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Pagodas, which rooted in ancient India, were introduced into China in Han Dynasty. Then the Indian pagodas integrated with Chinese traditional architecture, developed into Chinese Pagodas. The development of ancient pagodas in China can widely divided into three periods, which parallels with the change of Chinese dynasties, and in each period the pagodas had its feature.Ancient pagodas appeared in Shanghai region along with the introduction of Buddhism. It is said that the oldest pagoda was built in Three Kingdoms' period, but there is no evidence to proof that. At present, the oldest pagoda in Shanghai people can found was built in Tang Dynasty. There were tens of pagodas in Shanghai after Tang Dynasty, after then each dynasty can find its deputy. These pagodas, which are different in size and style, have experienced the long history. Nowadays, there are still 13 big pagodas standing in different districts in Shanghai.The ancient pagodas in Shanghai contain abundant information of history and culture:First, from the architectural character of these ancient pagodas, we can get the following information: a) Location of these pagodas: most of the pagodas are located at the west of "Gang Shen" (range) near hills or rivers, which reflects the change of Shanghai geography and the ideas of Chinese architectural culture; b) materials and style: most of these pagodas are seven-floor four-side or eight-side and made of bricks and timbers, which has relation with the classics of Buddhism and the architectural styles of different dynasties; c) purpose and character: these pagodas have various purposes and usages, which reflects the Chinese character of ancient pagodas.Second, from the relationship between ancient pagodas and ancient Shanghai society, we can know that: a) pagodas and religion thought in Shanghai: ancient Shanghai society favors Buddhism very much, many people wanted to get mind comfort by Buddhism, that is an important reason why people want to build pagodas. People in Wu and Yue region believe in ghosts and favor of sacrifices from ancient time, added up with the hard working of Buddhists, which made the Buddhism prevail in this area. There was collisions and mingles among Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism in history, b) Ancient pagodas and the society economics in Shanghai region: these ancient pagodas serve as pilot lights for sailors, which created condition for local economical development. And the building of pagodas provided many opportunities of jobs, which prospers local society, so we can say pagodas reflect the development of Shanghai economics, c) Pagodas and military affaires in Shanghai region: there weren't as many wars in Shanghai as in central China, but there were records that pagodas built for wars and destroyed in wars. These pagodas have recorded important wars happened in this region, d) Pagodas and the literature and art in Shanghai: there are abundant social cultural heritages in Shanghai, with the clue of ancient pagodas, we can follow the footprints of ancient celebrities, enjoy their beautiful masterpieces, learn the grotesque and gaudy folklores in Shanghai region, e) Pagodas and the lives of civilians in Shanghai: pagodas show us the change of ancientsocial life, multiplicity of conventions, the suffering of people in Shanghai through a special angle.Nowadays, we are emphasizing that we should hold together the history relics in Shanghai; it is vital to fully protect the ancient pagodas and make use of them. After the foundation of the republic, we have gained much progress in protecting and making use of these ancient pagodas, but there are still many shortcomings. In this dissertation, I will analyze the reason of that and give some suggestions. I will use Mao Pagoda as a special case in studying pagoda protection and making use of it in this dissertation.