The Dayan Pagoda - An Architectural Marvel of Late Southern Song China
China’s Dayan Pagoda, built in the late Southern Song dynasty, was a towering wooden pagoda reaching 69 meters tall that rivaled Europe’s Cologne Cathedral in scale and grandeur. Though no longer standing, historical records give a glimpse of this masterpiece of Song dynasty architecture and engineering.
When one thinks of the world’s tallest and grandest cathedrals, Germany’s Cologne Cathedral often comes to mind. Construction on this Gothic masterpiece began in 1248 and took over 600 years to complete, with its famous twin spires ultimately reaching a height of 157 meters in 1880. An icon of European architecture, the Cologne Cathedral seems unrivaled in medieval construction.
However, on the other side of the globe in late Southern Song China, an equally impressive architectural wonder once graced the skyline - the majestic Dayan Pagoda of Shangdu (known today as Duolun County in Inner Mongolia). Built from 1264-1266 under the reign of Kublai Khan, founder of the Yuan dynasty, the Dayan Pagoda reached a staggering height of 69 meters (226 feet). This was equivalent to a modern 23-story building at a time when the Cologne Cathedral had just begun construction.
Historical records tell us the Dayan Pagoda was built using precious nanmu wood from the previous Zhengchun Pagoda in the Northern Song capital of Bianliang (modern-day Kaifeng). The seven-story octagonal structure was lavishly decorated inside and out with gold leaf and reliefs depicting birds, animals and flowers. When the Italian merchant traveler Marco Polo visited Shangdu in 1275, he marveled at the Dayan Pagoda, praising it as a wonder to behold. His travel journals spread word of this architectural gem to the Western world.
Tragically, like many of China’s ancient wooden structures, the Dayan Pagoda did not survive the centuries. It was likely destroyed during the turbulent transition from the Yuan to Ming dynasty in the late 14th century. However, a modern replica pagoda was built in 2011 based on historical records and excavated remains of the foundation, allowing us to appreciate the scale and majesty of the original.
While medieval Europe was in the early stages of constructing its stone Gothic cathedrals like Cologne, China’s skilled artisans had already mastered complex wooden pagoda construction, culminating in the Dayan Pagoda. At 69 meters, it surpassed the height of the Cologne Cathedral until 1856, centuries before the cathedral’s completion. The intricate wooden architecture, use of precious materials, towering height, and speed of construction were all testaments to Southern Song China’s advanced capabilities.
Other Song dynasty wooden towers also demonstrate these architectural achievements. For example, the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda, built in the 11th century during the Liao dynasty and finalized under the Southern Song in 1056, stands 67 meters tall even today. Its unique structure of a brick base with a wooden exterior allowed such height while lightening the load and hastening construction. Famed polymath Su Song also designed a 12-meter tall hydro-powered astronomical clock tower in Bianjing (modern-day Kaifeng) around 1088. It was a marvel of medieval mechanical engineering decades before Europe’s first clock towers appeared.
Although China’s ancient wooden architectural wonders like the Dayan Pagoda are lost to time, they deserve recognition alongside Europe’s great medieval cathedrals as a testament to human ingenuity and the pinnacles of construction across civilizations. China’s tower and pagoda builders were employing advanced techniques to create mega-structures reaching unrivaled heights centuries before industrial machinery. The Dayan Pagoda of Shangdu embodied this, standing as a symbol of Chinese innovation and a wonder of the medieval world to rival the Cologne Cathedral.