The Eight-Sided Pagoda of Foguang Si
The word “pagoda” means “tower-shaped building.” Pagodas are often used for religious purposes and very common in China, in addition to the rest of Asia. Pagodas are usually involved with temples (often Buddhist) and are believed to offer safety to the accompanying temple. The purpose of the pagoda varied from being with the Buddhist temples during the First Millennium (also known as the Golden Age), to protecting the towns from floods according to their belief of Fengshui. Since they believed that the pagodas would help protect them, they built the pagodas on hilltops to please the spirits of nature and at the same time, they were making the landscape beautiful.
The pagoda's features came from the mixing of two building structures: the Indian Stupa and the Chinese Que. The stupa was built over the hill of Buddha Shakyamuni after his death in the fifth century B.C. Que towers were also being built in the Han Dynasty for recreation and protection. Chinese scholars found out four major types of pagodas: the storied-pavilion type, the closed-eaves type, the pavilion type, and the stupa. The stupa-styled pagoda was as popular as those four major ones during the 13th and 18th centuries.
Even though the arrival of Buddhism had a strong result on the building designs in China, the Chinese style of building designs was already very advanced and established before Buddhism came. In spite of the arrival of Buddhism in China in first century C.E., not only did a new religion occur, but also a new form of building ideas came about. As Buddhism came onto the Silk Road, so did these Indian building types, being formed into the Chinese architectural and cultural rule. Indian construction designs were entirely built on Chinese ground in the Chinese tradition. However, in order for the Indian stupa to develop into the pagoda, it had to go through many changes.
Starting from the mid-tenth century through the beginning of the twelfth century, the Northeast-Asian lords of the Qidan people were the main people of the art and architecture of the Liao. They ruled an area that started from the Gobi Desert, across Mongolia, into former Manchuria, and into Korea, in addition to including sixteen authorized territory of Northern China. The Liao culture bought and sold stuff with the cultures of the south to have peace. The Qidan nomads needed a culture of everlasting structures or artistic background of their own influences of the Tang Dynasty in Buddhism, as the pagoda took over Buddhist images in groups of decorations, as well as Mongolian outdoor styling conquered a lot and little by little, stepped in appearance.
The exhibit to demonstrate the development of the Liao architecture is the Eight-Sided Pagoda of Foguang Si is located at Yingxian in the northern region of Shanxi and was built in 1056 under Liao recommendation by Daozong during the Northern Song Dynasty. It is considered the oldest existing Buddhist wooden pagoda. Foguang Si is also known as “The Yingxian Wooden Pagoda” or (because of its enormous existence in China) it is simply called Muta (meaning Timber Pagoda). The structure stands 67.31 meters tall with an inner shaft made entirely from wood that goes up to 51.35 meters. The base of the pagoda is made from brick but the rest of the pagoda, like the layers are made from wood. The structure shows the use of wood and brick at the same time.
What's more, each story of the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda or Muta is a free, independent, self-contained structure, that each story is its own 3D Buddhist mandala including figures and wall paintings (Mandala-“a circular design containing geometric forms, images of deities, etc.”) The number of posts and braces that help support the structure is never ending.
This nine-story octagonal building was constructed without using any nails and it falls under the category of Indian-influenced stupa. When the Buddha Shakyamuni died, a stupa was placed over his remains. The purpose of the stupa in its East Asian form associates with the pagoda to an artifact. A religious Buddhist ruler of the Liao continued in the stupa tradition, creating the pagoda as honor and respect to the death of the Buddha, at the same time putting up a shrine for the Liao ruler's father. The images within the pagoda are even considered to be similar funeral.
The religious structure of the Song period experienced new beginnings of species of Buddhism during the tenth century that continued through the invasion by the barbarian dynasty of the Liao. Under the Liao, new monasteries such as the Foguang Si were built, and ancient organizations were re-established or made bigger like the Shanxi. Just like stupas, early pagodas under Liao aids such as Foguang Si would contain ruins inside and offered a spotlight of loyalty to the Buddha and other people passing on faith. Built halfway through the kingdom of the Liao, the Eight-Sided Pagoda of Foguang Si at Yingxian in Shanxi province is possibly the perfect sample of wooden architecture of that time.