Pavilion of Prince Teng

The Pavilion of Prince Teng is a building in the North West of the city of Nanchang, in Jiangxi province, China, on the east bank of the Gan River and is one of the Three Great Towers of southern China. The other two are the Yueyang Tower and the Yellow Crane Pavilion. The present building was rebuilt in 1989 on the original site. The rebuilding plan was devised by the architect Liang Sicheng, and now the Pavilion of Prince Teng is the landmark of Nanchang. There are nine floors in total. The main architectural structure is in Song dynasty wooden style, showing the magnificence of the Pavilion.

The Pavilion of Prince Teng was first built in 653 AD, by Li Yuanying, the younger brother of Emperor Taizong of Tang and uncle of Emperor Gaozong of Tang. Li Yuanying was enfeoffed as Prince Teng in 639 and spent his early years in Suzhou. In 652 he was assigned the governorship of Nanchang where the pavilion served as his townhouse. The Pavilion of Prince Teng is the only existing royal architecture in southern China. Twenty years later, the building was rebuilt by the new governor. Upon its completion, a group of local intelligentsia gathered to compose prose and poetry about the building. The most famous of these is the Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng by Wang Bo. This piece made the Pavilion of Prince Teng a household name in China down to the present day.

The Pavilion was subsequently destroyed and rebuilt a total of 29 times over the next centuries. The present Pavilion of Prince Teng was built according to the design of architect Liang Sicheng, and was completed on 8 October 1989; now a landmark of Nanchang. The building is of reinforced concrete, but decorated in Song Dynasty style.

The building sits atop a 12 meters (39 ft) tall concrete platform, which symbolizes the now-destroyed ancient city wall. A stainless steel tablet at the entrance is engraved with a calligraphy work of Mao Zedong: 「落霞与孤鹜齐飞，秋水共长天一色。」 (“Falling snow and lone goose flying together; a single hue, autumn water and the long stretch of sky.”), a quotation from Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng.