001 Architecture 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 Buddhist Architecture · Ancient Pagoda · Nanzhao →
002 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 →