After more than 400 years, half-collapsed pagoda stands test of time

A pagoda has stood on the mountaintop for more than 400 years in Dexing, Jiangxi province despite half of it collapsing soon after it was built, media reported on Monday.

The south face of the Xiushui Pagoda, a seven-floor structure standing 27 meters tall, collapsed not long after it was completed during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), according to Ye Ganjin, curator of the Dexing Museum.

While the specific date of the collapse cannot be pinpointed in local historical records, the pagoda has been in its current state as long as living memory can recall.

"My ancestors told me that [part of the tower] had long toppled," said a local resident in his 80s.

The pagoda is registered as a protected national historical and cultural site.

According to local legend, Xiushui Pagoda was built to pacify a male and a female monster that lived on the mountain upon which it sits. After the tower was completed, the female monster took flight, taking half the tower with her.

Ye attributes the pagoda's structural integrity to its solid stone foundation.

According to his research, the double eaves and triangle-shaped courses of bricks also play an important role in stabilizing the tower.