The Iron Pagoda (Chinese: 鐵塔) of Youguo Temple (佑國寺), Kaifeng City, Henan province, is a Buddhist Chinese pagoda built in 1049 during the Song Dynasty (960–1279) of China. The pagoda is so-named not because it is made of iron, but because its colour resembles that of iron. It is a brick pagoda tower built on the location of a previous wooden pagoda that had been burnt down by lightning fire in 1044. Along with the Liuhe, Lingxiao, Liaodi, Pizhi, and Beisi pagodas, it is seen as a masterpiece of the Song Dynasty architecture.
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Famous quotes containing the words iron and/or pagoda:
“Culture is a sham if it is only a sort of Gothic front put on an iron building—like Tower Bridge—or a classical front put on a steel frame—like the Daily Telegraph building in Fleet Street. Culture, if it is to be a real thing and a holy thing, must be the product of what we actually do for a living—not something added, like sugar on a pill.”
—Eric Gill (1882–1940)
“One is sick at heart of this pagoda worship. It is like the beating of gongs in a Hindoo subterranean temple.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)