The Shenfujun Watchtower is the only
one with the twin towers that survived among the watchtowers in the Han Dynasty
(206BC-220AD). They were constructed during the Yanguang reign (122-125) in the
Eastern Han Dynasty. Unfortunately, their sub-towers were destroyed. The twin
watchtowers, with one in the east and the other in the west, are 21.62 meters
from each other. The height of the towers is 4.84 meters each. Inside the east
watchtower, there is a black dragon embossment. The dragon is snapping at the
ribbon of a jade ring with his sharp teeth. A white tiger embossment is inside
the west tower. The tiger is grand and stubby, four-footed and five-clawed, with
a long and strong tail. He is also snapping at the ribbon of a jade ring with
his mouth, itching to run.
All around the towers there are embossments
of figures, animals and plants that depict the social production and life in the
Han Dynasty. They include wheelbarrows, agricultural-commercial trades, hunting
and shooting, rabbits, cows, sheep, horses and other animals, fruit trees,
waterweeds and so on. The epigraph on the west tower is regarded as the treasure
among the official script in the Han Dynasty due to its unique calligraphy.
Many people came to visit the watchtower in
the past two thousand years. The rubbings spread overseas. The Shenfujun
Watchtower is simple and unsophisticated in structure and features ingenious
carving, lifelike depicting and vivid forming. It is not only a treasure of the
structure art, but also a rare material for the research into the production,
life, architecture, transportation tools as well as calligraphy, carving and
painting art in the Han Dynasty.