Page:The costume of China, illustrated in forty-eight coloured engravings.pdf/35

 A PAGODA (OR TOWER)

Near the City of Sou-tcheou.

THESE buildings are a striking feature on the face of the country. The Chinese name for them is Ta; but Europeans have improperly denominated them Pagodas, a term used in some Oriental countries for a temple of religious worship. It seems the Ta of China is not intended for sacred purposes, but erected occasionally by viceroys or rich mandarines, either for the gratification of personal vanity, or with the idea of transmitting a name to posterity; or perhaps built by the magistracy merely as objects to enrich the landscape.

They are generally built of brick, and sometimes cased with porcelain, and chiefly consist of nine, though some have only seven or five stories, each having a gallery, which may be entered from the windows, and a projecting roof, covered with tiles of a rich yellow colour, highly glazed, which receive from the sun a splendour equal to burnished gold. At each angle of the roofs a light bell is suspended, which is rung by the force of the wind, and produces a jingling not altogether unpleasant. These buildings are for the most part octagonal, though some few are hexagonal, and round. They diminish gradually in circumference from the foundation to the summit, and have a staircase within, by which they ascend to the upper story. In height they are generally from an hundred to an hundred and fifty feet, and are situated indiscriminately on eminences or plains, or oftener in cities. The Print represents one of modern structure. Those of a more ancient date are in a mutilated state, and the roofs covered with grey tiles, overgrown with moss, while others have a cornice only instead of the projecting roof.

Vide the print of Lin-tsin Pagoda in Sir George Staunton's Account of the Chinese Embassy.