Pagoda of Cishou Temple

Brief Information

Cishou Temple disappeared after a fire and was not rebuilt, while its pagoda remained almost intact. That is why what matters here is not only the tower’s silhouette, but also the very fact of its solitary survival: this 16th-century stone-and-wood structure is now read as a trace of a lost Buddhist temple, rather than as part of a complete ensemble.

The pagoda was built in 1576 by order of Empress Dowager Li. Its form is extremely compact: an octagonal volume rises 50 meters, is divided into 13 stories, is encircled by decorative balconies, and ends in a spire. The intricate carving does more than simply decorate the surface. It shows how this Ming structure consciously looked back: the pagoda was modeled on Beijing’s Tianning Temple, and its eaves were linked to the style of the Liao and Jin eras.

What to Notice First

It makes sense to look at the pagoda from bottom to top: each tier changes the kind of clue it offers. The base symbolizes Mount Sumeru, so the lower part functions as the religious support for the whole composition; near it, the reliefs with the Buddha, lotus, and other ornaments are important. The middle band is defined by the eaves and decorative balconies: they break the tall volume into 13 readable stories and make the octagonal form more apparent.

Between the eaves are carved stylized dougong brackets, elements that came from classical Chinese wooden architecture. On the stone pagoda, they look like a memory of timber construction translated into carving. In the upper part, it is worth noticing the ornament with Chinese musical instruments, including the qixianqin. In this way, the pagoda brings together several languages: Buddhist symbols below, architectural construction in the middle, and musical ornament above.