[1] Most structures from that period were made of wood and have not survived, although ruins of rammed earth fortifications still exist.

[2] The Chinese transformed the rounded earthen mound of the South Asian stupa into the towering pagoda to house the sacred buried relics of Buddha at its core.

The unique many-sided shape of the Songyue Pagoda suggests that it represents an early attempt to merge the Chinese architecture of straight edges with the circular style of Buddhism from the Indian subcontinent.

Inside the pagoda, the wall is cylindrical with eight levels of projecting stone supports for what was probably wooden flooring originally.

[3] Beneath the pagoda is an underground series of burial rooms to preserve cultural objects buried with the dead.