001 Architecture 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 Gaocheng Observatory · Dengfeng Observatory · Gaocheng Observatory in Dengfeng →
002 Grottoes Huangze Temple Huangze Temple stands on the west bank of the Jialing River in Guangyuan, Sichuan. Its cliff carvings were begun in the late Northern Wei, with further caves opened under the Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui, and Tang. This article traces the Tang Buddha pavilion, the Later Shu temple of Wu Zetian's old residence, the Northern Song Hall of Empress Wu's True Countenance, and Qing-dynasty visits, and includes old photographs by Ernst Boerschmann and Liang Sicheng. Northern Wei Lizhou District, Guangyuan, Sichuan Province Huangze Temple Cliff Sculptures · Huangze Temple · Grottoes →
003 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 →
004 Architecture Shanhua Temple After the Song envoy Zhu Bian was detained in the Jin state, he moved into the Da Pu'en Temple and lived for fourteen years amid the rubble left by the fires at the end of the Liao dynasty, witnessing firsthand as the monk Yuanman raised funds to rebuild more than eighty bays. He recorded the experience in a stele inscription, and his own captivity thus became a testimony to the rebirth of this ancient Tang-dynasty temple. Tang Dynasty Datong, Shanxi Province Shanhua Temple · Da Pu'en Temple · Kaiyuan Temple →
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 →