Ancient Architecture

Explore the beauty and wisdom of Chinese traditional architecture, from imperial palaces to ancient temples and vernacular dwellings.

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001 Gaocheng Observatory Later texts traced ancient Yangcheng’s tradition of measuring solar shadows back to the Duke of Zhou in the Western Zhou. A stone gnomon was erected here in the Tang, and the Yuan added a forty-chi-high observatory in the form of a monumental gnomon. Liu Dunzhen’s 1930s survey for the Society for Research in Chinese Architecture preserved measured drawings and photographs taken before the site was shelled; the restoration plan entrusted to the Society was never carried out because war intervened. Japanese artillery destroyed the eastern chamber atop the terrace during the 1944 Central Henan Campaign. After the 1975 restoration, two shell holes were retained in the east wall. Western Zhou Gaocheng Town, Dengfeng, Henan Province
002 Taishi Que The Taishi Que (pillar-gates) stand some hundred paces south of the Zhongyue Temple in Dengfeng, Henan, serving as the spirit-road gates before the temple of Mount Taishi of the Central Peak. They were first built in the fifth year of Yuanchu under Emperor An of Han (118 CE) by Lü Chang, magistrate of Yangcheng. The lintel bears a raised-seal inscription reading “Central Peak Taishi Yangcheng.” The front inscription praises the mountain spirit: “the mound earth…, the purest qi of Dai, spring gives birth to all things, clouds rise from an inch of skin.” A rear inscription was added in the fourth year of Yanguang. Together with the Shaoshi Que and the Qimu Que, they are known as the Three Han-Dynasty Que of Mount Song. Eastern Han Dengfeng City, Henan Province
003 Shaoshi Que The Shaoshi Que stand west of Xingjipu at the eastern foot of Mount Shaoshi in Dengfeng, Henan, serving as the spirit-road gates before the temple of Mount Shaoshi, with east and west pillars facing each other. The north face bears the six-character inscription “Spirit-Road Que of Shaoshi.” The pillar bodies are carved with images of cuju (football), hounds chasing hares, and unicorns. The Song Shu comments that their style is “especially archaic and unadorned.” The temple itself vanished long ago; the Jinshi Tu notes: “The Shaoshi temple can no longer be seen; only these que remain.” Eastern Han Dengfeng City, Henan Province
004 Qimu Que The Qimu Que stand due south of the Qimu Stone beneath Mount Taishi on Mount Song in Dengfeng, Henan. They are spirit-road gates built in the second year of Yanguang under Emperor An of Han (123 CE) by Zhu Chong, Grand Administrator of Yingchuan. The Qimu Stone is said to be the transformation of Tushanshi, wife of the Great Yu—Yu turned into a bear while taming the floods; Tushanshi fled in shame and at the foot of Mount Songgao turned to stone, which cracked open on its north side and gave birth to Qi. The left side of the pillar body bears a large-seal inscription narrating Yu’s flood-control deeds. Eastern Han Dengfeng City, Henan Province
005 White Horse Temple White Horse Temple (Baima Si) stands in Luoyang, Henan. Later texts call it the first Buddhist monastery in China, founded by Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han; its name derives from the white horse on which Kāśyapa Mātaṅga and Dharmaratna are said to have carried the scriptures into Luoyang. After the wartime fires of the Jingkang era, the eastern pagoda cloister was rebuilt under the Jin; the main temple was restored under the Yuan; and it was repaired again in the Hongwu and Jiajing eras of the Ming and the Kangxi era of the Qing. Eastern Han Dynasty Luoyang, Henan Province
006 Feng Huan Que The Feng Huan Que stand at Zhaojiaping beside Tuxi Field in Quxian. Their owner, Feng Huan, was a native of Dangqu who rose to Inspector of Youzhou under Emperor An of the Eastern Han. In Jian'guang 1, a forged imperial edict led to his imprisonment; after he appealed and died in custody, the court still granted burial compensation. Local gazetteers say he was returned to his home district. Song and Qing epigraphic works use the que inscription, imperial edict, broken stele, and stele reverse to recover his unrecorded tenure as Inspector of Yuzhou and explain “Yanwang Tomb” as a local misnomer. Eastern Han Quxian, Dazhou, Sichuan Province
007 Wuhou Shrine In the third year of the Zhangwu reign of Shu Han (223), Liu Bei was buried in the Huiling Mausoleum in Chengdu; the Temple of the Former Sovereign founded under the Southern Qi and the Wuhou Shrine that appeared during the Northern and Southern Dynasties thereafter stood separately beside the tomb. In the twenty-fourth year of the Hongwu reign of the Ming (1391), Zhu Chun, Prince Xian of Shu, abolished the separate shrine to Marquis Wu and moved Zhuge Liang into the Temple of Emperor Zhaolie of Han; after the rebuilding in the Kangxi reign of the Qing, Liu Bei came to occupy the front and Zhuge Liang the rear. The main gate still bears the plaque “Temple of Emperor Zhaolie of Han,” while the whole joint mausoleum-temple of sovereign and minister is popularly known as the “Wuhou Shrine.” Shu Han Wuhou District, Chengdu, Sichuan Province
008 Haibao Pagoda, Yinchuan Haibao Pagoda stands north of Yinchuan city, Ningxia, formerly known as Heibao Pagoda or Hebao Pagoda. Local gazetteers attribute its reconstruction to Helian Bobo of the Hu-Xia kingdom during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. A Qing-dynasty stele by Zhao Hongxie records the pagoda as nine stories, eleven stories counting the finial platform, and eleven zhang tall. Archaeological probing of the foundation in 2006, based on seated-Buddha patterned bricks and other finds, preliminarily dates the pagoda’s initial construction to the late Northern Dynasties through the Sui–Tang period. Sixteen Kingdoms-Hu Xia Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region
009 Songyue Pagoda The Songyue Temple Pagoda stands at the southern foot of Mount Taishi in Dengfeng, Henan. With fifteen closely spaced eaves and a dodecagonal plan, it is the oldest surviving brick pagoda in China. Originally the detached palace of Emperor Xiaoming of the Northern Wei, it was converted into a Buddhist temple in the first year of Zhengguang (520). During the Later Zhou suppression of Buddhism, it was proposed to “turn the temple into a Daoist abbey and the ancient pagoda into an altar,” but the pagoda was ultimately spared because of “the protection of the Eight Divisions.” Li Yong’s stele describes the pagoda as “rising from the ground on four tiers and rounding into the sky in eight aspects.” Northern Wei-Northern and Southern Dynasties Dengfeng, Henan Province
