Pagoda of Monk Xiu (Xiudaozhe Ta) 秀道者塔

This is a model of the Pagoda at She Hill (Sheshan ta 佘山塔). Built during the Song dynasty in Songjiang, Shanghai, the 7-storey octagonal pagoda is made of bricks and measures 29.3 metres tall. The model is one of a set of 84 carved after famous originals scattered throughout China, for the Chinese exhibition at the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition (PPIE) in San Francisco, one of the first to represent the newly formed Republic of China. Scaled down at a ratio of 1:50, they were made by the Tushanwan 土山湾Workshop, a Christian orphanage in Shanghai that trained its residents in vocational art and crafts. The woodcarving workshop, supervised by the Bavarian-born Jesuit Aloysius Beck (1854-1931), employed both local and Western styles and techniques to produce figures of traditional Chinese gods alongside those of Catholic saints.

See related items

Pagoda of the Monastery of Holy Teachings (Xingshengjiaosi Ta) 兴圣教寺塔

Pagoda of the Monastery of Esteemed Teachings and Merit (Chongjiao Xingfusi Ta) 崇教兴福寺塔

Pagoda of the Great Sage Monastery (Dashengsi Ta) 大圣寺塔

Pagoda of the White Robe Monastery (Baiyisi Ta) 白衣寺塔