I remember a long time ago on the Internet to see the introduction of cultural relics and monuments in Chengdu Jianyang City, of which several ancient pagodas in Jianyang can be called a local must, impressive, two years ago in Jianyang City visited the Shengde Temple Pagoda, quite spectacular, just some time ago in Jianyang Hefeng Town and accidentally saw Hefeng Character Kuta, is very simple and beautiful, let me have a strong interest in several other ancient pagodas.
Just in the territory of Jinma Town, which is adjacent to Hefeng Town, there is an ancient pagoda called "Red and White Pagoda". This is an ancient building originally built in the Ming Dynasty and is currently a cultural relics protection unit in Sichuan Province.
But the Red and White Pagoda is a very unpopular monument, and probably only the locals in Jinma Town know about it, because I once asked a friend who was born and raised in Hefeng, and he had never heard of this tower.
Because the map can not find the specific location of the ancient pagoda, only know that it is located in Hongba Village, Jinma Town, so to find the Red and White Pagoda can only navigate the Hongba Village, and then ask the locals after the location.
From Hefeng Town to Hongba Village, Jinma Town, is more than ten kilometers of rural roads, occasionally passing through one or two small villages, which is different from what I saw before in Jianyang Jiajia and Sancha, where most of the countryside belongs to the Longquan Mountains, and the mountains are full of fruit trees, replacing agriculture and becoming one of the main local economic sources, and also driving a part of the tourism industry. And this is already a hilly area in the middle of the river, both sides of the road are full of crops and farmland, green hills, quiet and meandering rivers, very pure and quiet countryside.
After arriving at Hongba Village, without any road signs, after asking the local villagers many times, I finally found the Red and White Pagoda on the banks of a river outside the village.
The tall red and white tower stands quietly in an open field, straight into the clouds, and at the foot of the tower are two vigorous peanut fields, the base of the tower is surrounded by legs-deep weeds, and the red and white tower is very conspicuous among the green grass fields.
According to the text on the wenbao monument next to it, the red and white pagoda was built in the Ming Dynasty, which is a thirteen-level eaves tower with brick and stone imitation wood structure, the tower body is quadrilateral, the tower body is solid, and the height is 22 meters, which is a rare quadrilateral ancient tower building in the Ming Dynasty.
At first sight of it, I feel a little familiar, can't help but remind people of the Shengde Temple Pagoda in Jianyang City, which is also a thirteen-level eaves masonry tower with red and white colors, and the shape is somewhat similar, except that the red and white pagoda is thinner than the Shengde Temple Pagoda, and there is still space inside the Shengde Temple Pagoda to visit the tower, but the red and white pagoda is solid Without internal space, it cannot climb the tower.
Only to see the ancient tower eaves overlapping, layer by layer, each floor has a niche, the third floor has a holding on all four sides, and the tenth floor has a statue of a figure on all four sides.
The fourth floor on the east side is decorated with a Buddha statue, and the seventh floor is decorated with two stupas, with a cast iron roof and a round bead.
There is also a small statue of Kannon and a statue of the god of wealth in the niches on the first floor on the east side.
The base of the tower and the eaves are decorated with simple patterns of lines.
From the overall point of view, the appearance of the red and white tower is simple, the statue is unique, and it is rare that there are few traces of modern reconstruction, which looks full of ancient charm, probably because the location is too remote, in addition to natural factors, there is no reason for man-made destruction.
If the pagoda of Shengde Temple is called "a tower of clouds" and dominates the first of the "Eight Views of Jianzhou", then the red and white pagoda is the "golden needle and jade pillar" hidden in the countryside.
The origin of this red and white tower is quite legendary, and there is a story circulating in the local area:
Legend has it that there was a giant mussel at the bottom of the Huanxi River next to the ancient tower, which contained spirit beads in its belly, and every rainy night, a dazzling white light broke out of the water, shining in the night sky, and accompanied by a golden shining horse running around the beads. Over time, the local villagers have become accustomed to this and call this scene the "Golden Horse Protective Pearl".
However, one day, a pair of men and women incarnated by snake spirits and centipede spirits came to the riverside, they used money to confuse the local villagers, told the villagers that the giant clam was a demon, the white light emitted by the spirit bead in its abdomen could kill people, and tricked the villagers to help remove the giant clam, the villagers believed that it was true, helped the demon to be evil, unexpectedly the golden horse that protected the pearl appeared, and fought with the pair of men and women to the death, the golden horse killed the man and woman and made them appear in their original form, but the golden horse was also injured and unable to guard the spirit bead, so he turned into a towering white tower standing on the riverbank to suppress the demon qi. He also told the villagers: The spirit pearl spits light, it is the master of the earth, and the earth is the spirit of the people, and it is the blessing of the people. The villagers woke up, so they bowed down reverently, because the blood from the injury of the Golden Horse stained the white pagoda red, so that the tower body was red and white, and people called this tower "Red and White Pagoda".
Therefore, the legend says that the Red and White Pagoda is actually a town demon tower.
It is said that the geographical location of this tower is special, whenever the morning glow and sunset glow, the far-looking tower presents a scene of red and white blending, and its scenery is beautiful and spectacular, so the "red and white tower" gradually spreads in the local area, and the name of Jinma Town also comes from this.
On the front of the ancient tower, surrounded by a stream in front of it, under the tower is an open flat dam, which should be a newly built square, but the flat dam is dried with local villagers' crops, and the surrounding grass is also obliterated.
On the back of the ancient pagoda, there is a small temple, but it has been abandoned.
Some time ago, I heard that some local temple buildings in Jianyang that have not obtained permission to open will be demolished, so the small temple here cannot escape this disaster, and there is no trace of the Buddha statue inside, leaving only a few old tables and stools, and the traces of the existence of the previous Buddha statue can still be faintly seen on the wall.
It can be imagined that before the small temple was abandoned, this place should be guarded, although it is remote, but at least there was still a little incense popularity at that time, and now after the small temple is abandoned and demolished, only this red and white tower stands alone in the wilderness, and perhaps no one will come to see it for a long time.