010 Lingyan Temple In the Zhengguang era of the Northern Wei, the Chan master Fading came to Mount Fang and founded a place of Buddhist practice; in the Tang, a monastery was re-established beside the damaged images left by the Huichang suppression of Buddhism. In the Northern Song a complex of more than five hundred bays drew crowds of pilgrims, only to fall quickly into decline amid famine; in the Jin the monks defended the temple's mountain forest on the strength of old steles; in the Yuan more than five thousand volumes of scripture waited forty-five years for the Dragon Treasury Hall; in the Ming the Hall of the Thousand Buddhas was rebuilt; and in the Qing the treasury hall was destroyed by fire. Through its many cycles of rise and decline, the temple has left behind stele inscriptions, rubbings, and photographs from successive ages. Northern Wei Dynasty Changqing District, Jinan, Shandong Province
011 Xiuding Temple A Tang-dynasty biography records how Zhang Sengmeng gave up hunting after wounding a deer, and how he hid a tiger to save its life during a hunt by Emperor Xiaowen of the Wei—from which Tiancheng Temple arose. The temple bore in turn the names Chengshan Temple, Heshui Temple, and Xiuding Temple; at the Northern Zhou persecution of Buddhism it left the record that “this pagoda alone survived”; the Sui and Tang restored the temple, and Song and Yuan inscriptions still show the pagoda standing and the temple flourishing. These materials trace the name, ruin and revival, and repairs of Xiuding Temple in Anyang, Henan, and provide documentary clues for studying the extant Tang-dynasty square relief-brick pagoda. Northern Wei Dynasty Anyang County, Henan Province
012 Xuankong Temple Xuankong Temple of Hunyuan, Datong, Shanxi stands in Ciyao Gorge on Mount Heng, a complex of Buddhist temple buildings set against a cliff whose official dating reaches back to the late Northern Wei. The surviving halls and pavilions derive mainly from Ming and Qing rebuildings: niches and chambers are cut into the rock face, while timber structures and plank walkways jut out beyond the cliff. This entry gathers the Jin-dynasty Record of Xuankong Temple, with Poem, Ming and Qing travel accounts and gazetteers, the restoration story recorded in the Tongzhi third-year (1864) Stele of the Reconstruction of Xuankong Temple, and an old photograph from the 1937 Yilin Monthly: Special Travel Issue. Northern Wei Hunyuan County, Datong, Shanxi Province
013 Guangsheng Temple Today's Guangsheng Temple is split between the heights and foot of Mount Huo, yet the Tang documents record only one ancient foundation of an Aśoka pagoda. Thereafter buildings arose beside the Huo Spring, a Buddha hall stood at the southern foot of the mountain, and a glazed pagoda was rebuilt on the summit. In the thirteenth year of the Jiajing era, Wang Shilong, leading troops on a relief expedition, took his meal at the foot of the pagoda, and after the revolt was pacified had his poem carved on the pagoda wall; not until the Kangxi era did the names “Upper Temple” and “Lower Temple” appear explicitly in a stele. The extant Feihong Pagoda was built under the monk Dalian between the Zhengde and Jiajing eras. Northern Zhou Dynasty Hongtong County, Linfen, Shanxi Province
014 Qinglian Temple Qinglian Temple stands on Xiashi Mountain in Zezhou, Jincheng, Shanxi; formerly called Xiashi Temple, the mountain already held a Buddhist sanctuary in the Northern Qi. During the Taihe era of the Tang, the monk Huaigong built a monastic compound on the mountain with the support of local officials and people; later the old temple below the mountain received the bestowed plaque “Qinglian,” and the compound above received the plaque “Fuyan.” Today the lower cloister preserves six Tang painted sculptures, and the upper cloister retains the Northern Song Shakyamuni Hall and a sutra repository pavilion repaired through the ages; the temple's steles record the construction and restoration of both compounds. Northern Qi Dynasty Zezhou County, Jincheng City, Shanxi Province
015 Yunju Temple, Fangshan Yunju Temple stands at the foot of Shijing Mountain in Fangshan, Beijing. In the Daye era of the Sui dynasty, the monk Jingwan carved Buddhist scriptures onto stone to preserve them against Dharma decline. Over the following millennium, Tang Princess Jinxian donated sutras and land, and the Liao court funded four major scriptural canons — altogether 1,122 texts on 14,278 stone slabs. After Japanese artillery destroyed all halls in 1942, the stone scriptures in caves and underground vaults survived intact. Sui dynasty Fangshan District, Beijing
016 Longxing Temple In the sixth year of the Kaihuang era of the Sui, the regional inspector of Hengzhou, acting on imperial command, exhorted and rewarded ten thousand people of the prefecture to jointly build the Longzang Temple; the 藏 in the temple's name is read “zàng,” referring in Buddhism to the Mahāyāna canon or the scripture-treasury of the dragon palace. The temple plaque was later changed to Longxing Temple (龙兴寺, “Dragon Rising”); in the Ming, Du Mu recognized from a half-buried Sui stele before the hall that the two were originally one temple. In the forty-ninth year of the Kangxi era it was again granted the plaque “Longxing Temple” (隆兴寺, written with different characters). Three closely related names, linked together by a single Sui stele that still stands within the temple. Sui Dynasty Zhengding County, Hebei Province
017 Yuquan Temple During the Kaihuang era of the Sui, Yang Guang, Prince of Jin, built a monastic center on Mount Yuquan in Dangyang for the Tiantai master Zhiyi. In the sixth year of the Jiayou era of the Northern Song, Hao Yan and his maternal aunt of the Han family donated iron, and craftsmen of the Two Zhe circuits cast it into a thirteen-story pagoda for the Buddha's tooth relic. After the wars at the end of the Song, the temple fell for a time into “daily deepening decay,” and under the Yuan the monk Guangzhu rebuilt its halls and pavilions. In the thirtieth year of the Wanli era, the monk Zhenghui vowed to rebuild the main hall, and the layman Ren Chengzhou joined in aiding the work; the extant main hall still retains a Yuan-dynasty lower sill and Ming-dynasty bracket sets. Sui Dynasty Dangyang, Hubei Province
018 Giant Wild Goose Pagoda The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda stands within the Da Ci'en Temple in Xi'an. According to the *You Chengnan Ji* (A Record of Travels South of the City), the monk Xuanzang began building the pagoda in the third year of Yonghui (652). It originally had only five stories, with a brick exterior and earthen core, modeled after the Indian stupa. During the Chang'an era it collapsed; Empress Wu and members of the nobility funded its reconstruction to ten stories. After subsequent wars, only seven stories survived. The east and west niches at the base of the pagoda preserve the Preface to the Holy Teachings of the Great Tang Tripitaka and the Record of the Holy Teachings, both inscribed by Chu Suiliang. Tang Dynasty Xi'an, Shaanxi Province
