Why does a pagoda have six cornersWhy are all buildings with six corners called pagodas?

The pagoda is a kind of Chinese traditional architecture with specific form and style which is common in Asia. Originally, it was a towering, point-like structure that enshrined or housed the bones of the Buddha, statues of the Buddha, Buddhist scriptures, and the remains of monks, etc. After the 14th century, the pagoda was gradually secularized.

In Chinese, pagoda also refers to a towering tower-shaped building, a concept that is not so much related to the Oriental towers described in this entry, such as the Eiffel Tower, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the TV tower, etc. The building plan gradually evolved from the early square to hexagonal, octagonal, and even circular.

The following are the parameters of the shape of China's top ten towers:

Shanxi Feihong Pagoda: octagonal thirteen-story

Dengfeng Songyue Temple Pagoda: twelve-cornered and fifteen-story

Dali Thousand Seekers Pagoda: octagonal sixteen-story

Yingxian Shijia Pagoda: octagonal five-story

Xi'an Big Wild Goose Pagoda: quadrangular seven-story

Hangzhou Leifeng Pagoda: octagonal seven-story

Huqiu Pagoda, Suzhou: seven-story octagonal

Liuhe Pagoda, Hangzhou: thirteen-story octagonal

Renunciation Temple Pagoda, Suzhou: nine-story octagonal

Kaifeng Iron Pagoda: thirteen-story octagonal