The Zhakou White Pagoda sits on White Pagoda Mountain near the lock gate of Qiantang River in Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province.
Built in the late Wu-Yue State of the Five Dynasties and Ten States Period (907-960), the Zhakou White Pagoda sits near Qiantang River facing the Liuhe Pagoda in the distance. It is a landmark construction of Qiantang River.
The White Pagoda was built entirely with white stones, imitating the style of a wooden pavilion. The octagonal pagoda has nine stories and is about 10 meters high. Its base is adorned with carvings of peaks and waves symbolizing nine mountains and eight seas. ASumeru base was built above the base and contains carvings of scriptures at its center. Each layer comprises three parts: the body, eaves and flat base. The body is embossed with lifelike Buddha and Bodhisattva figures and Buddhist stories.
This type of pagoda is rare in the Central Plains and Northern China regions. Its architectural style, which dates back to the Wu-Yue State, gradually diffused across the Central Plains and Northern China and became a prevalent style of the southern area during the Yuan (1271-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) periods. The Zhakou White Pagoda is the most exquisite, most genuine and most representative of the existing pagodas from the Five Dynasties and Ten States Period. It is of a very high historical value.
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