019 Small Wild Goose Pagoda The Small Wild Goose Pagoda stands within the Jianfu Temple in Xi'an. Built during the Jinglong era of the Tang dynasty with funds contributed by palace women, it originally had fifteen stories. According to the Shaanxi Tongzhi (Shaanxi Provincial Gazetteer), the Yimao earthquake of the Jiajing era split the pagoda in two, and the Guihai earthquake reunited it. During Wang Fuchen's rebellion the pagoda split again, and after the rebellion was quelled it returned to its former state. The temple buildings were completely destroyed during the Jurchen-era migration, leaving only the brick pagoda standing. Tang Dynasty Xi'an, Shaanxi Province
020 White Deer Grotto Academy White Deer Grotto Academy stands at the southern foot of the Five Old Men Peaks of Mount Lu, in Lushan City, Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province. In the Baoli era of the Tang, Li Bo built terraces and pavilions at his former hermitage here; in the Shengyuan era of the Southern Tang, the Lushan National Academy was established on the site; in the early Northern Song it was counted with Suiyang, Shigu, and Yuelu among the Four Great Academies; and in the Chunxi era of the Southern Song, Zhu Xi, as prefect of Nankang, rebuilt the academy and drew up the Articles of Learning of the White Deer Grotto Academy, and Lu Jiuyuan once lectured here by invitation. Destroyed in the wars at the end of the Yuan, it was rebuilt in the first year of the Zhengtong era of the Ming by the Nankang prefect Zhai Pufu and repeatedly repaired under the Qing, so that the surviving buildings largely preserve the Qing-dynasty layout. The entry presents the original texts of the New Book of Tang, Lü Zuqian's Record of the White Deer Grotto Academy, Zhu Xi's Memorial on the White Deer Academy and Articles of Learning, Lu Jiuyuan's Lecture at the White Deer Grotto Academy, Wang Yi's Record of a Visit to the White Deer Grotto, and the Gazetteer of the White Deer Academy, together with early twentieth-century photographs of the academy by Sidney D. Gamble, Tokiwa Daijō, and Sekino Tadashi. Tang Dynasty Lushan City, Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province
021 Baoguo Temple Baoguo Temple (Baoguo Si) stands in the Jiangbei District of Ningbo, Zhejiang. First named Lingshan Temple in the Tang, its surviving main hall is a timber structure rebuilt in the sixth year of the Dazhong Xiangfu era of the Northern Song (1013). This article traces the temple's architectural history and the changes to its name, gathers original passages from the Baoqing Siming Zhi, the Ningbo Fu Zhi, the Cixi Xian Zhi, the Baoguo Si Zhi, and other historical sources, and includes 1954 survey photographs of the main hall's bracket sets, timber frame, and caisson ceilings. Tang Dynasty Ningbo, Zhejiang Province
022 Beiyue Temple Beiyue Temple lies in Quyang County, Baoding, Hebei Province, with clear records of the shrine and its steles dating to the Tang Dynasty; the surviving main hall, the Hall of Dening, is a Yuan timber structure, and the temple served successive dynasties as the state ritual site for sacrifices to the Northern Sacred Peak, Mount Heng. This entry gathers the original texts of the Tang stele of the royal enfeoffment, the reconstruction steles by Wang Yucheng and Han Qi, the Yuan edict stele conferring an additional title, and more, together with old photographs by Osvald Sirén and the Society for Research in Chinese Architecture showing the main hall, its surrounding colonnade, its bracket sets, and its Yuan dynasty murals. Tang Dynasty Quyang County, Baoding, Hebei Province
023 Faxing Temple Formerly known as Cilin Temple and Guangde Temple, Faxing Temple originally stood on Mount Cilin in Changzi County, Shanxi. The Tang Record of Prince Hui of Zheng’s Stone Pagoda, Song and Yuan temple records, and Qing gazetteers preserve its relic pagoda, hall rebuilding and changes of name. Photographs published in 1958 and taken during the 1962 survey show its pagodas, Yuanjue Hall, timber frame and painted sculptures before relocation. Tang dynasty Changzi County, Changzhi, Shanxi, China
024 Fengxue Temple Fengxue Temple stands on Mount Fengxue northeast of Ruzhou, formerly Linru County, Henan. Also known as Baiyun and Qianfeng Temple, it was associated with Master Zhen and his pagoda inscription in the Tang Kaiyuan era. Yanzhao revived the abandoned monastery during the Five Dynasties, making it an important Linji Chan center. Surviving buildings include the Tang Seventh Patriarch Pagoda, the Jin Middle Buddha Hall, and the Ming Vairocana Hall. The Bell Pavilion, first built under the Northern Song and repeatedly repaired, houses an iron bell cast in 1125. Fengxue Temple and its pagoda cemetery joined the third national list of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level in 1988. This article brings together original historical passages from Dream Pool Essays, Compendium of the Five Lamps, Outline of the Buddhas and Patriarchs, Records of Central Plains Inscriptions, General Gazetteer of Henan, and Supplementary Gazetteer of Fengxue. Tang dynasty Ruzhou, Henan, China
025 Foguang Temple Foguang Temple lies in Wutai County, Shanxi, and takes its name from an auspicious response of "Buddha's light." In the fifth year of the Dali era of the Tang, the monk Facao saw several beams of white light to the temple's south; during the Yuanhe era there was a memorial reporting that "auspicious clouds appeared beside Foguang Temple." The Dunhuang Record of a Journey to Mount Wutai describes its seven-bay great Buddha hall and its three-story, seven-bay Maitreya pavilion; after the Huichang persecution the monk Yuancheng "sought out Foguang Temple anew" and rebuilt it step by step. The East Hall that survives today is a relic of that reconstruction. Tang Dynasty Wutai County, Shanxi Province
026 Hua Pagoda at Guanghui Temple, Zhengding The Hua Pagoda at Guanghui Temple stands inside the south gate of Zhengding, also called Huata Temple or Duobao Pagoda. The temple's history traces back to the Sui and Tang, while the date of the pagoda itself drifts between the Jin Dading rebuilding and the Northern Song inscriptions discovered during 1990s restoration. The Qianlong Emperor climbed the pagoda and inscribed a poem; Liang Sicheng called it 'perhaps a sole surviving example within the seas'; in 1947 Zhao Shengming gave his life to protect the pagoda in battle. Tang Zhengding County, Hebei
