Timber Pagoda

• Built: 1055, Emperor Daozong of Liao
• Chinese: 木塔 (Muta)

The Timber Pagoda, built in 1055 by the Khitan (non-Chinese) Emperor Daozong of Liao, is the tallest wooden pagoda in China, and the oldest standing wooden structure in China. At 67 meters (220 feet) tall, it exceeds the height of the tallest pagoda in Japan, the 54.8 meter tall pagoda at Tô-ji in Kyoto.

The pagoda, today located a two-hour drive south of the city of Datong, Shanxi Province, was built by Emperor Gaozong of Liao to commemorate his father, who died that same year, in 1055. The Khitans, a pastoral people, did not traditionally built buildings, let alone such monumental ones, making this Timber Pagoda, which has survived nearly 1000 years, and numerous earthquakes and other natural disasters, along with thirteen other Khitan wooden structures built at the time, particularly impressive.

The structure is 30 meters (98 feet) in diameter, giving it a relatively squat appearance; its five stories on the outside are divided into nine stories on the inside. A large statue of the Buddha dominates the first three stories, while numerous smaller statues are located throughout the structure; many of the these were damaged in the Cultural Revolution, and some replaced with unattractive modern factory-produced sculptures, but many older sculptures survive. A number of works of painting, calligraphy, and artworks of other types survive as well, many of them originally deposited within the Buddha statues.

References

• Valerie Hansen, The Open Empire, New York: W.W. Norton & Company (2000), 309-311.