On July 3, a news article about the two pagodas in the Nübu Subdistrict of Lanxi—the Yongling and Renshou Pagodas—was published. The publication was followed by the phone call of a reader who claimed that Renshou Pagoda was built in 1620, not in 1619, as reported according to a statement from the Lanxi Municipal Cultural Protection Institute. Upon further research, reporters found that there are multiple opinions on the timing of the completion of Renshou Pagoda.

 

Reader’s View: Renshou Pagoda was only built in 1620

Mr. Jin is an enthusiast of literature and history with many years of expertise on Jinhua’s local culture. He believes that the construction of Renshou Pagoda was not completed in the Jiwei year of the Wanli Emperor (1619), but in the Gengshen year (1620), because verses written by Zhou Rulong, son of Zhou Fengquan (donor for the building of the pagoda), read:

On the Mid-Autumn Festival of the Wuwu year,

the hill of Guo was flattened

At the beginning of the Gengshen year,

we could step toward the clouds in the sky.

Mr. Jin explained that the construction of the pagoda started during the mid-autumn of 1618 and it was completed in early 1620.

 

Relevant Data: Three Versions

1. Renshou Pagoda was built in 1612: Published in 1988, the Annals of Lanxi City records that “Renshou Pagoda was erected after the Yongling Pagoda... in the 40th year of the reign of Emperor Wanli (1612) and was made of bricks and stones over seven stories.”

2. Renshou Pagoda was built in 1559: Also published in 1988 by the Township Construction Cultural Committee of Lanxi, the Annals of the Cultural Township Construction records that “Renshou Pagoda was built in the Wuwu year of Emperor Wanli (1559),” but this surely is a mistake because the 48-year span of Wanli’s reign was from 1573-1620.

3. Renshou Pagoda was built in 1619: The 2013 edition of the Annals of Lanxi City reports that according to the Genealogy of the Zhou Family in Tanyuan, “Renshou Pagoda... was completed in the Jiwei year of Wanli (1619).”

Further research on the annals of Lanxi (Guangxu edition), Jinhua (Kangxi and Wanli eds) reveals that no references about the first two theories are specified, but the third theory is mentioned in the Genealogy of the Zhou Family in Tanyuan. The Genealogy exists in two editions, the Guangxu one (1907) and a revised version of 2010. Upon comparison, both editions present the same version of the building of Renshou Pagoda, including the aforementioned verses by Zhou Rulong.

Based on both editions of the Genealogy and Zhou’s verses, the pagoda construction work surely started on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month; however, the Genealogy does not specify the completion of the construction. A speculation, though, can arise from the use of the word Yuándàn 元旦, which had earlier appeared in Chinese texts. Xiao Ziyun 潇子云 (487-549), a historian of the Liang Dynasty, mentions the expression in his Jieya 《介雅》, referring to the beginning of a new year. On September 27, 1949, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference opened in Beijing and officially stipulated that the beginning of the Gregorian calendar, January 1, is called New Year’s Day (Yuándàn), while the beginning of the lunar calendar was changed to Spring Festival (Chūnjié 春节).

In the above verses, Zhou uses the characters chūdàn 初旦, which in both the Hanyu Da Cidian and the Xiandai Hanyu Cidian are defined as fúxiǎo 拂晓 (dawn, daybreak). However, some also think chūdàn can also mean “beginning of the year.” The Genealogy states that the pagoda was inaugurated after New Year’s Day (Yuándàn), which is very likely to be the second day of the first month of the lunar calendar, 1620. Based on the Genealogy, it is possible to argue that the second day of the first lunar month of 1620 was likely to be the first time that Zhou Fengquan visited Renshou Pagoda, and that day also was likely the opening ceremony for the pagoda.

Keeping in mind that there is often a gap between the actual completion of a building and its formal opening, as well as the traditional custom of China to rest at home on New Year’s Day, the actual completion of the construction of the pagoda might have been during 1619 while the official opening occurred on the second day of 1620. In addition, people sometimes differ in their view on what constitutes the completion of a construction, which could be either the actual completion of the construction work or the moment of the official opening. (By He Bailin, translated by Marco Lovisetto, edited by Mariam Ayad)

