The pagoda is a traditional Chinese building. Throughout the vast land of China, ancient pagodas that have been preserved to this day can be seen everywhere.
In fact, the pagoda is not "original" to China, but originated in India. During the Han Dynasty, as Buddhism was introduced to China from India, pagodas were also "imported" to China. "Pagoda" is the transliteration of Indian Sanskrit, and its original meaning is tomb. It is the place where the ashes of ancient Indian monks were buried after their death.
The Chinese pagodas we see now are the product of the combination of Chinese and Indian architectural art. There are many kinds of ancient pagoda buildings in China. In terms of appearance, they have developed from the earliest square to hexagonal, octagonal, circular and other shapes. In terms of the materials for building towers, there are wooden towers, brick towers, stone towers, iron towers, copper towers, glazed towers, and even gold towers, silver towers, and pearl towers. Chinese pagodas generally have an odd number of floors, usually ranging from five to thirteen.
Yingxian Wooden Pagoda
In ancient Chinese novels, the magical power of the tower is often described. For example, the pagoda in the hands of King Li Tian can subjugate demons; the White Snake in the mythical story "The Legend of the White Snake" was pinned under the Leifeng Pagoda by the monk Fahai, etc. This is because Buddhism believes that the pagoda has the function of expelling demons and protecting the people. .
The Three Pagodas of Dali
Many ancient pagodas stand on the mountains and beside rivers in urban and rural areas of China. The famous existing ancient pagodas include: Xi'an's Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Shanxi Yingxian Wooden Pagoda, Henan Kaifeng Iron Pagoda, Hebei Dingxian Kaiyuan Temple Brick Pagoda, Hangzhou's Liuhe Pagoda, Beijing's Xiangshan Glazed Pagoda, etc. These ancient pagodas reflect China's long history and superb architectural art, and also embellish China's mountains and rivers more beautifully.