In north China's Shanxi Province stands an almost 1,000-year-old wooden pagoda, the Sakyamuni Pagoda of the Fogong Temple, also known as the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda in Yingxian County. The ravages of time have caused the pagoda to tilt. Conservationists are now figuring out how to right it, and it's not as easy as it seems.
The pagoda was built in 1056, during the Liao Dynasty (907-1125), which was founded by the nomadic Khitan and ruled the northern part of China. It's the world's oldest and tallest wooden structure, around 66 meters high, equal to a 23-story building today. Over the past nine centuries, it has survived several earthquakes and even artillery attacks. However, if you look closer, you will see that the pagoda is tilted. A column on the second floor on its southwest side leans by as much as 57 centimeters.
In the 1930s, the pagoda was placed under maintenance. The mud walls and diagonal bracings in them were replaced with the present wooden doors and windows. Experts say the move reduced the structure's stability. This, plus shocks from bombings in the past wars, has caused the pagoda to tilt to one side. The last structural reinforcement was carried out from the 1970s to the 1980s. In 2002, experts created four repair plans, but they were all shelved. As a consequence, the pagoda slowly continues to tilt.
