Taiwan monastery returns ancient stone pagoda to Shanxi

An ancient stone pagoda has finally returned to North China’s Shanxi province after it was stolen from Dengyu village in 1998, nearly 20 years ago.
The 1,300-year-old Dengyu Stone Tower dates back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907), and boasts exquisite Buddhist sculpture with beautiful colors and four faces of Buddhist images.
The ancient pagoda was donated to Shanxi by the Chung Tai Chan Monastery in Nantou, central Taiwan after its late abbot Wei Jue learned that the relic had been stolen. It was donated to the monastery by a private collector.
Taiwan’s Chung Tai Chan Monastery has recently built the Chung Tai World Museum.
It has many cultural exchanges and cooperation with Shanxi Museum, with the common goal of protecting Chinese cultural relics.
The Dengyu Stone Tower consists of a base, a body, a tower eave and spire. Its base and eave are still in Dengyu village. The spire, stolen in 1996, remains missing.