001 Grottoes Xiangtangshan Grottoes The Xiangtangshan Grottoes lie at the northern and southern ends of Mount Gu in Fengfeng Mining District, Handan—two sets of mortuary caves carved by the imperial family and powerful ministers of Eastern Wei and Northern Qi. The Zizhi Tongjian records that Gao Huan was secretly interred beside the Buddha's head in the great cave at North Xiangtangshan; the Xu Gaoseng Zhuan states that the great cave image backs onto the tomb of Emperor Wenxuan. South Xiangtangshan, according to the Stele of the Fushan Grottoes, was opened in the first year of Tiantong by the monk Huiyi and Prince Gao Anahong of Huaiyin. Eastern Wei Fengfeng Mining District, Handan, Hebei Province Xiangtangshan Grottoes · Xiangtang Temple Grottoes · Grottoes →
002 Architecture 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 Beiyue Temple · Beiyue Temple of Quyang · Beiyue Shrine →
003 Architecture 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 Pule Temple · Xuguang Pavilion · Zongyin Hall →
004 Architecture 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 Puning Temple · Great Buddha Temple · Eight Outer Temples →
005 Architecture 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 Putuo Zongcheng Temple · Putuo Zongcheng Miao · Little Potala →
006 Architecture 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 Xumi Fushou Temple · Xumi Fushou Miao · Tibetan Buddhism →