Source text:

jhnews.com.cn/xw/sh/202007/t20200710_309945.shtml 

Renshou Pagoda from the South Gate of Lanxi by Fu Yongfu

兰溪仁寿塔到底何时建成

7月3日，本报9版以《九曲流停飞白鹭 八峰秀美映双塔》为题，报道了兰溪市女埠街道女埠双塔（永龄塔、仁寿塔）的相关情况。报道发出后，有热心读者来电说，女埠双塔之一的仁寿塔，建成时间不是1619年，而是1620年。

据了解，在7月3日的报道中，仁寿塔建成时间为1619年的说法来自兰溪市文保所及有关资料。记者进一步查阅相关资料后发现，仁寿塔建成时间目前存在多个版本。

【读者观点】

仁寿塔1620年才建成

据了解，金先生是一位资深文史爱好者，对金华本土文化有着多年研究，也是本报的一名忠实读者。

金先生认为，仁寿塔建成时间不是明万历己未年（1619），而是明万历庚申年（1620）。理由是周凤泉（即捐资建塔者周旻）的儿子周汝龙所写诗句：“戊午中秋平郭山，庚申初旦步云天。”

仁寿塔的开工时间是明万历戊午年（1618）中秋；建成时间是明万历庚申年，即1620年，并非明万历己未年（1619）。

【相关资料】

建成时间出现三个版本

版本一：仁寿塔建于1612年。

1988年出版的《兰溪市志》（兰溪市市志编纂委员会编）对仁寿塔的记载如下：“仁寿塔，在永龄塔之后，土名后塔。明万历四十年（1612）建，亦砖石楼阁式，六面七层中空。

版本二：仁寿塔建于1559年。

持这一观点的是1988年由兰溪市建设乡文化志编纂委员会编写的《兰溪市建设乡文化志》。该书对仁寿塔的记载如下：“仁寿塔，建于明万历戊午年（1559）……”

该版本明显有误，因为明万历共48年（1573—1620），只有一个戊午年，即1618年，1559年是明嘉靖己未年。

版本三：仁寿塔建于1619年。

据2013年出版的《兰溪市志》（兰溪市地方志编纂委员会编）记载：据《坦源周氏宗谱》载：‘仁寿塔于明万历戊午年（1618）凿石开基，己未年（1619）建成。’

记者查阅光绪版《兰溪县志》、康熙版《金华府志》、万历版《金华府志》后，均未发现关于仁寿塔的记载。

在关于仁寿塔建成时间的3个版本中，前两个版本没有说明具体来源，第三个版本明确提及“据《坦源周氏宗谱》载”。

目前，《坦源周氏宗谱》有两个版本，一个是清代光绪丁未年（1907）重修版，另一个是2010年重修版。记者对比后发现，两个版本中关于仁寿塔的记载一致，具体内容如下：这段文字后面，还附上周汝龙的诗。

关于仁寿塔的开工时间，综合《坦源周氏宗谱》和周汝龙所写诗句，可确定为明万历戊午年（1618）农历八月十五。对于十分重要的建成时间，宗谱中却没有写明。

不过，从宗谱中“越庚申元旦”这句，可以推测一下。

“元旦”一词，很早就出现在中国的文献中。南朝梁史学家萧子云所写《介雅》中有“四气新元旦，万寿初今朝”之句。据2010年版《辞海》，“元旦”原指夏历正月初一，1949年9月27日在北京召开的中国人民政治协商会议正式规定，公历1月1日称“元旦”，夏历正月初一改称“春节”。

周汝龙所写诗文中有“庚申初旦步云天”之句。据《汉语大词典》和《现代汉语词典》，“初旦”的意思是“拂晓”，即“天快亮的时候”，诗中描写的是当天登塔的时间。

不过，也有人认为，“初旦”为“年初”之意。

《坦源周氏宗谱》中说到“越庚申元旦”，意思是过了庚申年正月初一，即1620年正月初二。从宗谱记载推测，明万历庚申年（1620）正月初二很可能既是周凤泉等人首次登仁寿塔游览的时间，也是周氏家族为仁寿塔举行启用仪式的时间。考虑到实际建成与正式启用之间往往有一段时间差，且中国历来有正月初一在家休息的习惯，因此，仁寿塔的实际建成时间可能是明万历己未年（1619），而正式启用时间可能是明万历庚申年（1620）正月初二。

另外，对于建成时间的认定，有人主张以实际建成时间为准，也有人主张以正式启用时间为准，这就属于“仁者见仁、智者见智”了。（记者 何百林 傅永福 摄）

兰溪南门溪滩遥望能仁塔