001 Architecture The Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple in Dali The Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple stand below the Cang Mountains northwest of Dali Old Town, Yunnan. The main tower, the Qianxun Pagoda, is a square, closely-eaved pagoda of sixteen tiers. According to the Yunnan Tongzhi, an inscription atop the pagoda dates it to the first year of Kaiyuan of the Tang (713 CE), built by the Tang artisans Gong Tao and Hui Yi at the Nanzhao kingdom’s invitation. Two smaller pagodas flank it to the north and south, “each topped with a cast-gold finial bearing a golden roc.” Tradition holds that “dragons revere pagodas but fear the roc; Dali was once a dragon marsh, hence these were built to subdue it.” Nanzhao Dali, Yunnan Buddhist Architecture · Nanzhao · Dali Kingdom →