Beisi Pagoda
pagoda in a temple in Suzhou
The Beisi Pagoda (Chinese: 北寺塔; pinyin: Běisì Tǎ; Wade–Giles: Peiszu T'a; Suzhou Wu, Wugniu: poq7 zy6 thaeq7, Wu Chinese pronunciation: [poʔ zz̩ tʰaʔ]) or North Temple Pagoda is a Chinese pagoda located at Bao'en Temple in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China. The base of the pagoda has an octagonal frame, and the tower rises nine stories in a total height of 76 m (249 ft). The pagoda was once eleven stories tall, but was damaged and reduced to nine stories. It's double eaves and flying corners are similar to that of the Liuhe Pagoda found in Hangzhou. Its base and outside walls are made of brick, the balustrades made of stone, and the eaves and banisters encircling the structure are made of wood.
History
Although the present structure dates to the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) (with renovations in following eras), the historical site of construction for the pagoda dates back 1,700 years. A Buddhist pagoda built during the reign of Sun Quan in the 3rd century originally stood at the site (in honor of his wet nurse), along with another pagoda built during the Liang dynasty (502-557). The current design of the pagoda structure was made between the years 1131 and 1162, during the Song dynasty (960-1279). Patronage and construction for the Song era pagoda was headed by the Buddhist monk Dayuan. However, the pagoda was burnt down by fire towards the end of the Song dynasty and rebuilt during the Ming.
“Beisi Pagoda” enters the record as pagoda in a temple in Suzhou. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Beisi, Pagoda and pagoda can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q836041. Authority coordinates are 31.325, 120.615. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1368, 1644, 1131 and 1162.
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This entry incorporates text from “Beisi Pagoda” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.