The pagoda was built sometime between 1068 and 1077 during the Northern Song Dynasty. Many changes were made during repairs in the Ming and Qing dynasties, but the main structure and style remained Northern Song Dynasty. About 60 percent of the wooden brackets, the lintel above the arched gate and the rafters under the eaves are the original components. In 1974 the staircase on the ground floor was rebuilt and the pagoda was restored to the style of the Northern Song Dynasty, based on surveys made by the cultural relics department of Shanghai.
Each side of the square pagoda's ground floor is six meters long. The first storey has balconies surrounded by wooden banisters. The balconies and pent roofs on each storey were made of both brick and wood. The pagoda has nine levels on the exterior and is 48.5 meters high. Each wall is divided into three parts by brick relief columns, with a door in the middle.
The interior of the pagoda is constructed like a hollow tube. Each level has wooden floor slabs and stairs, common in brick- and wooden-pagodas during the Tang Dynasty, Five Dynasties and Northern Song Dynasty.
The steeple has no pedestal. Instead an inverted bowl and dew basins serve as a pedestal for nine discs and a canopy, topped by a bead and bottle, a style of steeple on early pagodas.
The pagoda as a whole is simple and neat. characterized by architectural methods of the Tang and Five dynasties. It is an important example of traditional styles between the Tang and Song dynasties.