027 Yunyan Temple, Jiangyou Yunyan Temple stands on Mount Douchuan in Wudu, Jiangyou, Sichuan. The county gazetteer dates its imperial foundation to the Tang Qianfu era; its eastern precinct was Buddhist and its western precinct Daoist. The Feitian Repository was built in 1181 under the Southern Song, repaired under the Yuan and survived the wars at the end of the Ming. This entry includes foundation records, Zhu Zhang’s poem and accounts of summit repairs, alongside historical photographs. Listed in 1988 in the third group of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level as Yunyan Temple, with the designated period Song–Qing. Tang dynasty Mount Douchuan, Wudu, Jiangyou, Mianyang, Sichuan, China
029 Nanchan Temple The main hall of Nanchan Temple is located in Lijia Village, Wutai County, Shanxi. An ink inscription under the beam reads “restored in the third year of Jianzhong of the Great Tang,” making it one of the earliest surviving Tang-dynasty timber structures with a definite date. Pre-restoration survey photos from 1953 show that the front-eave doors and windows, the eave bracket projections, and structural details still preserve original Tang construction. Tang Dynasty Wutai County, Shanxi Province
030 Kaiyuan Temple, Quanzhou Huang Shougong made it a condition that he would give up his estate only when the mulberry trees bore lotus blossoms; days later, white lotuses covered the trees. Two centuries later, the Buddha hall, the sutra library, and the bell tower burned down in a single night. Thereafter Kaiyuan Temple was rebuilt again and again: wooden pagodas gave way to brick, and brick to stone, until a knife-bearing “Monkey Pilgrim” was carved onto the Renshou Pagoda—some three hundred years before the hundred-chapter Journey to the West. Later still, famine crowds filled the long galleries, and Ming-dynasty visitors circled the twin pagodas beneath the moon. Tang dynasty Licheng District, Quanzhou, Fujian Province
032 Xiantong Monastery Xiantong Monastery is located in Taihuai Town, Wutai County, Xinzhou, Shanxi Province. In the time of Wu Zetian of Tang, Dafu Lingjiu Monastery was renamed Great Huayan Monastery. The Tang Huayan monk Chengguan lectured at the monastery and wrote a new commentary on the Huayan Sutra. The Northern Song court included Huayan Monastery among the ten monasteries of the Five Terraces to be rebuilt; in the Ming Yongle era the Buddhist registry of Mount Wutai was established at the monastery, and the monastery and its Buddha śarīra stupa were rebuilt. In the thirty-third and thirty-fourth years of Wanli (1605–1606), the Ming monk Miaofeng Fudeng installed the copper hall and completed the brick “Seven Sites and Nine Assemblies” hall, leaving the copper hall and the beamless hall as the monastery’s core Ming-dynasty remains. Tang dynasty Wutai County, Xinzhou, Shanxi Province
033 Xingjiao Temple Pagodas The Xingjiao Temple Pagodas stand within Xingjiao Temple on the Shaoling Plateau in Xi'an. They are the collective designation for the three relic-burial pagodas of Xuanzang, Kuiji, and Woncheuk. The Xuanzang Pagoda occupies the center and is somewhat larger, erected when the temple was founded in the 2nd year of Zongzhang (669 CE); the Kuiji and Woncheuk pagodas flank it on either side and are somewhat smaller. The pagoda inscriptions of Xuanzang and Kuiji are Tang originals carved in the 4th year of Kaicheng; the Woncheuk inscription stone was broken and what is now embedded on the pagoda is a later re-carving. Tang Dynasty Chang'an District, Xi'an, Shaanxi
034 Xuanmiao Temple The state Taoist system of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang gave the city of Suzhou its Kaiyuan Palace; in the Song it was retitled Tianqing Temple, and after repeated destruction by war it was rebuilt by the court. In the Yuan, a woman donated her hairpins and earrings to repair the Three Gates; in the Ming, the timber rafts for rebuilding the Miluo Treasure Pavilion were scattered by wind upon the river, yet the stele record says the drifting timbers afterward all gathered back together. The temple front also became the place where hundreds of weavers waited each day for work. In the Qing it was renamed Yuanmiao Temple and became an altar of birthday prayers for the southern tours; in 1912 the Miluo Treasure Pavilion burned down, while the Southern Song Hall of the Three Pure Ones has survived to this day. Tang Dynasty Gusu District, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province
035 Yueyang Tower Yueyang Tower stands in Yueyanglou District, Yueyang, Hunan Province. In the Tang dynasty it was already the gate tower of the city of Yuezhou overlooking Dongting Lake; in the Northern Song it was rebuilt by Teng Zongliang, for which Fan Zhongyan wrote the Record of the Yueyang Tower; the surviving main tower follows the form established by the rebuilding of the sixth year of the Guangxu era of the Qing. Drawing on the original texts of poems, records, stele inscriptions, and gazetteers from the Tang and Song through the Ming and Qing, this entry also preserves, in old photographs from around 1900 to the years of the Japanese occupation, the former appearance of its city walls, lakeshore, streets, and courtyards. Tang Dynasty Yueyanglou District, Yueyang, Hunan Province
036 Zhaoren Temple Zhaoren Temple stands in Changwu County, Xianyang, Shaanxi, on the former Qianshuiyuan battlefield in what was Yilu County, Binzhou, under the Tang. Li Shimin defeated Xue Rengao here in 618. An imperial order in the twelfth month of Zhenguan 3 called for temples on former battlefields to benefit the dead; this temple was completed in the first month of Zhenguan 4. Zhu Zishe composed the Stele of Zhaoren Temple in Binzhou of the Great Tang. Its unsigned regular-script calligraphy has been attributed to Yu Shinan, Ouyang Tong and Wang Zhijing. In 1988, Zhaoren Temple Main Hall was included in the third group of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level, with its period recorded as Tang. Historical sources reproduced here include the Illustrated Gazetteer of the Prefectures and Counties of the Yuanhe Era, Sea of Jade, Colophons to the Collected Records of Antiquity, Treasured Inscriptions on Metal and Stone, Inscribed Splendors in Stone and Ink, and Collected Inscriptions on Metal and Stone. Images come from The Zhaoren Temple Stele (1927), Panorama of Asia (1932), and Cultural Monuments of China (1940). Tang dynasty Changwu County, Xianyang, Shaanxi
