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Chapter 20 This chapter concerns a structure that was arguably the
biggest art object constructed during the Ming period.
The Porcelain Pagoda: Imposing and magnificent, the Da Baoensi ta 大報恩寺塔
(Great Monastery of Filial Gratitude Pagoda) in Nanjing was
A Persisting Enigma a spectacle for miles around, gleaming by daylight and
lantern-lit at night. It was public art on a massive scale,
designed to be seen, to command admiration and to convey
a powerful statement, though what that statement was
Clarence Eng precisely is open to interpretation. However, though famous
in its time, it is now an enigma, having been painstakingly
dismantled during the Taiping uprising in 1856. It is known
today largely from contemporary sketches and descriptions,
and from architectural fragments scattered in collections
worldwide.
The early history of this pagoda is obscured by the
subsequent reworking of official records precisely for the
period in question, and our transmitted knowledge appears
to date largely from the late Ming or early Qing dynasty.
However, there is consensus on events and on many of its
features, though rather less agreement on why or even how it
was built. The initial parts of this chapter will concentrate
on the harder evidence, examining first those surviving
fragments that can confidently be attributed to this structure
before considering some remains that are less clearly
ascribable. It will then address the possible inspiration for
this pagoda with its unusual detailing, and finally it will
discuss outstanding questions for which there are presently
no good answers.

The firm evidence
This narrative commences with the Tianxisi 天禧寺
(Monastery of Heavenly Blessings), which stood across the
city moat from the Jubaomen 聚寶門 (Gate of Collected
Treasures) (today’s Zhonghuamen 中華門) on the southern
side of Nanjing’s city wall. This temple had origins before
the Tang dynasty, but by the early Ming it was in a sorry
state. Urgent renovation was undertaken by the Hongwu 洪武
emperor (r. 1368–98) who memorialised its completion in
1388. Subsequently it fell again into disrepair and also
suffered fire damage early in the reign of the Yongle 永樂
emperor (r. 1403–24), who commissioned its rebuilding.
Some work may have begun as early as 1407, but major
reconstruction began in 1412, specifically on the 15th day of
1
the 6th month of the 10th year of Yongle. The temple was
renamed the Da Baoen Monastery and the project included
a new pagoda, to be called the Da Baoen Monastery
Pagoda. Contemporary sketches show this structure located
behind the main Buddha Hall on a centralised site, probably
in the same place as at least one precursor structure.
2
Researchers note that although work began in 1412 the new
pagoda may first have been proposed under Hongwu (Pl.
3
20.1).
The pagoda took 19 years to build, being dedicated in
1428 and finally completed in 1431. Sadly, architecture was
4
never until recent times considered a subject worthy of
serious attention by Chinese scholars, nor were descriptions
written in the expectation that a structure might itself cease
one day to exist. In consequence, no contemporary accounts
or drawings indicating architectural detailing appear to
have survived. Much of our descriptive information dates

178 | Ming China: Courts and Contacts 1400–1450