On September 25, 1924, a loud noise by the West Lake in Hangzhou caused the Leifeng Pagoda to collapse. The people immediately fell into panic, shouting and fleeing: "The Leifeng Pagoda has fallen, the white lady has come to eat people!" Rumors spread with the dust, and a hundred years later, archaeologists dug open the tomb and found a small white worm in a treasure box, adding a bizarre footnote to the myth.

The origins of the Leifeng Pagoda date back to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, originally named "Empress Tower," built by Qian Chu, the last ruler of the Wuyue Kingdom. This emperor, who ascended the throne in 948, did not relish warfare but was obsessed with Buddhism, investing all the national treasury into building temples and pagodas, praying for the dynasty and the people.

In 975, Qian Chu's favored concubine, Sun, gave birth to a prince, and in his joy, he decided to build a pagoda to celebrate. This pagoda was located at Leifeng by West Lake, to commemorate the joy of having a son, to enshrine the Buddha's hair relics obtained from India, and to pray for stability for the shaky Wuyue Kingdom.

Unfortunately, just as the pagoda was completed, the Wuyue Kingdom headed towards destruction. To protect the people from the ravages of war, Qian Chu voluntarily submitted to the Song Dynasty. Although he was placed under house arrest by Emperor Taizong of Song in Kaifeng, he exchanged it for the safety of the entire city. Because the pagoda was situated on Leifeng, the people gradually abandoned the original name, calling it Leifeng Pagoda.

The Wuyue Kingdom lasted only 72 years, but the Leifeng Pagoda gained fame across the world, not due to Qian Chu's merits, but because of the legend of "The Legend of the White Snake." During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the story of Bai Suzhen being suppressed under the pagoda by Fahai spread widely, and the people were deeply trapped in the legend, believing the myth to be true.

The legend became a death token for the Leifeng Pagoda. During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, the Japanese pirates burned the pagoda, destroying the wooden structure, leaving only the brick core. Subsequently, rumors claimed that the pagoda bricks could ward off evil and cure illnesses, leading the people to frantically dig and grab them. Day after day, the solid foundation of the pagoda was dug into a thousand holes and became precarious.

In 1924, this ancient pagoda of a thousand years ultimately could not withstand the erosion and collapsed. Scholar Yu Pingbo witnessed the dust rising on the opposite bank, which corresponded to the prophecy of "When the West Lake dries up, the Leifeng Pagoda falls." The people at the scene either fled or grabbed, and even the military and police barriers could not stop them; overnight, there were even fights over the bricks.

Lu Xun, learning of this incident, was furious and wrote two articles condemning the foolish actions of the people.