Three Pagodas

Three Pagodas are located at the foot of Yingle Peak of Cangshan Mountain at the northwest suburb of Dali Ancient City. They have a history of over 1,800 years. As the oldest standing structures of southwest China, Three Pagodas are a symbol of the history of Dali City, and a record of the development of Buddhism in the area. As its name implies, Three Pagodas are made of three ancient independent pagodas forming a symmetrical triangle.

Three Pagodas consist of one big pagoda and two small ones. They stand like the three legs of a tripod which looks magnificent. They are one of the wonders in Dali.In the middle period of the Nanzhao reign, Buddhism was all the rage and in the late period of this Kingdom, when it reached its hayday, Buddhist temples were built all over Yunnan. The Chongsheng Monastery was built by the 10 th king in the era of Quanfengyou (824-859 AD). It was destroyed during the Xianfeng Period in the Qing Dynasty. The Three Pagodas were built respectively at different periods of time.

The major pagoda, Qianxun Pagoda, was built in the period 824 to 839 in the Tang Dynasty. It is rectangular in shape; 69.13 metres high and divided into 16 tiers. In 1978, more than 600 cultural relics of the Tang and Song dynasties including Buddhist scriptures, Buddhist status, Buddhist musical instruments and copper mirrors were discovered during restoration efforts. On the south and north side of the major pagoda stand two small octagonal ones with closed eaves. Each has 10 stories at a height of 42.4 metres. They were erected during the Wudai Period of the Dali Kingdom. The Three Pagodas are representation of the ancient architectural and cultural arts of the Bai nationality.