 Following the reign of the Han dynasty , ( 202 BC – 220 AD ) , the idea of the Buddhist stupa entered Chinese culture , as a means to house and protect <unk> <unk> . During the Southern and Northern <unk> period , the distinctive Chinese pagoda was developed , its predecessors being the tall watch towers and towering residential apartments of the Han dynasty ( as inferred from models in Han @-@ era tombs ) . During the <unk> ( <unk> – 618 ) and Tang ( 618 – 907 ) periods , Chinese pagodas were developed from purely wooden structures to use articulated stone and brick , which could more easily survive fires caused by lightning or <unk> and were less susceptible to decay . The earliest brick pagoda that remains extant is the <unk> Pagoda , built in 523 , and a typical example of a Tang @-@ era stone pagoda is the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda , constructed in <unk> . Although Buddhist influences on China <unk> after the late Tang period , numerous Buddhist pagoda towers were built during the Song dynasty . <unk> Chinese pagodas were often built in the countryside rather than within a city 's walls , largely to avoid competition with the cosmic @-@ imperial authority embodied in the cities ' <unk> and gate @-@ towers . The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda , built in a city ward of what was southeastern Chang 'an , is among the exceptions . 
