The Porcelain Tower of Nanjing: A Lost Wonder of the World
As I’m working on my romantic fantasy novel series (Fae of the Crystal Palace) set at the time of and around the Great Exhibition of 1851, I wanted to share some interesting stories I’ve uncovered during my research. Here is the Porcelain Tower of Nanjing.
One of the most significant buildings constructed in the early Ming Dynasty was the Porcelain Tower of Nanjing. An architectural marvel, the Porcelain Tower, known as Bao’ensi (Temple of Gratitude) was considered by some as one of the Seven Wonders of the Medieval World. This magnificent structure was commissioned by Emperor Yongle in honour of his parents. French mathematician Le Comte once described it as the “best contrived and noblest structure of all the East”.
Construction of the tower began in 1412 and took seven years to complete. Originally intended to reach 100 metres with 13 storeys, the tower was completed at nine storeys and stood at a towering 80 metres. Despite not being the tallest pagoda in China, it was renowned for its beauty, largely due to the unique material used in its construction – porcelain.
The Porcelain Tower’s exterior was lined with white porcelain bricks that shimmered in the sunlight, creating a dazzling effect. The bricks were adorned with colourful glazes depicting animals, flowers, landscapes and Buddhist scenes. The pagoda’s octagonal base and copper sphere atop its roof added to its striking appearance.
A spiral staircase of 190 steps led to the top, where 140 lamps illuminated the tower at night, making it even more breathtaking. Dragons’ heads adorned the roof of the ninth storey. The Porcelain Tower quickly gained fame both within China and abroad, inspiring pagodas in Europe, including the Great Pagoda in London’s Kew Gardens.
Another interesting aspect of the Porcelain Tower was the collection of sacred and valuable items housed in its roof. Among these were a large gold rod and silver, a mirror weighing 100 catties (around 60kg), a precious gem, cash, silk of Imperial yellow and several texts. These relics were believed to offer protection and blessing to the tower and its visitors.
However, the tower’s history was tumultuous. In 1801, a lightning strike damaged the top three storeys, which were subsequently restored. The real destruction came during the Taiping Rebellion in the early 1850s. Fearing its strategic use as an observation post, rebels dismantled the inner staircase and, in 1856, demolished the tower completely. The exact reasons for the final destruction remain unclear, but the structure’s end marked the loss of a cultural and architectural treasure.
Today, remnants of the Porcelain Tower can be found in the Nanjing Museum, and there are ongoing efforts to reconstruct this lost wonder.
Both the Porcelain Tower of Nanjing, and the Great Pagoda at Kew Gardens it inspired, feature in my Fae of the Crystal Palace book The Entangled.
You can also read more about this topic here.
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Image credit: Public domain image: The Universal Traveller (1729) by SalmonPorcelain Pagoda of Nanjing in art.