037 Tradruk Temple Changzhu Temple (Tradrug) is located in Naidong District, Shannan, Tibet, and is traditionally attributed to the Tubo king Songtsen Gampo. The Weizang Tongzhi records it under “Chamuzhu Temple,” relating the legend of subduing a five-headed serpent demon in the Yarlung Valley and building the temple with sacred images. Photographs taken by Hugh E. Richardson in 1949 preserve the full view of the monastery before the fields, the compound walls with golden roofs, the ancient bell in the portico, and the stupa banners in front of the courtyard. Tubo Nedong District, Shannan, Tibet Autonomous Region
038 Dazhao Temple (Jokhang) Dazhao Temple (the Jokhang) stands in Lhasa, Tibet. Chinese gazetteers write its name variously as Dazhao, Dazhao, Dazhao, and Dazhao (大昭/大招/大召/大诏); its Tibetan name is “Laomu.” The Weizang Tongzhi records that the temple rises four stories with five golden halls on top, the central hall enshrining Shakyamuni Buddha. Outside the gate stands the Tang–Tubo Alliance Stele, 1.5 zhang tall, a relic of the Changqing Treaty of 821 under Emperor Muzong; beside it grows an old willow said to date from the Tang dynasty. Tubo Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region
039 The Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple in Dali The Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple stand below the Cang Mountains northwest of Dali Old Town, Yunnan. The main tower, the Qianxun Pagoda, is a square, closely-eaved pagoda of sixteen tiers. According to the Yunnan Tongzhi, an inscription atop the pagoda dates it to the first year of Kaiyuan of the Tang (713 CE), built by the Tang artisans Gong Tao and Hui Yi at the Nanzhao kingdom’s invitation. Two smaller pagodas flank it to the north and south, “each topped with a cast-gold finial bearing a golden roc.” Tradition holds that “dragons revere pagodas but fear the roc; Dali was once a dragon marsh, hence these were built to subdue it.” Nanzhao Dali, Yunnan
040 Guangxiao Temple From the Yu Garden of Yu Fan in the Sun Wu, to Faxing Temple of the Tang, to the Qianming Chan Cloister of the Song, and on to being occupied as the Guangdong Judges' School in the Republican era, Guangxiao Temple changed its name and its masters again and again over more than a thousand years. Yet the two iron pagodas of the Southern Han standing east and west, the Sixth Patriarch's Hair-Burial Pagoda, and the Xianping-era bell never left their original sites: the claim of a name change is refuted by the bell's inscription, the pagodas' dating is settled by reading the inscriptions on their bodies, and one old Republican-era photograph shows the school's gate plaque and a Southern Han iron pagoda together in the same frame. Ten Kingdoms – Southern Han Guangzhou, Guangdong Province
041 Liuhe Pagoda Liuhe Pagoda was first built in the third year of Kaibao (970) of the Wuyue Kingdom to subdue the tidal bore of the Qiantang River. It was destroyed by fire during the Xuanhe era and rebuilt in seven stories by the monk Zhitan through monastic fundraising during the Southern Song. After completion it also served as a lighthouse for night navigation. Though repeatedly damaged and restored over the centuries, its brick core endures. Ten Kingdoms-Wuyue Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province
042 Dule Temple Dule Temple once belonged to Jizhou; old gazetteers place it southwest of the prefectural seat. The Liao-dynasty rebuilding of its Guanyin Pavilion survives mainly through the Liu Cheng stele: in the second year of Tonghe, Master Tanzhen entered the temple to rebuild the pavilion of two stories, five bays east to west and eight frames north to south. The Jingji Jinshi Kao still records the stele; Qing gazetteers note a 1753 imperial-funded restoration, and early modern albums preserve views of the mountain gate, the Guanyin Pavilion, the guardian kings, and the Guanyin image. Liao dynasty Jizhou District, Tianjin (formerly Ji County, Hebei)
043 Fengguo Temple At the turn of the Liao and Jin, the flames of war spread through the northeast, and the Liao monasteries of the region were reduced to ash in a single blaze — only Fengguo Temple in Yizhou stood alone and intact. The stele of the seventh year of Dade traces the reason: Wang Xun, Grand Master of Splendid Happiness with Golden Seal and Purple Ribbon, ordered his men to keep constant watch, and the abbot Master Yang exhausted his resources on repairs, so the seven Buddhas within the hall and the nine-bay Great Hall passed through that war whole. Liao dynasty Yi County, Jinzhou, Liaoning Province
044 Huayan Temple The chronology of Huayan Temple does not begin with a single record: a construction inscription of 1038 survives on a beam of the Hall of the Bhagavat Sutra Repository, while the History of the Liao dates the temple's founding to 1062. Thereafter, wartime fires, the Jin-dynasty rebuilding, the Yuan-dynasty revival, modern photographic surveys, and twenty-first-century expansion each left layers of text and image behind. The temple today thus faces both its old Liao and Jin structures and a newly spread-out courtyard complex, linking nearly a millennium of rise and decline. Liao Dynasty Datong, Shanxi Province
045 Wanbu Huayanjing Pagoda The Wanbu Huayanjing Pagoda, popularly called the White Pagoda, is a Liao-dynasty octagonal seven-storey pavilion-style brick pagoda at the northwest corner of the old city of Fengzhou in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. In Yuan-dynasty poems the temple pagoda, gate towers, and traffic of horses and carts were still there; when Qian Liangze of the Qing arrived, he saw only an empty city with ruined foundations and a pagoda “towering halfway to the sky.” After the city walls and the monastery vanished, the White Pagoda still stood alone in the fields, and the Jin, Yuan, and Ming inscriptions inside it preserve the names and journeys of those who passed through Fengzhou. Liao Dynasty Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region
046 Yunyan Temple Pagoda The Yunyan Temple Pagoda sits atop Tiger Hill in Suzhou, commonly known as the Tiger Hill Pagoda. The temple was founded in the second year of Xianhe of the Eastern Jin (334 CE) when the brothers Wang Xun and Wang Min donated their residence, yet the surviving pagoda dates from between the sixth year of Xiande of the Later Zhou (959) and the second year of Jianlong of the Northern Song (961)—temple and pagoda are separated by over six hundred years and share no common origin. An octagonal, seven-story brick pagoda in the timber-imitation pavilion style, its brickwork simulates columns, lintels, bracket sets, and diamond-tooth eaves projections; the tower leans toward the northeast. Later Zhou Suzhou, Jiangsu Province
