Communications in Humanities Research ISSN: 2753-7072
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Research Article

From Sacred Symbol to Exotic Image: Orientalism and the Reconfiguration of the Pagoda in China and Britain

Yuzhang XuUniversity College London*

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

This study takes the Nanjing Porcelain Pagoda and the Kew Great Pagoda as examples to explore how two architectural forms, though culturally distinct, share structural similarities, thereby analyzing how architectural forms are reinterpreted within cross-cultural contexts. While the Nanjing pagoda emerged from the system of Buddhist cosmology, imperial authority, and highly regulated craftsmanship in the early Ming dynasty, the Kew pagoda was produced within the intellectual, economic, and aesthetic framework of 18th-century Britain, shaped by Enlightenment knowledge systems and imperial expansion. Through a comparative analysis of historical context, decorative translation, particularly the transformation of dragon imagery, and construction logic, this study argues that the resemblance between the two pagodas does not indicate direct cultural continuity, but a process of selective reinterpretation and reconfiguration. The Great Pagoda of Kew is understood as a reconstructed form shaped by Western modes of perception, technical constraints, and representational desires. Methodologically, the study adopts Orientalism not as a fixed historical condition, but as an analytical lens through which to examine how architectural meanings are produced, transformed, and re-encoded. It demonstrates that architecture operates as a medium of cultural negotiation, revealing both the connections and asymmetries embedded in cross-cultural exchange.

Keywords: The Porcelain Pagoda of Nanjing; The Great Pagoda of Kew; Orientalism; Cross-cultural Representation; Cultural Appropriation
Published: August 24, 2026
DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/2026.36254
Volume: CHR Vol.120
pp. 1-20
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