The Chinese Legend of Thunder Pagoda
Thunder Pagoda Before Falling
The king of Wu built the Thunder Pagoda in 975 to celebrate the birth of his son. The original pagoda was an 8-sided 7-story tower. The Thunder Pagoda was damaged and repaired many times because of the civil wars during dynasties. The outlook of the Thunder Pagoda in the picture was the center part of it, because the Japanese pirate set it on fire in 1555. It fell down on September 25, 1924, because people kept stealing the bricks on the wall, which enabled to avoid evil spirits according to many believers.
March 11, 2001 China began to remove the big stone to disclose the underground chamber. The products of Buddhism's culture are expecting to find in the chamber.