leifeng Pagoda

By Tan Meiyi | April 1, 2010, Thursday | Print Edition

AS the sun sinks below the horizon, the new Leifeng Pagoda basks in the last golden rays, resplendent in its oriental beauty. Like a blushing maiden, it peers into the waters of West Lake, trying to catch a glimpse of its loveliness.

Visitors pause in their tracks, mesmerized by the glorious sight and sigh in contentment as they settle along the lake to enjoy the wonders of man and nature.

Built in AD 977, during the reign of King Qian Chu of the Wuyue Kingdom, the pagoda was originally named Huang Fei Pagoda after the old king's favorite concubine, who gave him a son. During its construction, Buddhist relics were buried under the structure and Buddhist sutras were engraved on the foundation bricks to protect the relics from evil.

The pagoda suffered severe damage, its wooden facade burnt by marauding Japanese pirates during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), who believed that the pagoda housed weapons and treasure. Its skeletal brick remains made it a sorry sight along the picturesque West Lake and an old Chinese saying bemoans the fate of the Leifeng Pagoda as an ugly old nun beside the Baochu Pagoda, which was likened to a pretty, slender woman.

For centuries, the Leifeng Pagoda was known for its part in the legend of "Madam White Snake," a tragic love story between a mortal and a white snake spirit.

Set in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), there was once a young boy named Xu Xian who saved a little white snake while on his way home from school. Years later, the boy, now a scholar, met a beautiful woman by the West Lake with an umbrella. As it was raining and seeing that Xu did not have an umbrella, she introduced herself as Bai Suzhen and offered to shelter him.

Unknown to Xu, she was the little white snake he had saved. Bai had returned as a woman to be his wife and to repay him for his kindness to her many years ago. They fell in love and their marriage produced a son.

However, their union was against heavenly laws as mortals and spirits belonged to different realms, so when they were discovered by a monk, Fa Hai, who had magical powers, he forced Bai to reveal her true form in the hope that Xu would leave her.

This failed as the couple genuinely loved each other and thus Fa Hai imprisoned Bai in the Leifeng Pagoda for all eternity.

In some versions, Xu raised their son to become the imperial scholar who returned to pay respects to his mother. Due to her son's filial piety, the heavens were touched and Bai was released. She attained immortality and rose to the celestial realm, unable to reunite with her family as the heavenly laws must still be upheld.

Although this version is not as tragic as her eternal imprisonment in the pagoda, it is still considered a tragic ending as the lovers are still separated for all eternity. Today, Bai is regarded by the people as a kind and loving fairy despite being considered a spirit, which is equivalent to a demon.

Hence in accordance to these stories surrounding the pagoda, people would steal the foundation bricks for two reasons. Firstly, many believed that the "golden bricks" would bring them wealth, since the Chinese word for sutra, jin, sounded almost the same as the pronunciation for "gold."

Secondly, since the pagoda was where the White Snake spirit was imprisoned, it was said to have the power to repel snakes. In Hangzhou, many reared silkworms as a livelihood and they would steal the foundation bricks as a talisman to protect their silkworms from snakes.

Thus the structure gradually weakened before collapsing in 1924.

The new Leifeng Pagoda was built on the original site in October 2002. Visitors can view the remnants of the old pagoda and tour the new one that stands guard over it. Fine ornamental wooden cravings of the legend of "Madam White Snake" are on show in the new pagoda.

On the highest floor, visitors can enjoy a splendid view of the West Lake. In the hall, they can trace the life of Buddha from the wall murals and admire a gold-plated ceiling made up of 2,000 small silver pagodas of King Asoka. Set in the middle of the roof is a lotus flower which can descend to ground level and contains a model of the modern Leifeng Pagoda.

During excavations of the site, Buddhist relics were found buried under the old pagoda and were housed inside a silver pagoda of King Asoka. Made of pure silver, the little pagoda is intricately designed and contains a gold box where remains of Buddha's hair are kept.

Leifeng Pagoda

Address: 15 Nanshan Rd

Open: 8am-5:30pm

Admission: 40 yuan

Tel: (0571) 8798-2111

Transport: Buses No. 504, 7, 808, 822, 4

Hangzhou


 

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