Auther：2022-11-03
The Liuli Pagoda of the Great Annunciation Temple, located in the Qinhuai district of Nanjing, is the central building of the Temple, standing 78.2 metres high, with nine floors and eight sides and a circumference of 100 metres. The project took nearly 20 years to complete, using 100,000 craftsmen and military workers and costing 2,485,000 taels of silver. When the pagoda was completed, 146 lamps were set up inside and outside the nine storeys, each with a wick about 1 inch thick.
According to the official history of the Ming dynasty, the official name of the Liuli Pagoda of the Great Retribution Temple was the 'First Pagoda', standing 78.2 metres high, with the entire body of the pagoda made of Liuli, with 146 long-lasting lamps inside and outside. It was considered by Westerners to be an iconic building representing China.
From the early Ming dynasty to the early Qing dynasty, the glazed pagoda was the most distinctive landmark in Nanjing, and was known as the 'First Pagoda in the World', and the 'Great Antique of China and the Great Kiln of Yongle'.
