In 5^th year (1038) of the Jingyou reign in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), a person of Zhaozhou, named Wang Decheng, built the Dharani Sutra Pillar, which is all carved out of stone. It is 18 meters high, octagonal and has seven storeys. It is the earliest and highest stone sutra pillar extant in China.

The quadrate base of the stone sutra pillar is carved with many patterns such as woman's closing door, singers and dancers, gods and Buddha, Bodhisattvas, dragons, lotuses and so on, which fully embody the superb carving skills of that time. The stone pillar is carved with Dharani Sutra, decorated with patterns of Buddhist figures and sutra stories. The spear of the pillar is a bronze flaming precious pearl, fine and delicate, which is an excellent work of the sculptures of the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

A sutra pillar is usually carved out of stone, and engraved with Buddhist sutra. The kind of building originated in the early Tang Dynasty (618-907), and later tended to be more luxuriant with complicated sculptures and elaborate carvings. The Dharani Sutra Pillar in Zhaozhou can be ranked No. 1 among all sutra pillars either in sculpture or in decoration.