It is said that the three words "Xiaoyao Tower" on the stone tablet were inscribed by Yan Zhenqing, a great calligrapher in the Tang Dynasty

Looking at the Li River in front of Xiaoyao Tower

The Zhuangyuan Corridor and Xiaoyao Tower let you understand the glory and glory of Guilin, a thousand-year-old cultural city. Photo: Liu Guoxiong

When I went to Guilin before, I didn't find a Xiaoyao Building beside the Li River. This time, I went in and visited it.

Xiaoyao Tower is located at the intersection of Jiefang Road and next to Jiefang Bridge in Guilin City. It belongs to a scenic spot in the historical and cultural district of Dongxi Lane in Guilin. To visit Xiaoyao Building, you have to walk through a "Zhuangyuan Corridor". On the side of the "Zhuangyuan Corridor" are many sculptures of historical and cultural figures in Guilin, including Zhuangyuan, scholars, etc., with introductions of their lives, from which you can get a glimpse of Guilin. The glory and glory of a thousand-year-old cultural city.

Xiaoyao Tower was first built in the fourth year of Wude in the Tang Dynasty (621). It was built by Li Jing, then the chief manager of Guizhou. He built a Guizhou city centered on Duxiu Peak, called "Zicheng". Xiaoyao Tower is located on the city wall of Zicheng, which is also a tower, and at that time it also became a commanding height in the east of Guilin. However, over the past thousands of years, Xiaoyao Building has gone through wind and rain and has been destroyed countless times, but it has been destroyed and built repeatedly. Because it is in a good location and very famous, you can see the beautiful Li River from it, and the green peaks of the karst landform in the distance are rising one after another. It is a must-visit for dignitaries and scholars when they come to Guilin.

Scholars and poets who come to Xiaoyao Tower will be impressed by the beautiful scenery in front of them and leave beautiful poems one after another. Song Zhiwen, a famous court poet in the Tang Dynasty, was exiled to Guilin. He climbed the Xiaoyao Tower and wrote a sad poem about his guests leaving in a foreign country: "Xiaoyao Tower looks at the hometown, and there are clear green waters and clouds. Two thousand miles north to Hengyang, there is no reason why the goose feet tie the book back." From Song Zhiwen, to Fan Chengda, Liu Kezhuang, Fang Furuo, Li Yanbi, Li Zengbo, and Zhang Wei in the Song Dynasty, to Bo Du Luding and Wu Boyin in the Yuan Dynasty, and Yang Fang in the Ming Dynasty, they all wrote poems for Xiaoyao Tower.

The last time Xiaoyao Building was destroyed was said to have been bombed by the Japanese army. The reconstruction began in 2015 and was officially completed on New Year's Eve in 2016. This is a two-story, three-eaves, pavilions-style landscape building built in accordance with the Tang Dynasty architectural style. Although Xiaoyao Tower is newly built, the stone tablet that enters the door is an ancient stone tablet. It is said that the three words "Xiaoyao Tower" on it were inscribed by Yan Zhenqing, a great calligrapher in the Tang Dynasty. Of course, the font was also destroyed in the 1960s. In 1972, the Guilin City Cultural Management Association restored the Xiaoyao Tower stone tablet based on the old rubbings. The ancient monument was originally placed in Putuo Mountain in Seven Star Park for protection, but was only put back here after the completion of Xiaoyao Tower.

Go to visit Xiaoyao Building and pass by the Zhuangyuan Corridor

The No. 1 Champion Corridor is quite long, just enough to keep out the wind and rain

On the right side of the Zhuangyuan Corridor are sculptures of historical celebrities and scholars from Guilin

Xiaoyao Tower also built a city wall to restore history

There is a pavilion at the main entrance of Xiaoyao Building

This ancient monument is placed in the pavilion

carefree building

The side of Xiaoyao Building facing the Li River

Standing here, you can see the Li River and Jiefang Bridge

Xiaoyao Building has many pillars

Bodurudin, a poet of the Yuan Dynasty, visited "Xiaoyao Tower" and wrote a poem with a pen: "I live in the sky, and I can never forget my thoughts. The green mountains are lined with broad green trees, and the dusk mist fills the Lin Palace. Outside the remnant clouds of the shepherd flute, fishing songs are shining. Penglai stared into his eyes, and the sea was faintly red. "

You cannot go up to the second floor. This is the lobby on the first floor.

This bronze carving is a map of the ruins of Xiaoyao Tower and Zhi City in the past