The Eight-Sided Pagoda of Foguang Si at Yingxian by Kate Erickson

Pagoda refers to the general term for a tower shaped building, often religious in purpose and very common in China as well as the rest of Asia. Pagodas are typically found in association with temples (often Buddhist) and are believed to offer protection to the accompanying temple. The purpose of the pagoda varied from association with the Buddhist temples during the first millennium, to the protection of towns from floods as a return to fengshui, “according to which pagodas were constructed on hilltops to placate the spirits of nature while enhancing the landscape” (Wood, 17 October 2004).

The pagoda can attribute its existence from the merging of two building structures: the Indian stupa and the Chinese que. The stupa was built over the mounds of Shakyamuni Buddha after his death in the fifth century B.C. Que towers were built in the Han Dynasty for recreational or defense purposes. Pagodas are typically constructed from brick, stone, timber, and metals. Chinese scholars recognize four major types of pagoda: the storied pavilion type, the closed-eaves type, the pavilion type, and the stupa. Pagodas in the stupa-stylize were at their height between the 13^th and 18^th-centuries.

Although the arrival of Buddhism had a profound effect on architecture in China, Chinese architecture was already highly evolved and codified before that. However, with the emergence of Buddhism in China in the first century C.E., not only the adoption of a new religion occurred, but also "the reconfiguration of [Buddhism's] buildings and symbols into a two thousand year-old construction system" (Steinhardt, 17 October 2004). As Buddhism came in on the Silk Road, so did these Indian building types, being sinicized to the Chinese architectural and cultural tradition. Indian architectural types were fully established on Chinese soil in the Chinese tradition however "the overall transformation from Indian stupa underwent many changes to evolve into the Chinese pagoda" (Steinhardt, 17 October 2004).

From the mid-tenth century through the beginning of the twelfth century the Northeast Asian lords of Qidan nationality were the primary patrons of the art and architecture of the Liao. They ruled an area that existed from the Gobi Desert, across Mongolia, into former Manchuria, and into Korea, in addition to including sixteen prefectures of Northern China. The Liao had five capitals on the basis of the Buddhist idea of the five-fold structure of the universe that can be found in the Tantric mandalas. The Liao culture traded with and received payment from the cultures to the south to keep the peace. The nomadic Qidan lacked a native tradition of permanent structures or artistic traditions of their own influences of the Tang dynasty in Buddhism, as pagoda shafts possessed Buddhist imagery in groupings of relief decorations, as well as Mongolian exterior styling whitewashed, wide, and gradually stepped in appearance. Liao shapes and imagery, however, are greatly influenced by the nomadic lifestyle of this dynasty. The Liao did not prosper beyond 1125 as the group that overthrew the Northern Song defeated the Liao in 1234. A combination of Chinese cultural influences and Buddhist pacifism also aided in the ruination of the Liao as this was contrary to their martial tendencies (Michaelson, 17 October 2004).

A demonstration of the development and pinnacle of the Liao architectural traditions is the Eight-Sided Pagoda of Foguang Si (figures 1a and 1b) is located at Yingxian in the northern province of Shanxi and was built in 1056 under Liao patronage by Daozong during the Northern Song Dynasty. It is considered the oldest extant Buddhist wooden pagoda. Foguang Si is also commonly referred to as the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda, or because of its monumental presence in China, simply Muta (or Timber Pagoda). The structure stands 67.31 meters tall with an inner shaft made entirely of wood that rises 51.35 meters. The structure employs the use of wood and brick in the same structure: the base is brick whereas the stories are made of wood. (Shatzman, 1997)

Furthermore, each story of the Muta is an independent, self-contained structure so that each story is its own 3D Buddhist mandala including sculpture and wall paintings. A cross-sectional view of the pagoda exhibits this detail (figure 2a). The four middle floors have a balcony and a lean-to roof. The top level has a very elaborate system of bracketing. There are fifty-four different bracket-types used within the pagoda (figures 2a-c). Although, many of these bracket-set formations are variations of a defined type specifically the puzuo and ang styles. Throughout the Muta these types of bracketing vary in number, size, and placement of caps. The number of posts and braces that help to support the structure is also quite vast. One hundred and two props were added on either side of the main columns and under the lintels of every bay, features typical of Liao architecture, making for an elaborate schematic layout (figure 2d). Not only does the Muta have self-contained halls on each floor, but also such structural feats as a wooden support system that has self-contained inner caos or troughs, a form of sunken ceilings called zaojing that cut into the mezzanine layers of other floors and possess intricate and varying types of patterning. (Steinhardt, 1997)

