Yingxian Wooden Pagoda

Yingxian Wooden Pagoda

Yingxian Wooden Pagoda, also known as Fogong Temple and Seokga Pagoda, is located in the Fogong Palace of Yingxian County and was built in Qingning years of Liao Dynasty (1056). It is the oldest, largest and the best preserved wooden tower building in China. Except the 4-meter-high stone ground, the wooden pagoda did not use any nail or rivet, all materials are wooden and connected by 50 kinds of base-mat. Every floor was supported by wooden pillars from inside and outside, about 60kinds of inclined beams, wooden stumps and short pillars were used between the wooden pillars, thus, formed a wooden structure of repeated beam. The pagoda is octagonal-shaped with six eaves and nine storeys.

Inside the wooden pagoda, there are statues in every storey. The Buddha Statue in the first storey is big, high and solemn. The caisson ceiling makes the pagoda enigmatic. Through several great earthquakes after the construction of about a thousand year ago, the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda is still standing stably.