Guqiao Tower

2021-07-19 21:57:28

Guqiao Tower

Stemming from the Song’s Taiping Xingguo eighth year (983), dubbed Sub-town Gate Tower, Guqiao sustained a handful of conversions, such as in the sixth year (1136) of Song’s Shaoxing reign, and in Longqing’s fifthth year (1571) during Ming following the burndown in the aftermath of the then Japanese pirate invasion in Ming’s Jiajing reign (1522-1566). Another alteration took place in the ninth year (1670) of Qing’s Kangxi, before a burnup in the 31st year (1692) and one more restoration happened in the 36th year (1697) of the same reign, coupled with the sign of kan trigram to stave off fire over the gateway. Moreover, another revamp was put in place during Jiaqing (1796-1820), complete with an inscribed board on it. Facing south over 1,250 square meters, the existing construction remains a three-level terrace tower, with 15 beams over its gateway, either side of which is overhung with dressed stones layer by layer, topped with 5m-long stone beams. Featuring nine rooms in its facade and five in its throat (with 8 rafters), the two-layer wooden pavilion on the terrace tower, is of Chuan-dou type wooden frame, with a double-eaves gable and hip roof, alongside very large bracket sets. Its second level has winding corridors in front and behind, whereas those of the thirrd come with brick and stone railings additionally. In 1985, it made for one of the second batch of cultural relic protection sites of Fujian Province.

Guqiao Tower