Global EditionASIA 中文雙語(yǔ)Fran?ais
    Culture
    Home / Culture / Books

    Towering determination of pagoda chronicler

    Telling the stories of ancient structures is a passionate undertaking for enthusiast, Yang Yang reports.

    By Yang Yang | China Daily | Updated: 2024-01-05 07:47
    Share
    Share - WeChat
    Cover of the book, Youshengzhinian Yidingyao Kande 1,001 Zuo Zhongguo Guta (The 1,001 Chinese Ancient Pagodas You Must See Before You Die), by Wu Kai and Wang Xuebin. [Photo provided to China Daily]

    Initially for Buddhist purposes, pagodas were later built to mark the graves of eminent monks or common people, for auspicious purposes or to enhance the landscape.

    In addition to the wooden structure at the early developmental stage, there are later pagodas made of brick, as well as a mix of brick and wood, even metal. In modern times, people employ reinforced concrete and steel structures to build antique pagodas.

    Apart from wood and bricks, ancient people also used colored glaze, rock, soil, iron, copper, gold and silver in pagoda construction.

    It is estimated that there still exist more than 10,000 ancient pagodas across the country, but nobody knows the exact number, since many are anonymous and in disrepair or even just ruins hiding in obscure corners or in the remote wilderness.

    To visit hilltop or cliff-top pagodas, or those hidden in deep forest requires fortitude, physical strength and even luck, so, few people get to see them in person. For those that do, there is the added difficulty of taking good-quality photos, especially those suitable for print.

    More than a decade ago, blogging was popular in China and many enthusiasts loved to share stories of their visits to ancient pagodas. Through their blogs, they gradually got to know one another.

    Wu's plan was applauded by his fellow enthusiasts, many of whom generously offered their photos of pagodas and related materials they had collected.

    In the last 10 years or so, Wu has also spent a great deal of time traveling around the country to see pagodas and take photos, systematically collecting and organizing the information about these ancient buildings. In that time, many pagodas have been damaged, moved or lost, so that the photos taken by Wu, or those he got from others, have inadvertently become their final portraits.

    After a decade of persistent effort, he has organized firsthand textual and visual materials for nearly 5,000 ancient pagodas.

    In 2019, he published his first book on the subject. In the tome, which exceeds 500 pages, Wu includes more than 300 ancient pagodas in Beijing. In addition to archival information, the book also provides maps and more than 800 recently taken high-definition photos, old photos, rubbings, architectural drawings and paintings, making it, to date, the most comprehensive book about ancient pagodas in the region.

    |<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Next   >>|
    Most Popular
    Top
    BACK TO THE TOP
    English
    Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
    License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

    Registration Number: 130349
    FOLLOW US
    国产V亚洲V天堂无码| A狠狠久久蜜臀婷色中文网| 中文字幕亚洲第一在线| 日韩精品真人荷官无码| 欧美日韩中文字幕在线看| 亚洲av无码成人精品国产| 亚洲AV无码专区国产乱码电影| 免费A级毛片无码A∨中文字幕下载| 97性无码区免费| 日韩乱码人妻无码系列中文字幕| 一本一道色欲综合网中文字幕| 亚洲中文字幕无码久久精品1| av大片在线无码免费| 少妇无码AV无码专区线| 亚洲人成网亚洲欧洲无码久久| 欧美日韩不卡一区二区三区中文字 | 最好看的中文字幕2019免费| 无码AⅤ精品一区二区三区| 亚洲av永久无码精品国产精品| 中文无码一区二区不卡αv| 天堂√最新版中文在线天堂| 熟妇人妻中文字幕| 久本草在线中文字幕亚洲欧美| 久久久久亚洲AV无码去区首| 成人无码区免费A∨直播| 精品无码国产一区二区三区51安| 无码AV天堂一区二区三区| 亚洲精品午夜无码电影网| 亚洲欧洲无码AV电影在线观看| 日韩精品无码免费专区午夜 | 亚洲AV区无码字幕中文色| 中文字幕久久精品无码| 国产 欧美 亚洲 中文字幕| 中文字幕无码无码专区| 亚洲最大av无码网址| 中文字幕亚洲男人的天堂网络| 无码人妻丰满熟妇啪啪| 人妻无码人妻有码中文字幕| 日本久久久久久中文字幕| 精品久久久久中文字| 中文字幕精品亚洲无线码一区应用 |