The best-preserved Northern Song Dynasty ancient pagoda in Jiangnan - Yanqing Temple Pagoda.

The Yanqing Temple Pagoda is located 2 kilometers west of Songyang County, leaning on Shangfang Mountain in the northwest, Yunlong Mountain in the northeast, and facing the open countryside in the southeast. Construction began in the second year of Xianping of the Song Dynasty (999) and was completed in the fifth year (1002). It is said that the pagoda contains relics. The pagoda is 38.32 meters high, with a pavilion-style brick and wood structure, six sides and seven levels, hollow, and can be climbed to the top of the pagoda; the eaves are double-rolled, the eaves are spread out flat, the iron pagoda is rolled with grass patterns, and the curves are smooth; the pagoda wall is painted with flying sky, which can be recognized vaguely. The plaque "Yanqing Temple Pagoda" was handwritten by Mr. Sha Menghai. The Yanqing Temple Pagoda is the best-preserved Northern Song Dynasty original among the pagodas in Jiangnan and is a national key cultural protection unit. Compared with the Hangzhou Liuhe Pagoda completed in 1165, the Yanqing Temple Pagoda was 163 years earlier. The existing pagoda brick inscription also has the words "Chunhua Five Years (AD 994) June", which is enough to prove that this pagoda is a Northern Song Dynasty original, a Tang-style Song pagoda, and the Hangzhou Liuhe Pagoda is a Song-style Song pagoda. From the construction of the pagoda to the wooden eaves, no traces of later repairs were found in the Yanqing Temple Pagoda, which is the best-preserved Northern Song Dynasty original among the pagodas in Jiangnan. According to the "Songyang County Chronicles", in the fourth year of Taiping Xingguo (AD 979), the monk Xingda was ordered to go west, to Central India, and obtained 49 relics of the "Dajinglun" eight parts. Monk Xingda spent ten cold and hot years, obtained eight parts of the Dajinglun and 49 relics, and was rewarded by the court. Therefore, he vowed to build a pagoda to contain the relics. After many fundraisings, construction began in the second year of Xianping (AD 999) and was completed in the fifth year of Xianping (AD 1002). The Yanqing Temple Pagoda was originally named "Yunlong" because the pagoda was located in front of Yanqing Temple under Yunlong Mountain. It was renamed Yanqing Pagoda in the fourth year of Jianyan of the Song Dynasty (AD 1130).