Algorithm Toned by the Learned and the Craftspeople: Re-interpreting the Hypothesis about the Dimensional Design of the Plan of Shakyamuni Pagoda, Ying County, Shanxi Province

Starting from Zhang Shiqing’s discussion “Yingzao fashi baleng moshi yu Yingxian muta de zhidu sheji” (The octagonal mode in Yingzao fashi and the proportional design of the Shakyamuni Pagoda in Ying county), this article reconstructs the scenario of the historical construction process to study how the craftsmen used a variation of the octagon-algorithm verse (baleng yinshen suanfa). Based on new survey data and measurements, the article can finally verify the validity of the hypothesis about the dimensional design of the plans of Shakyamuni Pagoda in Ying county, which was once proposed by the task force of Tsinghua University.