1850.
Pagodas in and near Canton.
541
"In the southeastern part of the district of Pwányü, thirty li from Canton, an island rises out of the river, about a hundred cubits high, having three hillocks on it, like guitars in shape. In the reign of Wänlih of the Ming dynasty, A. D. 1598, Kwoh Fi, Wáng Hioh-tsang, and Yang Sui-yun, officers of the Imperial Banqueting House, requested permission of the lieutenant- governor and treasurer to build a nine storied pagoda, which standing prominently in the midst of the waters, would greatly add to the view. They named it Hái-ngáu táh, or the Sea Whale pagoda ; on the north a hall was built for Shángti, and at its side a monastery called the Hai-ngáu sz'. The governors Tai Yau and Chin Tá-ko, with the two fuyuen Kú and Liú, lso subscribed for its erection.'
"The buildings here mentioned are now deserted by the priests, and so dilapidated, that they are hardly inhabitable; while the grounds about them, the walls, gateways and everything else, show neglect and poverty- weeds having taken the place of flowers, and disorder of neatness and regularity. Ruin and solitude seem to be more in harmony, however, with these relics of olden time, and notwithstanding the zeal of some devout people, it is likely that the pagoda and its precincts will gradually become more neglected and ruinous, though it does not show symptoms of immediate falling.
"From the Whampoa pagoda the Halfway pagoda stands in a wes- terly direction, by the side of a small creek, called Lob creek by the seamen, through which they sometimes pass to shorten their way in going up to Canton. This pagoda is surrounded by fields and habita- tions, and has not the neglected air of the other two, though like them its brick walls are crumbling, and low shrubbery on the projecting rooflets shows the progress of dilapidation. Its stairways are built like the Whampoa pagoda, and it is about the same height. I also subjoin a short extract concerning the Chih Káng táh from the same work which has furnished the preceding :-
"The Red Stone Knoll is more than ten li south of Canton; it is red like cinnabar. The geomancers say there is a precious thing below it. In the days of the Táng dynasty, a man from the Fú-nán kingdom 扶南國 (Annám?) wished to buy it for ten thousand pieces of money, but the prefect replied, 'It is the hill which protects the southern region, and can not be parted with.'
In the reign of Tienki of the Ming dynasty (A.D. J621-28), Li Shi-wan, a scholar of the district of Nánhái, took the lead in building pagoda on the top of it in order to protect the river entrance to the prefecture and city; it is commonly called the Chih Kang tahor Red Knoll pagoda. There was once a Budhist temple and pavilion to the God of Lite- rature near it, and scholars often collected there to study and write, but these are now all destroyed.'