The two towers of Baikou Temple, the patron saint of Helan Mountain

塔是一种在亚洲常见的,有着特定的形式和风格的中国传统建筑

The tower is a kind of traditional Chinese architecture that is common in Asia and has a specific form and style.

传说很久以前，有一年兵荒马乱，山泉枯竭，民不聊生。有一天晚上，在紫石山前拜寺庙里的老增依稀听到有人在半空中说话。

A long time ago, there was a year of war and chaos, the springs dried up, and the people didn't have a lot of livelihood. One night, a monkwho was at the Worshiping temple in front of Zishi Mountain, vaguely heard someone talking in mid-air.

"此地不可久留"。老和尚出庙观看，只见拜寺庙东西两侧各约50来步远的地方不知何处飞来了两座亭亭玉立的佛塔。老和尚心想，天长日久难耐孤寂，只有钟声为伴，若有这两座塔相陪那该多好!决不能让它们再飞走。于是老和尚心生一计，点着一把火烧伤了东边一塔，西边一塔也就留下来了。因而得名"飞来的"拜寺双塔。此后这里风调雨顺，五谷丰登。

"Don't stay here for a long time." The old monk went out to watch the temple and saw two slender pagodas flying from somewhere about 50 steps away on the east and west sides of the temple. The old monk thought to himself, loneliness is too long for a long time, only the sound of bells is the company, if there are these two towers with each other, it would be great! Never let them fly away again. So the old monk made a plan and burned the east tower with a fire, and the west tower remained. Hence the name "Flying" Temple of Worship Twin Pagodas. Since then, the weather here is smooth, the grains are abundant.

这是关于银川市拜口寺双塔的传说，而关于双塔究竟建于何时，史料并无准确记载，只是在明万历年间修宁夏《万历朔方新志》卷首《宁夏镇北路图》中，在拜寺口就标有双塔。根据塔刹发现的文物推测，双塔于元代早期曾进行过装修，修缮了塔刹，粉妆了壁面，但塔身未进行大的修理。新中国成立以后，经碳-14测定双塔朽木，专家认为是西夏中晚期所建。

This is a legend about the twin towers of Baikou Temple in Yinchuan City, and there is no accurate record of when the twin towers were built. It is just that the first volume of "Wanli Shuofang Xinzhi" in Ningxia was repaired during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, "Ningxia Zhenbei Road Map" In the middle of the temple, there are twin towers at the entrance of the temple. According to the cultural relics discovered in the towers, the twin towers were renovated in the early Yuan Dynasty. The towers were repaired and the walls were painted, but the towers were not repaired. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the two towers were determined by carbon-14. Experts believe it was built in the middle and late Xixia period.

明清时期，银川所在区域地震频繁，特别是清乾隆四年十一月二十四日(1739年1月3日)发生一次八级以上地震，双塔附近的建筑、房屋均被震毁，可是双塔却仍傲然挺立于崇山峻岭之中，这充分体现了当时西夏建筑业的高超技术。

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, earthquakes occurred frequently in the area where Yinchuan was located, especially on November 24 (January 3, 1739) an earthquake of magnitude 8 or higher occurred in the fourth year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty. The buildings and houses near the twin towers were destroyed. However, the twin towers still stand proudly among the lofty mountains, which fully reflects the superb technology of the Xixia construction industry at that time.

东塔总高约39米，塔身呈锥体。每层由叠涩棱角牙和叠涩砖构成腰檐，腰檐外挑。塔顶上砌八角形平座，平座中间为一圆形刹座，上承"十三天"宝刹。二层以上，每层每面都贴有彩塑兽面两个，左右并列，怒目圆睁，獠牙外露，十分威猛。兽面口衔彩绘红色连珠。兽面之间，是彩绘云托日月图案。塔壁转角处装饰彩塑宝珠火焰。

The total height of the east tower is about 39 meters, and the tower body is a cone. Each layer is composed of folded angular teeth and folded astringent bricks to form a waist eave, and the waist eaves are raised outside. An octagonal flat seat is built on the top of the tower, and a circular brake seat is placed in the middle of the flat seat, which bears the "Thirteen Heavens" treasure. Above the second floor, there are two painted animal faces on each side of each floor, juxtaposed side by side, with glaring eyes and exposed fangs, very mighty. The beast face and mouth are painted red with beads. Between the faces of the beasts, there is a pattern of painted clouds supporting the sun and the moon. The corner of the tower wall is decorated with colored sculpture orb flames.

西塔总高约41米，塔体比例协调，比东塔较为粗壮。二层以上由数层叠涩棱角牙和叠涩砖构成腰檐，腰上砌成平座，外檐饰以圆形兽头构件。塔顶上承八角形刹座，刹座檐下，饰以并排彩绘莲瓣，转角处饰以砖雕力神，力神裸体挺腹，手托莲座，栩栩如生。刹座上承"十三天"宝刹。二层之上每面腰檐下均有彩塑佛像及装饰图案。各层壁面中心置长方形浅佛龛，龛内有彩塑动物和八宝图案，龛两侧为彩塑兽面，兽面口含流苏七串。

The total height of the west tower is about 41 meters, the proportion of the tower body is coordinated, and it is thicker than the east tower. Above the second floor, the waist eaves are composed of several layers of astringent angular teeth and stacked astringent bricks. The waist is built into a flat seat, and the outer eaves are decorated with round animal head components. The top of the tower bears an octagonal brake seat, and under the eaves of the brake seat, it is decorated with side-by-side painted lotus petals. The corners are decorated with brick carvings. The brake seat bears the "Thirteen Heavens" treasure temple. On the second floor, there are colored sculptures of Buddha and decorative patterns under each side of the eaves. A rectangular shallow Buddha niche is placed in the center of each wall. There are colored sculpture animals and eight treasures in the niche. The two sides of the niche are painted animal faces, and the animal faces contain seven strings of tassels.

西塔正东面第十二层佛龛内右上侧，有西夏文。在第十层正东的平座上，放置着一个完整的绿色琉璃套兽。塔顶佛龛内置有一根六棱木质中心刹柱，直径约30厘米，刹柱上有墨书西夏文题记和梵文字。

On the upper right side of the twelfth-floor Buddhist altar on the east side of the West Pagoda, there is Xixia script. On the flat seat in the east of the tenth floor, a complete green glazed beast was placed. There is a six-sided wooden center pillar built into the Buddhist altar at the top of the tower, with a diameter of about 30 cm. There are inscriptions in Xixia script and Sanskrit characters on the pillar.

双塔建筑综合了中原佛塔传统特点，又把绘画和雕刻艺术结合起来，构成了两座雄伟壮观、绚丽多彩的艺术珍品。戈壁潦烈，草木苍唐，在静谧而又雄伟的贺兰山下，拜口寺双塔就像是西夏古国遗留下的两个守护神，日夜夜坚守着这片土地。

The twin-tower architecture integrates the traditional characteristics of the Central Plains pagoda, and combines painting and sculpture art to form two majestic and colorful art treasures. The Gobi is sloppy and the vegetation is tangy. Under the quiet and majestic Helan Mountain, the twin towers of Baikou Temple are like the two patron saints left over from the ancient kingdom of Xixia. They stick to this land day and night.