The Foguang Si Pagoda (Fig

The Foguang Si Pagoda (Fig. 1) was constructed in 1056 during the Liao dynasty in China. The Foguang Si Pagoda was constructed in the first year of Emperor Daozong on the site at his father’s adoptive mother’s home at Yingxian in the Shanxi Province. It also goes by two other names: The Wooden Pagoda of Yingxian County, and the Sakyamuni Pagoda of Fogong Temple. At the time this pagoda was the tallest building ever constructed entirely out of wood, at nine stories tall, or 216 feet. It was also recently officially given of “Tallest Wooden Pagoda” by Guinness World Records. Although there are only five ‘roofs’ giving the appearance of five stories the middle stories can be seen by the terrace on the outside. The construction of this pagoda
Emperor Daozong was a devout Buddhist who had just taken the position due to his father’s death. Daozong decided to honor his father by erecting this pagoda in this place his father was raised. Death seems to be a central theme to the construction of this pagoda as Buddhologists at the time associated the year it was built, 1056, to be when the termination of the dharma and the Buddha of the future, Maitreya, would take over. This is even shown in the shape of the building; octagonal stupas were popular among royal Tanguts and Liao since they were both Esoteric Buddhists. Most pagodas at the time were four sided, but throughout China there was a dramatic increase of eight sided pagodas years prior to the Foguang Si Pagoda’s
These range from statues to relics, and even frescos. This points to how the local population saw this pagoda as an extremely sacred place. With the city around the pagoda still populated and becoming more and more urbanized, there have been numerous changes that have occurred around the temple. This has lead the temple to be a lone standing relic of history surrounded by newer more urban roads, buildings, etc. However the temple throughout its almost one thousand year history has not changed much, as people faithfully repair and restore the temple using the same materials and methods, and has become a tradition to keep it as close to its original form. This draws a clear parallel between how the culture and people around it have changed with time. This also marks how important this building has been for the people that live in this area. For them, this pagoda is the main building where they can come and practice their religion. It could also be seen as the community’s sense of pride in this building and stability in the