Songjiang Square Pagoda

Songjiang Square Pagoda
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese
Literal meaning	Square Tower
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Fāngtǎ
Xingshengjiao Temple Pagoda
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese
Literal meaning	Tower of the Temple of the Happy-&-Holy Teaching
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xīngshèngjiào Sì Tǎ

Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Fāngtǎ

Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Xīngshèngjiào Sì Tǎ

The Square Pagoda or Fangta of southwest Songjiang in suburban Shanghai is part of the district's Fangta Park. The pagoda is 9 stories tall, reaching 48.5 meters (159 ft) high, and has become Songjiang's most famous landmark.

The pagoda was built between 1068 and 1077, when Songjiang was the largest city in the Shanghai region, a prosperous stop on the Grand Canal between Hangzhou and Suzhou. Each side of the ground floor is about 6 meters (20 ft) long and its nine stories reach 48.5 meters (159 ft) high. It formed part of Songjiang's Xingshengjiao Temple, originally established in 949 but now completely destroyed. Its Northern Song style has not changed despite renovations under the Ming and Qing and, more recently, in the mid- to late-1970s. In 1974, its first-floor staircase was restored.

In 1974 or 1975, a brick vault was discovered under the pagoda during renovations. It was the tomb of the 11th-century monk Miaoyuan () whose ashes—as was common of other masters during the Northern Song—had been placed within the hollow belly of the enlightened Buddha to serve as an object of veneration. The bronze reclining Buddha was 42 centimeters (17 in) long and more than 25 kilograms (55 lb). Two elephant teeth and seven relic beads were placed neatly nearby in two silver cases. The Buddha and the silver cases had been stored in a lacquer case, which had been placed in a larger stone one and then stored in an undecorated crypt.

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Wikipedia