The Nine Pinnacle Pagoda or Jiuding Pagoda (, sometimes translated as "Nine Roof Pagoda") is an 8th-century pavilion-style brick

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, ...

located in central

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in His ...

Province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. It is noted for its unique roof design featuring nine small pagodas.

Location

The Nine Pinnacle Pagoda is located near Qinjiazhuang Village, Liubu Town, in

Licheng District Licheng may refer to the following locations: *Licheng County (), of Changzhi, Shanxi *Licheng District, Jinan (), Shandong *Licheng District, Putian (), Fujian *Licheng District, Quanzhou (), Fujian *Licheng Subdistrict, Xianyou County (), Fujian * ...

, under the administration of

Jinan Jinan (), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized as Tsinan, is the Capital (political), capital of Shandong province in East China, Eastern China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is the second-largest city i ...

City, about 33 kilometers southeast of the city of Jinan proper.

History

The pagoda was erected during the

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

between the years 742 and 756 AD. The pagoda is made entirely from bricks laid tightly with joint gaps of about one centimeter. The pagoda's floor plan is an equilateral octagon in which all of the eight side walls are curved inwards. These concave walls are another distinguishing feature not found in other pagodas of the period. The main body of the pagoda contains only a single storey and the most elaborate feature of the structure are nine small pagodas that decorate the roof. This design may have been chosen to reflect the Chinese saying derived from a story of the

Warring States period The Warring States period () was an era in History of China#Ancient China, ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded ...

which reads: One word, nine ding vessels (). The saying means that a promise given carries a lot of weight (like the literal weight of the nine heavy ding vessels). The name of the pagoda () has the same pronunciation as the second half of the saying, although the characters for "ding" meaning "pinnacle" () and "ding" meaning "ding vessel" () are not the same. Each of the roof pagodas has a square cross-section, three eaved storeys, and features a small door. Eight of the nine roof pagodas are positioned over the eight corners of the main body's octagon with their doors oriented outwards. The height of these roof pagodas is 2.84 meters each. The ninth pagoda occupies the center of the roof. It is almost twice as large as its peers (5.33 meters) and its single door faces south. Including these roof decorations, the total height of the pagoda is 13.36 meters. The eaves of the pagoda are made from 17 layers of brick as is characteristic for the period. The pagoda stands on the grounds of the Nine Pagoda () Temple. A change in the appearance of the walls of the pagoda near the middle of the main body (at 3.6 meters above ground) is seen as an indication that the lower half of the pagoda may have been formerly surrounded by another structure. The arched entrance door to the pagoda's main storey is located right above this transition. It leads to a chamber which houses a 1.2-meter tall

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

statue made from stone and executed the style of the Tang Dynasty. There are also statues of two monks. On the wall of the chamber a few traces of Buddhist murals remain. The Nine Pinnacle Pagoda has been integrated into the grounds of the "Jiuding Pagoda Park of Folk Customs" ({{zh, c={{linktext, 九, 顶, 塔, 民, 族, 风, 情, 园, p={{linktext, Jiŭ, dǐng, tǎ, Mín, zú, Fēng, qíng, Yuán ).

Image gallery

Image:Jiudingta 2008 07 15 2.jpg, 17-layer brick eaves Image:Jiudingta 2008 07 15 3.jpg, Roof pagodas

References and external links

online article from the China Internet Information CenterJiuding Pagoda Park of Minority Customs - Jinan Tourism Administration
Pagodas in China Tang dynasty Buddhist temples Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Shandong Tourist attractions in Jinan Buddhist temples in Shandong 8th-century establishments in China 8th-century Buddhist temples

Location

History

Image gallery

See also

References and external links