Songyue Temple Pagoda (Songyue Pagoda)

Songyue Temple Pagoda (Songyue Pagoda), located in Songyue Temple at the southern foot of Songshan Mountain in Dengfeng City, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, is a Buddhist pagoda from the Northern Wei Dynasty, built during the Zhengguang period of the Northern Wei Dynasty (520-525 AD). Songyue Temple Pagoda is a 15-story brick pagoda with a dodecagonal plane and a total height of 37 meters. It consists of a base, a pagoda body, 15 layers of stacked brick eaves and a pagoda spire. The pagoda body is divided into upper and lower parts. The upper part has a round door on each of the east, west, south, and north sides leading to the heart of the pagoda. The lower part is vertical, and the outer wall has no decoration. Above the pagoda body are 15 layers of stacked brick eaves, which are gradually inward from bottom to top, forming a soft parabola. The pagoda spire consists of a base, a lotus cover, a Sumeru seat, a lotus, a wheel, a treasure ball, etc., and there is an underground palace under the pagoda. Songyue Temple Pagoda is the earliest existing brick pagoda in China, reflecting the process of integration and innovation of Chinese and foreign architectural cultures. It has great value in structure, modeling, etc., and has a huge impact on later brick pagoda architecture.