047 Liaodi Pagoda at Kaiyuan Temple, Dingxian (Dingzhou) The Liaodi Pagoda at Kaiyuan Temple stands in Dingzhou, Hebei. Ming-dynasty poets who climbed the pagoda wrote of gazing down over the prefectural city and far toward the frontier; the Yanshan Conglu states that from the summit one can see a hundred li, and links the pagoda's name to watching for the Khitan. Old photographs from 1902 to 1932 record the pagoda amid tree groves, fields, and alleyways. Northern Song Dynasty Dingzhou, Hebei
048 Fucheng Jade Emperor Temple Fucheng Jade Emperor Temple stands in Fucheng village, Zezhou County, Jincheng, Shanxi. Completed in 1076 under the Northern Song and formerly called the Jade Emperor’s Traveling Palace, it preserves buildings from the Song through Qing dynasties and Yuan painted sculptures of the Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions. On 13 January 1988 it entered the third list of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level, dated Song–Qing. This article includes Song–Qing inscriptions on repairs and sculpture patronage, and photographs of the buildings and sculptures taken by Zhang Yuhuan in 1962. Northern Song Zezhou County, Jincheng, Shanxi
049 Hualin Temple In the second year of the Qiande era of the Northern Song (964), Bao Xiurang, an official of the Wuyue Kingdom serving as commandery governor of Fuzhou, founded the Yueshan Jixiang Chan Cloister on the ruined site of the old city at the southern foot of today's Mount Pingshan, praying for peace within the realm. The celebrated Southern Song minister Zhang Jun once lodged at the temple during his exile in Fuzhou; in the twentieth century the surviving main hall escaped demolition by being used as a warehouse, and was ultimately preserved through survey, dismantling, and relocation. Northern Song Dynasty Fuzhou, Fujian Province
051 Qingjing Mosque In 1009 CE, Muslim merchants sojourning in Quanzhou raised the Ashab Mosque outside the city walls. Worshippers purified themselves at an ancient well, climbed the moon-watching platform to observe the crescent of Ramadan, and then prayed toward Mecca; over the next three hundred years the city of Quanzhou expanded southward, drawing the mosque into its streets, and a man from Shiraz came to rebuild it. Arabic inscriptions, a Ming imperial edict, and Chinese stele records chronicle the later centuries of this seafaring merchants' mosque. Northern Song Dynasty Tumen Street, Licheng District, Quanzhou, Fujian Province
052 Sakya Monastery Sakya Monastery, in Sakya County, Shigatse, is the ancestral monastery of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. Its North Monastery was founded in 1073. In the 13th century, Phagspa entered the Yuan court, created a new Mongol script by imperial command, and transmitted an ordination ritual that was translated into Chinese; in 1268 he commissioned the South Monastery. The Yuan Shi, Kangyou Jixing, and Qinding Kuo'erka Jilüe trace centuries of contact between the monastery, Tibet, and successive central governments. Northern Song Sakya County, Shigatse, Tibet Autonomous Region
053 Youguo Temple Pagoda The Youguo Temple Pagoda stands in Kaifeng, Henan Province, commonly known as the Iron Pagoda. It is a Northern Song dynasty octagonal thirteen-story pagoda built with iron-colored glazed bricks. In the fourth year of Qingli (1044), the wooden Linggan Pagoda of Kaibao Temple was destroyed by fire. Emperor Renzong initially heeded his advisors and halted reconstruction; yet five years later he issued a decree to 'rebuild the Linggan Pagoda and enshrine the relics.' The rebuilt pagoda did not replicate the old one but was relocated to Shangfang Courtyard in the eastern precinct of Kaibao Temple and raised anew in glazed brick. Northern Song Dynasty Kaifeng, Henan Province
054 Yuelu Academy The Yuelu Academy stands at the eastern foot of Yuelu Mountain on the west bank of the Xiang River in Changsha, Hunan Province. It was founded in the ninth year of the Kaibao era of the Northern Song (976) by Zhu Dong, prefect of Tanzhou, and in the eighth year of the Dazhong Xiangfu era (1015) Emperor Zhenzong bestowed its name-board, making it one of the Four Great Academies of the Song. In the Southern Song, Zhang Shi presided over its teaching and Zhu Xi came to the academy for joint lectures and to promote learning; destroyed and rebuilt time and again through the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing, it was converted in the twenty-ninth year of the Guangxu era (1903) into the Hunan Higher School and today belongs to Hunan University. The entry collects the original texts of the Comprehensive Examination of Literature, Zhang Shi's Record of the Restoration of the Yuelu Academy in Tanzhou, Chen Fuliang's record, Zhu Xi's dispatch, and Ding Sikong's memorial requesting the imperial plaque, together with old photographs of the academy from the 1920s. Northern Song Dynasty Yuelu District, Changsha, Hunan Province
055 Zixiao Palace Zixiao Palace is a Taoist palace complex on the south side of Zhanqi Peak on Mount Wudang in Danjiangkou, Hubei. The Yuan-dynasty Wudang Fudi Zongzhen Ji records that it was founded during the Xuanhe era of the Northern Song; the palaces were destroyed by war at the end of the Yuan, and Emperor Chengzu of Ming built the Taixuan Zixiao Palace at the old site in the tenth year of Yongle; during the Tongzhi era of the Qing, the Taoist Yang Laiwang led his disciples in restoring the Shifang Hall, the Eastern and Western Taoist Courtyards, and the residential rooms of the Dragon-Tiger Hall. This entry includes the Wudang Fudi Zongzhen Ji, the Record of the Shangshan Pool, Ming imperial steles, and a 1934 photograph of the Zixiao Hall. Northern Song Dynasty Danjiangkou, Shiyan, Hubei Province
056 Master of the Nets Garden The Master of the Nets Garden lies at Kuojiatou Lane in Gusu District, Suzhou, Jiangsu. Its predecessor was the Southern Song official Shi Zhengzhi's Hall of Ten Thousand Volumes and his Fisherman's Seclusion flower nursery; after the nursery fell into ruin, the estate was sold off, divided, and turned into a government grain depot, until Song Zongyuan rebuilt it in the Qianlong era of the Qing and Qu Yuancun enlarged it, passing in the Tongzhi era to Li Hongyi. It is now a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level and was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1997. The article gathers the full texts of sixteen Yuan, Ming, and Qing documents together with six historical photographs taken by Osvald Sirén. Southern Song Dynasty Gusu District, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province
