The Yongning Pagoda or Yongning Temple () in

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...

was one of the tallest buildings of the world from 516 AD to 534 AD. The timber-frame

pagoda A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, ...

with a complete column grid and a stabilising masonry-core was built during the

Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties ...

in 516 AD, but is no longer extant. Possibly nine stories high, of which seven were made of earth platforms with wooden verandas, and the top two stories being completely out of wood. One source states that it was 90 ''

zhang Zhang may refer to: Chinese culture, etc. * Zhang (surname) (張/张), common Chinese surname ** Zhang (surname 章), a rarer Chinese surname * Zhang County (漳县), of Dingxi, Gansu * Zhang River (漳河), a river flowing mainly in Henan * ''Zha ...

'' (about ) high, plus a 10 ''zhang'' high pinnacle, which is thought to be an exaggeration. More reliable sources suggest that it may have been 40 ''zhang'' (about ) or 49 ''zhang'' high, including the pinnacle having possibly had a top height of 137, 147, or with a pinnacle of extra 7 ''zhang'' even , making it the tallest building in the world at that time and the tallest pagoda ever built until the completion of the

Tianning Temple (Changzhou) The Tianning Temple (), is a Buddhist temple located in Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China, is noted for its giant pagoda, the Tianning Pagoda (). Construction began in April 2002 with the opening ceremony for the completed structure held on A ...

in 2007. According to evidence unearthed by modern archaeological excavation, the pagoda had a square foundation of rammed earth with a width of . The earthen foundation was covered by a thick layer of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

bricks. Pillar bases have been discovered at each corner of the pagoda. According to

Yang Xuanzhi Yang Xuanzhi () was a Chinese writer and translator of Mahayana Buddhist texts into the Chinese language, during the 6th century, under the Northern Wei Dynasty. Yang wrote "The Monasteries of Luoyang" () in 547. This text relates the introductio ...

who lived in Luoyang in the year 520, the pagoda could be seen from as far as . The Yongning Pagoda was destroyed in 534 when it was struck by lightning and caught fire.

References

Former world's tallest buildings Burned buildings and structures in China Buddhist architecture in Luoyang Stupas in Henan {{China-struct-stub

See also

References