As more than sixty inscriptions in the pagoda mention the twenty-second year of the Shaoxing period (1152) of the Southern Song Dynasty, the pagoda must have been built during that period (1131-1162). A prominent feature of the pagoda is the exquisite carvings on its outer and inner walls and pillars. For example, sculptured on the eight corner pillars of the first storey are dragons and Buddha's eight celestial guards. Inlaid on the walls are more than a hundred relief sculptures of Buddha, bodhisattvas, figurines and designs of flowers and plants, which are rarely seen in other brick pagodas. Also carved on the pagoda are the names of the sculptors, including Fu Xiaoba. This shows the pagoda was closely related to the Moya cliff sculptures on the North Mountain.

The octagonal pagoda, some thirty meters high, seems to have thirteen storeyes, as seen from the outside, but its pent roofs are so close together that it has only seven storeys inside. Its outward appearance gives it the look of a multi-eave structure, but the height of its first storey and the structure of its pent roofs, doors and windows indicate it is actually a multistoreyed pagoda. A flight of steps inside the arched door on the southern side leads to the top.