Luoxing Tower in Fuzhou, from 'beacon' to 'landmark'

Located on Luoxing Mountain in Mawei District, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, it was first built in the Southern Song Dynasty. It is an octagonal seven-story pagoda-style stone tower built with granite, hollow, and 30 meters high. The tower base is a Sumeru seat with a diameter of 8.6 meters. A door is set to the southwest on the first floor, and a platform railing is set around the second floor and above. The tower has stone steps leading to the top, and each eave corner is guarded by an octagonal Buddha and a water-draining eave. The top of the tower is inlaid with a tower brake, and the outer wall of the second floor of the tower body is inlaid with the Luoxing Tower inscription. It is a representative of the Ming Dynasty stone tower architecture in the Fuzhou area, providing physical evidence for the study of Ming Dynasty stone tower architecture, and has high architectural and artistic research value. It is a key cultural relic protection unit of the seventh batch nationwide. Luoxing Tower was built by Liu Qiniang in the Southern Song Dynasty to commemorate her deceased husband. Qiniang often climbed the tower to look far into the night, lit the lamp at the top of the tower, and guided the way for people sailing at night. Luoxing Tower became a lighthouse. It became the 'Chinese Tower' in the eyes of sailors from various countries, and also became a landmark building in Fuzhou.