Pagoda Meaning: Buddhist Towers, Scholars and Feng Shui

The pagoda is one of the most recognisable forms of East Asian architecture: a tall, tiered tower rising in diminishing storeys. It began as a Buddhist building to house sacred relics, and in China it later took on a second life as a symbol of learning and good fortune.

From stūpa to pagoda

The pagoda descends from the Indian stūpa, a mound built to hold relics of the Buddha or of revered teachers. As Buddhism spread into China, the relic shrine was combined with the Chinese tradition of multi-storey towers, producing the tall pagodas of Buddhist temple complexes. Pagodas were built in timber, brick and stone, and they spread to Korea, Japan and across East and Southeast Asia.

A sacred building

In a Buddhist setting, the pagoda is first a reliquary and a focus of devotion. Walking around it, making offerings and venerating the relics inside were acts of merit. Its rising tiers are often read as a path upward, from the everyday world towards enlightenment.

Towers for scholars

In late imperial China, a new kind of pagoda appeared. A study in the Journal of the European Association for Chinese Studies describes how, in the Ming and Qing dynasties, communities built tall towers as a geomantic intervention to improve the prospects of local candidates in the civil-service examinations, a practice first recorded in the Southern Song. Often called Wenfeng or Wenchang towers, after Wenchang, the god of literature, they rose over towns all over China. Nantong's Wenfeng Pagoda, built in 1618, is one example; the Tang clan's Tsui Sing Lau pagoda in Hong Kong was likewise believed to secure its members' examination success.

The pagoda in modern feng shui

Modern feng shui has turned this tradition into small "Wenchang pagoda" ornaments placed on desks to support study. That is a modern practice inspired by a real historical one.

The pagoda in jewellery

A pagoda design can reference Buddhist architecture, East Asian landscapes or the scholar's ambition. You can see the AURYN Pagoda charm, or read our guide to Chinese auspicious symbols.