Liaodi Pagoda, Buddhist pagoda in Dingzhou, China

The Liaodi Pagoda is an octagonal brick tower of eleven storeys rising 84 metres from a large stone platform in Dingzhou. Each tier carries projecting dark eaves above arched openings, most closed with reddish-brown wooden doors, and a stone balustrade rings the lowest visible tier. A bronze and iron spire crowns the top; inside, a staircase with landings climbs to the upper floor.

Construction began in 1001 under Emperor Zhenzong, after the monk Huineng returned from India with relics, and was completed in 1055 under Emperor Renzong. The 55-year project gave rise to the saying 'cut all the wood of Jiashan to build the Dingzhou pagoda.' Its height made it a watchtower against the Khitan Liao, hence the name Liaodi, 'foreseeing the enemy.' In 1884 the northeast face collapsed; repairs began in 1986 and it reopened in 2002.

The name Liaodi means "foreseeing the enemy's intentions," a reference to the tower's use as a watchtower against the Khitan-led Liao dynasty. The original name was Kaiyuan Pagoda, after the Kaiyuan Monastery whose monk Huineng brought relics back from India. A local saying, "cut all the wood of Jiashan to build the Dingzhou tower," recalls the scale of the 55-year construction.

The pagoda's northeast face collapsed from top to bottom in June 1884; large-scale repairs only began in 1986, and the tower reopened in 2002. A staircase with landings for each floor winds from the base to the top, and a split section of the walls is left open so the interior and wall thickness can be seen.

A split section of the walls is left open so visitors can see the tower's interior and the actual thickness of its brickwork. Inside, a large pillar shaped like a smaller pagoda rises through the structure, and the murals and stone steles with Chinese calligraphy date to the Song period.