The East-West Pagoda in Quanzhou is the tallest existing stone pavilion-style pagoda with imitation wood structure in China. It is the emblem of the hometown of overseas Chinese in Quanzhou, a national key cultural relic protection unit, and an important part of the Kaiyuan Temple complex.
The famous East Pagoda Town National Pagoda was built in the first to sixth years of Xiantong in the Tang Dynasty (860-865). It was originally a nine-level wooden pagoda. In the third year of Baoqing in the Southern Song Dynasty (1227), it was rebuilt into a seven-level brick pagoda. From the second year of Jiaxi to the tenth year of Chunyou (1238-1250) in the Southern Song Dynasty, it was rebuilt into the current five-level stone pagoda. The west tower is called Renshou Tower. It was first built in the second year of Liang Zhenming (916) in the Five Dynasties. It was originally a seven-level wooden pagoda. The brick pagoda was rebuilt in the third year of Baoqing in the Southern Song Dynasty (1277). From the first year of Shaoding to the first year of Jiaxi in the Southern Song Dynasty (1228-1237), it was rebuilt into the current five-level stone pagoda.
The East and West Towers are octagonal five-story imitation wooden pavilions with roofs. The East Tower is 48.27 meters high and the West Tower is 45.06 meters high. The base, body, and cover of the twin towers are all made of white granite inside and outside. The two towers use 6,293 cubic meters of stone, with a total weight of about 19,510 tons. The foundation of the tower is thick and stable, and the Quanzhou earthquake in 1604 (the 13th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty) was unharmed. Each floor of the two towers has four doors on eight sides, and the partition doors and niches are misaligned. The upper and lower inner and outer eaves of the twin towers, the dougal arches, the lintels and the Huai corridor hooks and rails are closely connected and connected. The pagoda is made of iron. From the brake base to the gilt gourd, the heights are 11.1 meters and 10.65 meters respectively. Each of them has eight large iron chains tied between the top of the brake and the corners of the eaves. There are a total of 80 metal bells attached to the corners of the raised eaves.
The Buddhist art stone carvings in the East and West Pagodas are colorful. There are 160 relief sculptures of figures distributed on the walls of the twin towers, including Bodhisattvas, Arhats, Vajras, gods, eminent monks, converted emperors, princes, life officials, lay people and figures from Buddhist stories. There are also 22 supporting figures and animals in the middle. There are 80 guardian gods carved between the eaves of the twin towers. Its Xumizuo is carved with 37 pictures of Buddha's biography, 48 pictures of dragons, phoenixes, lions, birds and flowers, and 16 dwarfs with negative pagodas. There are reliefs on both sides of the steps like eye plates.