057 Yongle Palace Yongle Palace in Ruicheng, Shanxi began as a small shrine to Lü Dongbin in the town of Yongle. After the old shrine burned down, the Mongol court resolved to raise it to the rank of Chunyang Wanshou Palace and bestowed a plaque, and the Quanzhen order put Pan Dechong in charge of the construction. In the late Ming the halls still held murals of three hundred and sixty celestial deities and more than four hundred spirit tablets in ranked rows, and Qing restorations left Qing-style roof frames inside the Yuan-dynasty halls. During the twentieth-century relocation project, the timber structures were dismantled piece by piece and the murals were detached for protection. Yuan dynasty Ruicheng County, Yuncheng, Shanxi Province
059 Guangyue Tower The Guangyue Tower stands at the center of the old city of Liaocheng, Shandong. Built in the seventh year of the Hongwu era of the Ming (1374) from timber left over from the city walls and first named the “Yumu Tower,” it is a four-story watch-and-drum tower on a high terrace, used to keep lookout for the city's defense and to sound the night watches and alarms. Drawing on Ming and Qing tower records, the Qianlong Emperor's poems on climbing the tower, and the local gazetteers, this entry tells of its naming and repairs and its part in the 1938 defense of Liaocheng, and presents old photographs from 1936 and 1947. Ming dynasty Dongchangfu District, Liaocheng, Shandong Province
060 Taihe Palace Taihe Palace stands on Mingfeng Mountain in Kunming, Yunnan. Founded in the Wanli era of the Ming, it is centered on a gilded hall cast of copper. The original copper hall was moved to Mount Jizu in the Chongzhen era, and Wu Sangui, the Prince Who Pacified the West, recast the copper hall on Mingfeng Mountain in the Kangxi era; in the late Qing the complex passed through wartime destruction, fundraising, and continual rebuilding, and old photographs from 1911 onward preserve the former appearance of the Golden Hall with its steps and balustrades. Ming Dynasty Kunming, Yunnan Province
061 Sera Monastery Sera Monastery stands in the northern suburbs of Lhasa. It was founded in 1419 by Shakya Yeshe, who had previously entered the Ming court, at Tsongkhapa’s command. The monastery later grew into a Gelug institution with a great assembly hall and three colleges that once housed several thousand monks. Drawing on old texts, monastic scholarship, a monk’s recollections, and historical photographs, this entry traces the Ming court’s gifts, the eighteenth-century succession of its halls, the procession of the flying vajra, the life of debate, and images of the monastery from the early twentieth century onward. Ming dynasty Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region
062 Ta'er Monastery (Kumbum Monastery) Ta'er Monastery (Kumbum Monastery), in Huangzhong District of Xining, Qinghai, was founded in the Ming dynasty. A Gelug-school monastery of Tibetan Buddhism and the birthplace of Tsongkhapa, it was formerly known as Ta'er Si and the Silver Stupa Monastery. Drawing on Ming and Qing sources such as the Manuscripts of the Forest Lodge, the Sacred Military Records, the Draft History of Qing, and the Memorials on Qinghai, this article traces the monastery's founding and development, its relations with the Ming and Qing central governments, the Lobsang Danjin incident, and its restoration and rebuilding after the Shaanxi–Gansu Hui revolt, and also presents historical photographs of Ta'er Monastery taken between 1900 and 1937. Ming dynasty Huangzhong District, Xining, Qinghai
063 Tianyi Pavilion The Tianyi Pavilion stands west of Moon Lake in Ningbo, Zhejiang, a private library built by Fan Qin in the Jiajing era of the Ming and preserved to this day. Drawing on original texts by Huang Zongxi, Quan Zuwang, Ruan Yuan, and others, the entry recounts the Fan family's book collecting, its rules for guarding the collection, and the Qing court's requisition of books for the Siku Quanshu; together with the Historical Records of the Tianyi Pavilion Collection and old photographs of the modern era, it traces the loss of books in the wars of the late Qing, the thefts of the Republican period, the rebuilding of 1933, and the removal of the collection during the War of Resistance. Ming Dynasty Haishu District, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province
064 Yu Garden Shanghai's Yu Garden lies in the old walled quarter of Huangpu District and was the private garden that Pan Yunduan began building in the thirty-eighth year of the Jiajing era of the Ming. After the Pan family declined, the grounds passed through resale; in the twenty-fifth year of the Qianlong era they were purchased by local gentry and wealthy merchants and attached to the City God Temple, and in the late Qing they were managed and rebuilt in parcels by more than twenty trade guilds. Drawing on the Record of the Yu Garden, local gazetteers, archival photographs, and restoration records, this entry traces the garden's transformation from the Pan family residence-garden and the West Garden into a modern public garden. Ming Dynasty Huangpu District, Shanghai
065 Tashilhunpo Monastery Tashilhunpo Monastery, also written Zhaxilunbu Monastery, is located in Samzhubzê District, Shigatse, Tibet Autonomous Region. Founded in the Ming dynasty, it is a Gelug monastery of Tibetan Buddhism and has served as the seat of successive Panchen Lamas. Drawing on sources including the General Gazetteer of Ü-Tsang, Illustrated Study of Tibet, Travel Notes from Kham, and Imperially Commissioned Brief Account of the Gurkha Campaign, this article traces the monastery’s founding history, layout, Panchen Lama stupas, damage and repairs during the Gurkha war, and includes twentieth-century historical photographs. Ming dynasty Samzhubzê District, Shigatse, Tibet Autonomous Region
066 Drepung Monastery Drepung Monastery stands on the southern slope of Mount Gephel Utse, west of Lhasa. Founded in 1416 by Tsongkhapa’s disciple Jamyang Chöjé Tashi Palden, it contains a former villa renamed Ganden Podrang in 1518 and made an office of the Tibetan local government in 1642. The surviving complex centers on Tsokchen Hall, Ganden Podrang, and four colleges; this entry presents Qing-to-Republican records and photographs from 1920 to 1936. Ming dynasty Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region
067 Vajrasana Pagoda at Zhenjue Temple During the Yongle era, the Tibetan monk Pandita came to pay tribute and presented five golden Buddha figures together with the regulations for a Vajrasana pagoda; Emperor Chengzu built a temple to house him and named it Zhenjue. In the ninth year of Chenghua, following the Central Indian model, a stone platform fifty chi high was raised, with stairways hidden within its walls spiraling up left and right; on its top stood five pagodas each twenty chi tall, already celebrated by Ming poets who climbed them. Ming Haidian District, Beijing
