Chinese Empire

The Yingxian Wooden Pagoda: The Tallest Surviving Wooden Building in the World

The Yingxian Wooden Pagoda (應縣木塔, Yìngxiàn Mùtǎ), formally the Sakyamuni Pagoda of Fogong Temple (佛宮寺釋迦塔, Fógōngsì Shìjiātǎ), is the tallest surviving wooden building in the world and one of the most impressive structures of the pre-modern era. Standing 67.5 metres tall in the town of Yingxian in northern Shanxi, it was built in 1056 during the Liao dynasty (916–1125) and has stood for nearly a thousand years. It has survived dozens of major earthquakes, several wars, and the long decay of northern China’s climate, and it remains a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The pagoda is the highest expression of the Chinese timber-frame engineering tradition, and the most important surviving example of the wooden pagoda form. Its place in the broader tradition is surveyed in our overview, and in our article on the pagoda tradition. The Forbidden City in Beijing is also worth reading in this context.

The Liao Dynasty Background

The Yingxian Wooden Pagoda was built during the Liao dynasty (916–1125), the Khitan-ruled state that controlled northern China and the Mongolian steppe from the late Tang collapse until its conquest by the Jurchen Jin in 1125. The Liao were originally a nomadic people of the Mongolian steppe, but they adopted much of the Chinese imperial tradition, including Buddhism, after establishing their rule over northern China.

Buddhism was the state religion of the Liao, and the dynasty sponsored the construction of numerous Buddhist temples and pagodas. The Yingxian Wooden Pagoda was one of the most ambitious of these projects. It was commissioned by the Liao emperor Daozong (r. 1055–1101), in 1056, at the Fogong Temple in Yingxian, a temple that had been founded in the Northern Wei period and rebuilt several times. The pagoda was built to house Buddhist scriptures and relics, and to serve as a landmark visible from across the northern frontier.

The Engineering of the Structure

The Yingxian Wooden Pagoda is, with the possible exception of the medieval European cathedral spire, the most technically demanding timber building ever raised before the modern era. Its design represents the highest achievement of the Chinese wooden pagoda tradition, treated in detail in our article on the pagoda tradition. The structure is essentially a stack of square timber frames, each one sitting on the one below, with the whole supported by an elaborate system of interlocking columns and beams.

The plan of the pagoda is octagonal, with each storey having an octagonal plan about 30 metres in diameter. The pagoda has five main storeys and four intermediate storeys (called 暗层, an ceng or “hidden storeys”) between them, for a total of nine structural levels. The hidden storeys contain the structural elements that tie the main storeys together and provide the rigidity that has enabled the pagoda to survive so many earthquakes.

The load is carried by a complex system of columns arranged in four concentric rings: an outer ring of 24 columns on the perimeter of the octagon (largely decorative, supporting the balcony and eaves); an intermediate ring of 8 columns that carries the principal load of the upper storeys; an inner intermediate ring of 8 columns that also carries load and braces the structure; and an inner core of a single column at the very centre, around which a small shrine is built on the ground floor.

The four rings of columns are connected by an elaborate system of beams, struts, and diagonal braces. The beams run horizontally between the columns of the same ring; the struts run vertically between the columns of adjacent storeys; and the diagonal braces tie the columns of the same storey together. The whole structure is a four-ringed timber frame, with each ring functioning partly independently and partly as a member of the larger assembly.

The result is a building that is extraordinarily stable. The four-ringed design distributes the load across many columns, so that no single column is critically stressed. The diagonal braces make the structure very stiff against lateral motion. The hidden storeys add mass and rigidity, so that the upper storeys move together with the lower storeys rather than oscillating independently.

The carpentry is also remarkable. The columns, beams, and braces are fitted together with mortise-and-tenon joints, the standard Chinese timber-frame joint, and locked in place with iron straps and wooden wedges. No nails are used. The timber is largely oak and pine, with the larger elements of oak. The pagoda is crowned by an elaborate iron finial that rises 14 metres above the top of the timber structure. The finial, weighing several tons, is built up of iron rings and chains anchored to the top of the pagoda by long iron tie-bars that run through the upper storeys.

The Survival of the Pagoda

The most remarkable fact about the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda is that it has survived for nearly a thousand years, through some of the most difficult conditions for timber architecture. It has survived dozens of major earthquakes, several wars, and the long-term decay of its timber elements. The reasons for its survival are partly structural, partly environmental, and partly a matter of careful maintenance.

The structural reasons are summarised above: the four-ringed design, the diagonal bracing, the hidden storeys, and the careful jointing all contribute to a building that is unusually resistant to earthquake damage. Several of the earthquakes that have struck the region have been of magnitude 6 or higher, and one in 1305 is reported to have been of magnitude 7 or higher.

The environmental reasons are also important. The site of Yingxian is in a relatively dry region, with an annual rainfall of about 400 millimetres. The dry climate has slowed the decay of the timber and the growth of fungi and insects. The site is also on a rocky promontory above the local river, and the well-drained soil has kept the foundations dry.

The maintenance reasons are also significant. The pagoda has been repaired and restored many times. The most recent major repair was carried out in the 1930s, when the Northeast Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army used it as a defensive position. The Communist Party, after 1949, carried out further repairs, and the Chinese government has spent considerable sums to maintain the structure. The pagoda is now a popular tourist destination.

The pagoda has not been without damage. The hidden storeys, in particular, have deteriorated over the centuries, and the upper storeys are now inaccessible to visitors. The pagoda has tilted slightly to the west, and the upper storeys have been distorted by long-term settlement of the foundation. The Chinese government has been considering further restoration, but the engineering challenges are formidable.

The Rediscovery and Modern Significance

The Yingxian Wooden Pagoda was a famous structure throughout imperial China, and it appears in numerous travel accounts, poems, and paintings. The most famous literary reference is in the poem by the Qing emperor Kangxi (r. 1661–1722), who visited the pagoda in 1703 and wrote a poem about it. The pagoda is also mentioned in the Mingshi (明史, “History of the Ming”) and in the Qingshigao (清史稿, “Draft History of the Qing”).

The pagoda became a subject of serious study in the twentieth century, when Chinese and foreign engineers and architectural historians began to investigate the structure. The first modern engineering study was conducted by the Chinese architect Liang Sicheng in 1933. The pagoda was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016, as part of the Cultural Landscape of the Wooden Pagoda of Yingxian.

The pagoda remains a popular tourist destination and an important symbol of Chinese architectural heritage. It is also a model for modern timber engineering, and its structural principles have been studied by architects and engineers around the world. The Yingxian Wooden Pagoda is, in many ways, the most impressive surviving example of the Chinese wooden building tradition, and a monument to the engineering skill of the Liao dynasty.

Further Reading

  • Liang Sicheng, A Pictorial History of Chinese Architecture (1984) — the founding modern study, written by the architect who first surveyed the pagoda in 1933.
  • Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt, Chinese Imperial City Planning (1990) — places the pagoda in the broader context of Liao and Song building.
  • UNESCO, “Yingxian Wooden Pagoda” (2016) — the World Heritage listing documentation.