Located in the east of the ancient city of Changshu, it is square and nine levels, resplendent and magnificent, and is a landmark ancient building in Changshu. Founded in the Southern Song Dynasty for four years, it has been renovated many times in the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. During the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty, the temple was destroyed by war, leaving only one square tower. The tower was badly damaged before liberation. Since 1957 was listed as a provincial cultural relics protection unit, the government has repaired it many times. 1963 Rectify the tower gate, 1986 Repair the tower clothes, 1998 Start to repair the square tower in a large area. There is Fangta Park under the tower, which is a place for citizens to rest and play.
According to the inscription of the tower brick unearthed under the tower, its official name should be "Chongjiao Tower". Because a temple under the tower was originally called Xiaofu Temple, it is also called "Xiaofu Temple Tower"; Because its cross section is square, people are used to calling it a "square tower". This square tower is a brick-wood pavilion with nine floors on all sides. Each floor is surrounded by corridors and railings, and each floor has a flame-shaped door. The interior of the tower is cylindrical, and the top can be reached by a wooden ladder from the bottom. The four corners of the tower stretch, and wind chimes are hung on each corner. The top of the tower looks like the helmet of an ancient warrior, with a phase wheel, an exposed disk and four corner chains. The tower pole points to the sky. The whole tower is handsome in shape, soft in outline, majestic and beautiful, and it is a huge landscape.
In the eighth year of Xianchun (1272), the monastery was demolished and rebuilt into a nine-level square tower. In the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, there were seven tower repairs recorded. At the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty, the square tower was destroyed by war. In the eighth year of Hongwu in Ming Dynasty (1375), monks repaired it. In the forty-second year of Jiajing (1563), the square tower was tilted nine levels, and the magistrate of a county raised money to repair it. During the Wanli period, the tower was damaged, and Chen Zan and Xiao Ying Palace were rebuilt. In the second year of the Apocalypse (1622), the earthquake tilted the top of the tower, and Gu Shaoshao advocated public repairs. In the forty-sixth year of Kangxi in Qing Dynasty (1707), the pagoda was damaged and was in danger. Monk Xing Yuan and Hai Jing found the famous minister of Changshu, the governor of Shandong, Jiang Chenxi, and his younger brother, Jiang Tingxi, a bachelor of cabinet. They donated huge sums of money to repair the pagoda. In the 11th year of Qianlong (1746), in October, Wang Keming was damaged due to the fire of tower lights, and in May of the following year, the wooden frame was just restored, which was even worse than the hurricane. Cheng Guang, governor of the route for providing foodstuff, advocated multi-person reconstruction, which was successful in September 13. In the 20th year of Qianlong (1755), the main hall was rebuilt. In the tenth year of Xianfeng (1860), the temple was destroyed by war, and the tower hung alone. The monk Tianyuan built a house in the southeast of the tower. In the early years of Tongzhi, it was widely rumored that there was a hidden clock under the square tower, and thieves went to dig it, causing the top of the tower to collapse. Later, the monk Yue Ming raised funds to repair it. In the 30th year of Guangxu (1904), Yi people, the prospect Yishi Island Yu Zhongying and the former Tongliang county magistrate Yang Chongguang supervised the reconstruction of the upper four floors of the tower. During the Republic of China, the remains of Buddhist temples disappeared. At the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War, the square tower was bombed by enemy planes, but the damage was not serious. Chen, the pseudo-mayor of Hedong town, demolished the main hall at the bottom of the tower and cut off its eaves. The tower was damaged and liberated.
After the founding of New China, the People's Government of Jiangsu Province listed Fangta as a provincial cultural relic protection unit in 1957. Due to years of disrepair, the square tower was seriously damaged. The collapse of jota will endanger two schools, a factory and six households. To this end, the county people's Committee put the restoration of the square tower on the agenda. The first phase of the square tower emergency repair project started on September 6, 1963, mainly to solve the rectification of tower gates. By the end of 1964 and 1, six projects, such as tower gate rectification, roof, interior wall, exterior wall, railing repair and lightning rod installation, have been completed. The fund is * * * 35,000 yuan (special appropriation from local finance). On May 8, the Provincial Department of Culture and the Department of Finance approved the issuance of renewal funds of 27,000 yuan. The second phase of maintenance works is mainly based on reinforcement. It will start in mid-May and be completed by the end of September. 1978, tower clocks were hung on every corner of the square tower. 1986, the office of Changshu Municipal Cultural Management Committee restored the tower clothes of the square tower. The project plan is designed and supervised by the Cultural Management Office. The Provincial Cultural Management Committee agreed to the construction after on-the-spot investigation. The project was undertaken by the Municipal Ancient Architecture Company, and all the projects were rebuilt according to the original structural style of the Song Tower. 10/60,000 yuan from local finance when the project was completed in July, 987. On July 20th, the ribbon was cut when the project was completed.