068 Zhihua Temple Zhihua Temple, in Lumicang Hutong in Beijing's Dongcheng District, was completed in the ninth year of the Zhengtong reign of the Ming (1444). After his restoration, Emperor Yingzong erected a shrine to Wang Zhen inside the temple; the Qianlong emperor later approved Shen Tingfang's petition to destroy the statue and the stele, after which the temple lost its patronage and gradually declined. By the Republican era, Abbot Puyuan could only keep the monastery going by renting out rooms and felling and selling its ancient cypresses. In 1930 the two caisson ceilings of Zhihua Hall and Wanfo Pavilion were dismantled and sold: the former entered the Philadelphia Museum of Art the same year, while the latter was purchased the following year by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art from a Beijing antiquities dealer. Ming dynasty Dongcheng District, Beijing
069 Humble Administrator's Garden The Humble Administrator's Garden (Zhuozheng Yuan) stands in Gusu District, Suzhou, Jiangsu, and was founded in the Zhengde era of the Ming. Wang Xianchen built a garden of ponds, pavilions, and bamboo and trees in the northeast of Suzhou city; afterward the site passed through division and refashioning as the Xu family private garden, the Return-to-the-Fields Garden, the Su-Song-Chang Circuit offices, the Restored Garden, the Eight Banners Fengzhi Guild Hall, and the Supplementary Garden. This entry gathers Wen Zhengming's garden record, inscriptions preserved within the garden, and historical photographs, tracing the Humble Administrator's Garden from a Ming private garden to a Qing guild hall. Ming Dynasty Gusu District, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province
070 Prince Gong's Mansion Prince Gong's Mansion in Beijing began as the residence of Heshen, the Qianlong emperor's favorite; its nanmu house, built in imitation of the Palace of Tranquil Longevity, was listed among Heshen's Twenty Great Crimes and survives as today's Xijin Studio. After confiscation in 1799, half of the mansion became Princess Hexiao's residence and half was granted to Prince Qing Yonglin; in 1852 the Xianfeng emperor allotted it to Prince Gong Yixin, whose northern garden was completed in the Tongzhi era; in 1937 it became the women's college of Fu Jen University. Listed in 1982 as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level, it is now the Prince Gong's Mansion Museum. The article collects original texts from the Veritable Records of the Qing, the Draft History of Qing, and other documents, together with twentieth-century historical photographs. Qing Dynasty No. 17 Qianhai West Street, Xicheng District, Beijing
071 Labrang Monastery Labrang Monastery, in Xiahe County, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu, was founded in the forty-eighth year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing (1709). One of the six great monasteries of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism and the seat of the Jamyang Zhepa line, it is also known simply as Tashikhyil Monastery, transcribed in Qing Chinese texts variously as 拉布楞, 拉布浪, and 拉卜愣. Drawing on Qing sources such as the Gazetteer of Xunhua Subprefecture, the Diary of a Journey in Attendance in the Xinmao Year, the Memorials on the Pacification of the Tibetans, and the Veritable Records of Qing, this article traces the monastery's history from Chaghan Danjin's invitation to the First Jamyang Zhepa to found it, through the nineteen-year lawsuit with Heicuo Monastery, the dispute with Rongwo Monastery, and the Bangzhou case, and presents historical photographs of Labrang Monastery taken by Harrison Forman between 1932 and 1937. Qing dynasty Xiahe County, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu
072 Pule Temple Pule Temple, northeast of the Chengde Mountain Resort in Hebei, was built by imperial decree in the thirty-first year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing (1766) and completed the following year—an imperial Tibetan Buddhist temple laid out facing east. Drawing on the Imperially Commissioned Gazetteer of Rehe, the Stele Inscription of Pule Temple, the surveys of the Society for Research in Chinese Architecture, and old photographs by Hedda Morrison, this article traces Zongyin Hall, Xuguang Pavilion, the layout of the mandala-city, the frontier audience rites of the Qing, and the temple's appearance in the 1930s and 1940s. Qing dynasty Shuangqiao District, Chengde, Hebei
073 Puning Temple In the twentieth year of the Qianlong reign, the chiefs of the four Oirat tribes received investiture and rewards at the Mountain Resort and raised wine in wishes for the emperor's long life at the banquet; it was against this background that Puning Temple was built. The temple was laid out in imitation of Samye Monastery in Tibet, its rear precinct rising tier upon tier through the Mahayana Pavilion, the four continents, and the group of stupas; by the Jiaqing reign, the Hall of Mahavira was already leaking and rotting. Visiting the temple, Bojun wrote that even craning his head he could not see up to the great Buddha's belly, and had to “climb one more story” before its countenance came into view. Qing dynasty Chengde, Hebei
074 Putuo Zongcheng Temple From his study of archival records and Qing-period images, Yang Xu concluded that under the Qianlong reign the Great Red Terrace of the Putuo Zongcheng Temple originally had four full stories, and the gilded roof of the Wanfa Guiyi Hall was not exposed. Later the Red Terrace lost a story, and shelter pavilions were added over the two red sandalwood pagodas whose tops emerged above the roofline; soon after von Mumm photographed them, both pavilions collapsed one after the other in 1904. The silhouette familiar today has passed through the loss of a story, the addition of pavilions, collapse, and modern restoration. Qing Dynasty Shuangqiao District, Chengde, Hebei Province
075 Xumi Fushou Temple In the forty-fifth year of the Qianlong reign, Qianlong built the Xumi Fushou Temple in imitation of Tashilhunpo Monastery to welcome the Sixth Panchen Lama, who had journeyed from distant Tsang. The Panchen stayed at Rehe for only about two months, yet for this pilgrimage the mountain gate, stele pavilion, Great Red Terrace, gilded-roof hall towers, and living quarters together formed a complete monastic residence. In the Jiaqing years, the leaking enclosing rooms of the Jixiang Faxi Tower's courtyard and the terrace roof before the hall were surveyed and repaired in turn; old photographs from the 1930s further preserve the form of the Red Terrace, the gilded roof, and the glazed pagoda joining one behind another. Qing Dynasty Shuangqiao District, Chengde, Hebei Province