001 Architecture 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 Lingyan Temple · Mount Fang · Mount Yufu →
002 Architecture 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 Buddhist Architecture · Northern Zhou · Tang Dynasty →
003 Architecture Penglai Pavilion The Penglai Pavilion in Yantai, Shandong, was first built in the Northern Song and stands atop Danya Hill; the Song–Yuan harbor basin below the hill was expanded into the Dengzhou Water City in the Ming. A Yuan-dynasty gazetteer, excavated warships, Ming–Qing coastal-defense documents, and photographs from 1903 to 1928 record the vertical relationship between the pavilion and the naval harbor. Northern Song Dynasty Penglai District, Yantai, Shandong Penglai Pavilion · Penglai Water City · Penglai →
004 Architecture 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 Zixiao Palace · Taixuan Zixiao Palace · Zixiao Yuansheng Palace →
005 Architecture 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 Guangyue Tower · Yumu Tower · Dongchang Tower →
006 Architecture 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 Golden Hall of Taihe Palace · Taihe Palace · Golden Hall →
007 Architecture 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 Tianyi Pavilion · Fan Family's Tianyi Pavilion · Moon Lake →