During the period of 1997, it was found that the corner beams, bucket arches, flat seats and railings on all floors of the tower sank, shifted and corroded, and cracks appeared in the brick wall of the tower, which was in serious danger and needed urgent emergency maintenance. After research by the municipal government, the first meeting of the 11th Municipal People's Congress deliberated and decided to implement the 1998 square tower overhaul project, which was listed as a practical project for the people by the municipal government.
1998 65438+ 10 18, the municipal government held a "press conference on the implementation of Changshu square tower maintenance project", and the leaders of the municipal government announced that the project was officially started. At the meeting, seven units, including the Municipal Federation of Trade Unions, the Communist Youth League Committee, the Municipal Women's Federation, the Federation of Industry and Commerce, the Association for Science and Technology, and the Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, jointly issued a proposal of "Love my Changshu and build our tower" to the society, and many collectives and individuals generously donated their love. City radio stations, TV stations, newspapers and cultural departments have carried out various publicity activities. The leaders of the Municipal Cultural Bureau led five groups to go deep into the townships to publicize and launch, and set off a wave of fund-raising activities of "Love my Changshu and build my tower". In just over four months, * * * received a donation of 6.5438+0.7 million yuan, which reflected Changshu people's hometown feelings and enthusiasm for participating in national cultural relics protection. In March of the same year, a provincial expert group organized by the Cultural Relics Department of the Provincial Department of Culture and the Provincial Cultural Management Committee came to Changshu to demonstrate the maintenance plan of another tower, and made clear the maintenance guiding ideology of "strengthening the tower body, maintaining the existing style and restoring the damaged original system". A groundbreaking ceremony was held on May 28th. At the groundbreaking ceremony, three specially established organizations were announced: the Tower Repair Office; The expert group of tower repair invited Professor Zhu Guangya from Southeast University as the team leader; The tower repair advisory group is composed of people from all walks of life who care about the maintenance of the square tower. 1In August, 1998, the construction team established by Changshu Ancient Architecture Garden Company entered the site for construction, and the Municipal Cultural Management Institute implemented quality supervision and technical guidance. This project is built according to the spirit of the document "Reply on the Adjustment and Design Plan of Changshu Re-education Gufu Temple Tower" issued by the Provincial Department of Culture. Flat seat reinforcement, together with the embedded length of wood members and related structures, is carried out by using non-deformation structures; Caisson is set on the bottom floor, and the ceiling with dark layer on the upper part adopts square pattern, which is connected with the upper beam for transition; The balustrade is fine in workmanship and made of hook pieces. Because the square tower is thinner than the example, the top truss is reformed and the tower wall is partially demolished and strengthened. The construction unit carefully designed and effectively organized to ensure the safety of the tower during the repair process.
During the restoration of the pagoda, Qi Deyao and Gong Liang, leaders of the Cultural Relics Department of the Provincial Department of Culture and experts on ancient buildings in the province, came to Changshu again for inspection and guidance. City leaders also visited the construction site many times, and stressed that the quality of the project is the first, and on the premise of ensuring quality, speed up the progress.
In mid-September, 1999, all the external works of the square tower were completed. After the scaffolding was removed, the square tower showed its majestic and beautiful figure to welcome the anniversary and the 50th anniversary of the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC).
After the completion of the square tower maintenance project, the Provincial Department of Culture entrusted a 7-member expert acceptance team headed by Zhu Guangya, a professor from the Department of Architecture of Southeast University, to go to Changshu to make an evaluation and acceptance conclusion on the project. On July 18, 2000, the municipal government held the "Completion Acceptance Meeting of Changshu Square Tower Maintenance Project". At the meeting, the acceptance expert group of the Provincial Department of Culture announced four opinions on the completion and acceptance of another tower maintenance project. The experts unanimously agreed to pass the acceptance.
The maintenance project of the square tower costs * * * 4.3 million yuan.
The square tower is a symbol of the ancient cultural city of Changshu, and it is also the pride of Changshu people. With the concern of the party and the government, it has been maintained and protected on a large scale. The newly-born ancient pagoda once again shines with the splendid glory of the long-standing culture of the Chinese nation.