The Longhua Temple complex, as it stands today, has a typical layout of a Song Dynasty monastery. The pagoda is the tallest structure within this temple, with seven floors and about 40m in height - and is the best well-known historic pagoda in Shanghai.
It is thought that a pagoda was already built with the construction of the first temple on this site, around the year 245. Over the centuries it was destroyed by fire and war and rebuilt multiple times. The pagoda in its current appearance is of Song Dynasty style - and it has been restored into this style in 1954/55. It has received many changes and additions prior.
During the Cultural Revolution there have been attempts to tear or burn down the pagoda, but these were met by resistance from the local residents. Covering it in banners with Cultural Revolution slogans kept is unharmed.
From the 1980s onwards restoration work has been ongoing. Due to its weakened structure the pagoda is nowadays closed to the public.
A pop culture fact: The entire temple was used as prison camps during the Second World War. The novel ‚Empire of the Sun‘ describes the use of the tower as a flak cannon tower. And in the film adaptation the pagoda is clearly visible too.