A — 01Infographic: China Daily · 2025 ↗VERTICAL TEMPLEFive open, four hidden:
Liao dynasty · Qingning 2 / 1056 CE
YingxianWooden Pagoda
A monastery growing vertically,
an architectural history still bearing weight.
39°33′54″N113°10′55″E
Move the pointer to read its volume
Select a glowing node to study a component
Research prototype · non-commercial / RESEARCH USE ONLY
FOGONG TEMPLE · SAKYAMUNI PAGODA
01 / STRUCTURAL EXPLORATION
Begin with the complete form,
then read between its components.
The pagoda is not a static relic,
but a network that remains at work.
A — 01Infographic: China Daily · 2025 ↗
A — 02Image: Gisling / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 3.0 ↗LOAD & MOVEMENTDougong brackets:
Dougong brackets:
flexible load-bearing joints
塔
EPIGRAPHIC ARCHIVEOne plaque, one history:
One plaque, one history:
time written on a building
From ‘Sakyamuni Pagoda’ to ‘Wonder of the World’, successive titles form a readable history of repair and looking.
02 / RESEARCH FRAMEWORK
RESEARCH MATRIXEnter the pagoda through
Enter the pagoda through
six image archives
Every item has its own ID, verification status, spatial location and source. Known and unknown are kept distinct so formal catalogues and survey results can be added responsibly.
01
Individual plaques
52 historical records · 48 extant inventory slots · 4 lost
PLAQUES↗02All murals
Six Buddhas · twelve apsaras · six donors · doorway guardians
MURALS↗03Buddhist statuary
Five-storey groups · atlantes · five-clawed dragons · eight bodhisattvas
STATUARY↗04Timber structure
Column grids · hidden floors · brackets · joints · frames · finial
TIMBER SYSTEM↗05Measured drawings
Plans · sections · bracket typology · condition drawings
DRAWINGS↗06Historical photographs
Early surveys · historical images · current open collections
PHOTOGRAPHS↗03 / MILLENNIUM CHRONICLE
Image: Charlie fong / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗970
Across nearly a millennium
Earthquakes, war, weather and continual repair
have written deformation into its timber.
CHRONICLE / 1056—NOWOne pagoda,
One pagoda,
five moments in time
1056
Qingning 2, Liao dynasty
The Sakyamuni Pagoda of Fogong Temple is completed as a vertical timber monastery.
1194
Mingchang 5, Jin dynasty
The ‘Sakyamuni Pagoda’ plaque and repair inscription become key dating evidence.
1933
Liang Sicheng's survey
Modern architectural history rediscovers the pagoda through measurement and photography.
1961
First national protection list
Listed among China's first Major Historical and Cultural Sites.
2013
Tentative World Heritage List
Submitted as an outstanding example of Liao timber architecture.
PRIMARY SOURCES / Starting pointsResearch is not a conclusion,
Research is not a conclusion,
but an entrance that can be traced.
01 · HERITAGEWooden Structures
How to conserve
A hypothesis on the plan module:
Yingxian Wooden Pagoda
Wooden Structures
of the Liao Dynasty
UNESCO World Heritage Centre
↗02 · CONSERVATIONHow to conserve
the 960-year-old pagoda
Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage / People's Daily
↗03 · PAPERA hypothesis on the plan module:
from photographs taken in 1933
Journal of Architectural History
↗04 · INFOGRAPHICYingxian Wooden Pagoda
structure and construction
China Daily
↗USE & ATTRIBUTION / Use and attribution
RESEARCHThis website is for architectural research, teaching and non-commercial prototyping only.
Images, diagrams and publications are credited in context and linked to their original pages; copyright and attribution remain with their creators and publishers. Future records should retain author, title, date, institution, licence and original-link fields.
USE ONLY