Shibaozhi Pagoda (石宝寨塔), the centrepiece architecture in Daoist Temple Precious Stone Fortress (石宝寨) built against a 200m high rocky hill facing the Yangtze River in Chongqing, is one of the largest wooden pagodas in China.
Legend has it that the rocky hill was a stone among those collected by Goddess Nuva to repair the sky damaged by rebel Gonggong. After all the gaps in the sky were filled, she found there was one stone left so just casually tossed it away.
There are several versions regarding where the stone eventually fell to.
One said it found its home at the Soul River in an immortal world, and was once incarnated into a super-rich Chinese family and became the leading character in a romance novel Dream in the Red Chamber.
Another said it landed at the bank of the Yangtze River where a Daoist temple with a nine story pagoda was built as shown in the photo.
Of course, all the above are just tales, but here is history.
In the dying years of the Ming Dynasty in the middle 17th century where peasant uprising occurred everywhere in China, a rebel named Tan Hong occupied this hill and set up his headquarters here, which is how the name Precious Stone Fortress came.
A square inside Shibaozhai Temple
Verandas in Shibaozhai Temple
Roofs with protective features in Shibaozhai Temple
A riverside walkway in Shibaozhai Temple
Details of building structure in Shibaozhai Temple