thumb|250px|The pagoda as viewed from the bottom of the hill
thumb|250px|Tiger Hill Pagoda in October 1921
The Tiger Hill or Huqiu Pagoda, officially the Yunyan or Yunyan Temple Pagoda,
History
The Tiger Hill Pagoda is the primary pagoda of the former Yunyan Temple, which was founded in 327 and rebuilt for the last time in 1871 after the Taiping Rebellion. The temple suffered damage in successive wars and most of the temple was destroyed during the Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War, after which it was abandoned. Some elements of the temple such as the formal entrance, the pagoda, and several other buildings and smaller shrines have survived, and now stand as landmarks throughout Tiger Hill Park.
Construction of the pagoda began in 907 during the Five Dynasties interregnum between the Tang and Song dynasties. At the time, Suzhou was ruled by the avidly Buddhist kings of Wuyue, based in Hangzhou. Construction was completed in 961, after the absorption of Wuyue into the Song Empire.
The uppermost stories of the pagoda were built as an addition during the reign of the Chongzhen Emperor (1628–1644), the last emperor of the Ming. However, the pagoda leans roughly 3 degrees due to the cracking of two supporting columns.