CHINESE PAGODAS
OF BRICK, WOOD, AND STONE- Changes to the Pagoda Structure
During the Tang Dynasty in China (618-907 CE), Buddhist pagodas began to be made from stone and brick. Stone was much more flexible, adaptable, and more manageable than wood. Stone was also strong enough so that it was able to stand very harsh conditions such as hazardous weather and fire. Stone pagodas were also far better than lumber. Rather than immediately replacing the wooden structure with stone, the Chinese slowly took the material and used it to build their architectural patterns. In the beginning, only the base of the pagoda was built with stone. The walls, roofs and spires on top were still made with wood.
The changes to the actual pagoda structure were made during this period as well. Before that time, each level of the building was smaller than the size of a basic building. The ceiling was low, and the windows were small. The levels were then fixed and made to hold an actual person standing, different to a person that was leaning over. There were more rooms added and the rooms were built to fit into the surroundings. By that time, in every level of most of the pagodas, there was a room for each outer wall of the pagoda. They were built with six to eight sides instead of the basic four-sided structure. Each level then had six to eight rooms as well. Later on, the pagoda (as a building) began to match the everyday Chinese architectural styles.