Ruiguang Temple Pagoda

CHINA, Jiangsu, Suzhou

Ruiguang means Auspicious Light. The multi-story brick and timber pagoda was built when the style had fully matured in the south during the Song dynasty (960–1279). According to artifacts discovered inside the pagoda, it was completed between 1004 and 1030. Ruiguang Temple was destroyed in 1860, leaving only the pagoda standing. The pagoda underwent a large-scale restoration between 1987 and 1990. The pagoda was listed as a National Cultural Heritage Site in 1988.
The seven-story, octagonal, brick and timber pagoda is 53.6 m high. The blue limestone base has carvings of animals, people, ruyi (wish-fulfilling talisman), and floating clouds. The first story is surrounded by a veranda with a low railing. There are entrances to the pagoda on four sides. The second and third stories have doors on all eight sides, while the fourth to the seventh story have doors on alternate sides. The remaining walls have fake vertical bar windows. Inside the pagoda there is a central pillar with a space between it and the outer wall. From the first to the fifth story, the structure is made of brick and from the sixth story upwards it is made of wood. Other wooden structural elements include the railings on the first story, as well as the eaves and floors of all subsequent stories. More than 380 brick and timber bracket sets can be found on this pagoda.
In 1978 a heavenly palace was discovered on the third story. Inside there were artifacts dating back to the Tang (618–907) and Song (960–1279) dynasties. They included a seated Buddha statue, Avalokitesvara and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva statues, an illustration of the Mahapratisara Dharani Sutra, a frontispiece of the Lotus Sutra, a black lacquered sutra container, gilt bronze towers, a pearl-studded sutra banner, and other valuable artifacts. They are currently housed in the collection of the Suzhou Museum.