730-yr-old stone pagoda found in Hebei

A stone pagoda dating back 730 years to the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) has been discovered in north China's Hebei Province, local cultural heritage authorities said Thursday.

Carved into bluestone, the column pagoda was found in Shichang Village, in Cixian County.

The pagoda, located at the site of a former temple, consisted of a base, tower, and tower head. The head section is missing, said an official with the county cultural heritage protection department.

The tower is 90 cm tall, and the lotus-shaped base is 100 cm long, 90 cm wide and 45 cm tall, said the official.

A Buddha sculpture and inscriptions were found on the pagoda. According to the inscriptions, it was the stupa of Zhigong, a former abbot of the temple.

Cultural heritage experts said the discovered pagodas were mostly built in later Ming and Qing dynasties, and those from Yuan Dynasty are rare.

The discovery will boost for the study of temple culture and traditional customs, which also showed the prosperity of Buddhism in Yuan Dynasty, according to the official.