Wooden Pagoda of Ying County

The Sakyamuni Pagoda of Fogong Temple of Ying County, Shanxi province, China, is a wooden Chinese pagoda built in 1056, during the Khitan-led Liao Dynasty. The pagoda was built by Emperor Daozong of Liao at the site of his grandmother's family home. The pagoda, which has survived several large earthquakes throughout the centuries, reached a level of such fame within China that it was given the generic nickname of the "Muta".The pagoda stands on a 4 m tall stone platform, has a 10 m tall steeple, and reaches a total height of 67.31 m tall; it is the oldest existent fully wooden pagoda still standing in China. Although it is the oldest fully wooden pagoda in China, the oldest existent densely-eaved pagoda is the 6th century Songyue Pagoda and many much older stone pagodas exists in the entire North China Plain; the oldest existent wooden buildings in China are the Buddhist temple halls found in Wutai County on the westside of the Mount Wutai, which date back to the mid Tang Dynasty.