Pagoda of Six Harmonies

From Wiki China org cn

Standing by the Qiantang River in Hangzhou, the Pagoda of Six Harmonies (http://china.org.cn/english/TR-e/43395.htm) was first constructed in 970 during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) by Qian Hongchu, King of the Wuyue State, in the hope that it would help suppress the tidewaters. It had nine stories and was some 150 m high. At night lanterns were lit on the pagoda so that ships and boats on the Qiantang River use it as a beacon.

The name of the pagoda is related to six codes of Buddhism. Six harmonies refer to the harmonies of body, mind, speech, opinion, wealth and abstinence from temptation. Another explanation says that the six harmonies refer to the harmony of six directions of the universe – north, south, east, west, heaven and earth.

Pagoda of Six Harmonies