Liuhe Pagoda
A thousand-year-old pagoda on the Qiantang riverside — both a tide-taming lighthouse and a spiritual monument to humanity's architectural will confronting the river's nonlinear fury.
A snow-dusted tiered pagoda and timber halls stand beside a calm winding river, framed by bare trees and misty forested hills.
Tower1
- Baochu Pagoda
Slender Northern Song pagoda atop Precious Stone Hill defining the north skyline of West Lake.
Temple1
- Liuhe Pagoda Tide Terrace & Kaihua Temple
From Liuhe Pagoda, visitors gain a prime vantage over the Qiantang River Bridge and its surging tidal bore, a spot scholars climbed and praised in verse.
Memorial1
- Lu Zhishen Enlightenment Memorial at Liuhe Pagoda
In the novel Water Margin, the outlaw monk Lu Zhishen hears the tide here, grasps his fate and passes away, a tale woven into local lore.
On its attractions1
- Watching the Ocean Tide (Southeast Majestic Realm)Ci LyricsLiuhe Pagoda Tide Terrace & Kaihua TempleLiu Yong
Layered lakes and stacked peaks are pristine and fair. With autumn sweet osmanthus and ten leagues of lotus blooms. Markets display jewels and pearls, households overflow with silk brocades, vying in splendor.
Authors1
- Liu Yongc. 987 CE–c. 1053 CE
Wrote of Liuhe Pagoda Tide Terrace & Kaihua Temple in “Watching the Ocean Tide (Southeast Majestic Realm)”. Northern Song lyricist of long slow-tune songs such as Bells in the Rain, sung so widely that it was said every place with a well knew his words
In its history3
- Qian Liu852–932 CE
Part of Liuhe Pagoda's history: Wuyue Peace & Jiangnan Prosperity. Founder of the Wuyue kingdom, a salt smuggler turned general who seized the two Zhe circuits from Dong Chang and was made King of Wuyue by the Later Liang
- Wang Shenzhi862–925 CE
Part of Liuhe Pagoda's history: Wuyue Peace & Jiangnan Prosperity. Founder of the Min state in Fujian who followed his brother Wang Chao south, became military governor at Fuzhou, and was named King of Min by the Later Liang in 909
- Qian Hongchu929–988 CE
Part of Liuhe Pagoda's history: Wuyue Peace & Jiangnan Prosperity. Last king of Wuyue, grandson of Qian Liu, who ruled for thirty years as a vassal of the northern courts and in 978 handed his thirteen prefectures to the Song without a fight
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms2
- Wuyue Peace & Jiangnan Prosperity
Qian Liu's protect-the-realm policy limited Wu-Yue's involvement in warlord conflict and gave Hangzhou a comparatively stable setting for economic growth.
- Wuyue Founds Liuhe Pagoda970 CE, Wuyue
In 970, Wuyue king Qian Hongchu founded Liuhe Pagoda on Yuelun Hill beside the Qiantang River.
Song1
- Southern Song Reconstruction of Liuhe Pagoda1156–1163 CE, Southern Song
From 1156 to 1163, the Southern Song rebuilt Liuhe Pagoda on its original site, creating the core of the surviving brick-and-stone tower.