This nine-story octagonal structure was constructed without the use of nails and falls under the Indian-influenced stupa classification of pagoda. The stupa that is the crown of the pagoda follow in the tradition of Liao styling: two rows of brick lotus petals and one of iron petals support various Buddhist characteristics - an alms bowl, a prayer wheel, and so forth. Chains formerly hung from the tips with small bells hanging from each corner of the roof (Pirazzoli-t'Serstevens, 1971). The Muta stands out within the context of Liao wooden building. When the Buddha Shakyamuni died, a stupa was placed over his remains. The function of the stupa in its East Asian form likens the pagoda to a relic mound. A devout Buddhist ruler of the Liao continued in the stupa tradition, creating the pagoda as an architectural homage to the death of the Buddha while simultaneously erecting a shrine to the Liao ruler's father. The images within the pagoda are even considered to be funerary in nature. (Steinhardt, 1997)

The religious architecture of the Song period underwent a Buddhist renaissance of sorts during the tenth century that continued through the takeovers by the barbarian dynasty of the Liao. Under the Liao, new monasteries such as the Foguang Si compound were built, and ancient institutions were restored or enlarged like the Shanxi. Like stupas, early pagodas under Liao patronage such as Foguang Si would contain relics inside and provided a focus of devotion to the Buddha and others transmitting faith. Built halfway through the realm of the Liao, the Eight-Sided Pagoda of Foguang Si at Yingxian in Shanxi province is arguably the epitome of wooden architecture of the era.

Figure 1a. Photograph of The Eight-Sided Pagoda of Foguang Si at Yingxian in Shanxi province, 1056.

[After Fu Xinian, Et. Al., Chinese Architecture, fig. 5.33]

Figure 1b. General view of The Eight-Sided Pagoda of Foguang Si.

[After a drawing by Lian Ssu-ch’eng, A Pictorial History of Chinese Architecture, fig. 31b]

Figure 2a. Cross-sectional drawing of Foguang Si.

[After Nancy Shatzman-Steinhardt, Liao Architecture, fig. 103 {after Liu Dunzhen, Zhongguoo gudai jianzhu shi, 2^nd ed., p 218}]

Figure 2b. Line drawing of exterior of first three levels of Foguang Si Pagoda.

[After Nancy Shatzman-Steinhardt, Liao Dynasty, fig. 106 {after Chen Mindga, Yingxian Muta, drawing 18}]

Figure 2c. Detail of an exterior corner of the Timber Pagoda.

[After Fu Xinian, Et. Al., Chinese Architecture, fig. 5.34]

Figure 2d. Plan of Yingxian Timber Pagoda.

[After Nancy Shatzman-Steinhardt, Liao Dynasty, fig. 102 {after Chen Mingda, Yingxian Muta, drawing 5}]

Works Cited:

Chinese Architecture / Fu Xinian ... [Et Al.]; English Text Edited and Expanded by Nancy S. Steinhardt. Chinese Architecture. Ed. Nancy Shatzman. Steinhardt. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2002.

Liang, Sssu-cheng. A Pictorial History of Chinese Architecture: A Study of the Development of Its Structural System and the Evolution of Its Types. Ed. Wilma Fairbank. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1984.

Michaelson, Carol. Liao Dynasty. Oxford University Press. Available: http://ezproxy.library.cornell.edu:2811/. 17 October 2004.

Pirazzoli-t'Serstevens, Michele.

Living Architecture: Chinese. Trans. Robert Allen. Living Architecture. Ed. Henri Stierlin. New York: Grosset & Dunlap: A National General Company, 1971.

Steinhardt, Nancy Shatzman. "Early Chinese Buddhist Architecture and Its Indian Origins." Marg Magazine 50.2 (December 1998): 10-25.

---. Liao Architecture. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1997.

Wood, Frances. Pagoda: China. Oxford University Press. Available: http://ezproxy.library.cornell.edu:2811/. 17 October 2004.