What are the ancient pagodas in China used for?

Tower is a common oriental traditional building, which has a specific form and style in Asia. It is a towering point-like building dedicated to or collecting Buddhist relics (Buddha bones), Buddha statues, Buddhist scriptures, monks' remains, etc. Also known as "stupa" and "pagoda".

In Chinese, Tower also refers to a towering tower building (that is, Tower in English and Türme in German). This concept has little to do with the Oriental pagoda described in this paper, such as the Eiffel Tower, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the TV Tower. Please refer to the tower (western style). In addition, in translation, towers are also different from the above concepts, such as pyramids and lighthouses.

The architectural form of this tower originated in ancient India, and it is called "Cooper" (Sanskrit st? Pa), this is the buried bone building of Buddhist monks. With the spread of Buddhism in the East, the architectural form of "Gudupo" is also widely spread in the East, and the traditional architectural form with oriental characteristics has been developed.

After Buddhism was introduced into China, it was combined with the heavy buildings in China, and experienced the development in Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. It exchanged and merged with the architectural systems in neighboring areas, and gradually formed a variety of tower systems with different shapes and structures, such as pavilion tower, dense eaves tower, pavilion tower, covered bowl tower, king kong throne tower, printed pagoda, five-wheel tower, multi-tower and seamless tower.

The architectural plane gradually evolved from the early square to hexagon, octagon and even circle. During this period, the construction technology of the tower has been continuously improved and the structure has become more and more reasonable. The materials used have also expanded from traditional rammed earth and wood to materials such as masonry, ceramics, glass and metal. After14th century, pagodas gradually moved from the religious world to the secular world, so according to the Confucian classic system, pagodas can be divided into pagodas and Wenfeng pagodas.

On the architectural level, the tower is a very unique oriental building with huge volume and diverse materials. The geological conditions in different areas are different, and the tower-building technology is also different. The architectural research on the tower involves many aspects such as material mechanics, structural mechanics, soil science, geology and so on.

In oriental culture, the significance of the tower is not limited to the architectural level. The tower bears many cultural elements of the East, such as history, religion, aesthetics, philosophy and so on, and is an important medium to explore and understand the Eastern civilization.

Extended data

There are more than 2000 towers in China. There are many kinds of pagodas, which are distinguished according to their styles, including Gaiwan Pagoda, Niche Pagoda, Column Pagoda, Wild Goose Pagoda, Dew Pagoda, House Pagoda, Wallless Pagoda, Lama Pagoda, Thirty-seven Pagoda, Seventeen Pagoda, Fifteen Pagoda, Thirteen Pagoda, Nine Pagoda, Seven Pagoda, Five Pagoda, Three Pagoda, Square Pagoda, Round Pagoda and Hexagonal Pagoda.

Octagonal Pagoda, Big Pagoda, Multi-Pagoda, Yuzhi Pagoda, Baoyu Yin Pagoda, Five-wheeled Pagoda, Egg Pagoda, Seamless Pagoda, Pavilion Pagoda, Miyan Pagoda, King Kong Throne Pagoda, Tomb Pagoda, Plate Pagoda, Corner Pagoda, etc. According to the structure and shape, it can be divided into pavilion tower, dense eaves tower, single-story tower, Lama tower and other special towers.

In ancient India, barrier wave was a solid building consisting of four parts: platform, bowl, treasure chest and phase wheel. China Tower is generally composed of underground palace, tower foundation, tower body, tower top and tower gate. The underground palace contains relics and is located below the ground in the middle of the tower foundation. Tower foundation includes base and pedestal. The pagoda is on the top of the tower and usually consists of sumeru, lotus, bowl cover, wheel and orb. There is also a pagoda, a treasure cover, a round lamp, a rising moon and a round ball at the top of the wheel. These shapes evolved from blocking waves.

Later, the tower gradually became a multi-story model. In the 3rd and 4th centuries A.D., a three-story tower appeared, followed by five, seven, nine, thirteen, fifteen, seventeen or even thirty-seven floors. The cover bowl is a downward hemisphere shaped like an inverted bowl. Tombs in China and other eastern countries have been in the shape of hills since ancient times.

Later, the bowl-covering hemisphere gradually increased, such as Damikta in Rokuyaon, whose bowl-covering was obviously towering. In Thailand, Myanmar and other places, the shape of the bowl cover has gradually become as high as a shell. On the other hand, stupas in Tibet and other places are like spheres, with the upper part expanding and the lower part contracting.

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