This list of pagodas in Beijing comprises all Buddhist and Taoist pagodas erected within Beijing Municipality, an area which covers the city of Beijing as well as its surrounding districts and counties. The list includes some important pagodas that are no longer standing.
Statue of the monk Haiyun 海雲 (1203–1257), found in the underground hall of the Haiyun Pagoda of Qingshou Temple when it was demolished in 1954; the statue is now at the Capital Museum.
Pagodas have been erected in the city of Beijing since at least the Sui dynasty (581–618). Many large-scale pagodas were erected during the Liao dynasty (907–1125), when Beijing was one of the four secondary capitals established by the Khitans. Most of the pagodas built during the Liao dynasty are octagonal, solid pagodas made out of brick and stone, with multiple tiers of closely spaced eaves. Important examples of Liao pagodas in Beijing include the Tiankai pagoda (erected c.1110), the Yunju pagoda (erected c. 1118). and the Tianning pagoda (erected c. 1120). The latter pagoda is the oldest surviving major building in the city of Beijing.[1]
Beijing was promoted to be the principal capital of the JurchenJin dynasty (1115–1234) in 1153. The Jin capital was destroyed by the Mongols, under Genghis Khan, in 1215, and no pagodas dating from this period survive within the city of Beijing. However, a group of five pagodas erected within a temple at Silver Mountain (銀山) near Beijing is still standing.
During the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), Beijing was for the first time the capital of all China, and under the auspices of Kublai Khan the city (known as Khanbaliq in Mongolian or Dadu in Chinese) was rebuilt on a grander scale. Pagodas constructed during the Yuan dynasty include traditional Liao-style multi-eaved pagodas, such as the twin pagodas of Qingshou Temple (demolished in 1954). In addition, as the Mongolian rulers of the Yuan dynasty were patrons of Tibetan Buddhism, this period saw the introduction of a new Tibetan style pagoda, painted white and in the shape of a stupa (or an inverted monk's begging bowl), often referred to as a dagoba. The fine example of a white dagoba at Miaoying Temple was commissioned by Kublai Khan in 1271, and constructed under the supervision of the Nepali architect Araniko (Arginer).[2] An unusual "straddling the street pagoda", consisting of an arch surmounted by three white dagobas was built by command of the last Yuan emperor, Toghon Temür, in 1342–1345, although now only the arch base is still standing.
Beijing continued as the capital of China during most of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). A fine example of a Ming dynasty pagoda is the Pagoda of Cishou Temple, built in 1576 by the Wanli Emperor for the Empress Dowager Li, which is modelled on the Liao dynasty pagoda at Tianning Temple.[3]
Beijing was the capital of China throughout the Qing dynasty (1644–1911). Like the Mongolians during the Yuan dynasty, the Manchu rulers of the Qing dynasty were patrons of Tibetan Buddhism, and so the Qing dynasty saw the erection of further examples of Tibetan-style white dagobas, including examples at Dajue Temple and on an island in Beihai Park. Other examples of pagodas from this period include the Duobao Glazed Pagoda in the Summer Palace, which is covered in glazed statuettes of buddhas.
During the 20th century, some pagodas in Beijing were destroyed by war, particularly during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945). After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, a new era of modernization threatened the survival of many ancient buildings and structures in Beijing. Despite the vocal protests of the architect Liang Sicheng, a pair of famous pagodas in the centre of the city (the twin pagodas of Qingshou Temple), built during the Yuan dynasty, were demolished in 1954 so that Chang'an Avenue could be enlargened.[4]
Map all coordinatesin "List of pagodas in Beijing" using:OpenStreetMap
On the site of the Chongfu Temple (崇福寺), founded during the Sui or Tang dynasties. The pagoda collapsed in June 1977, and more than 60 religious artefacts were recovered from the ruins.[5]
Biyun Temple (Temple of Azure Clouds) Diamond throne pagoda 碧雲寺金剛寶座塔
Diamond throne pagoda, 34.7 metres (114ft) in height.
The Temple of Azure Clouds was founded during the Yuan dynasty, and the pagoda constructed as part of the renovation of the temple by the Qianlong Emperor in 1748.
A "straddling the street" style pagoda (過街塔), consisting of an arch base, on which three white stupa style pagodas were erected.
Originally at the south gate to the Yongming Baoxiang Temple (永明寶相寺). The three pagodas on the arch had collapsed by the reign of the Zhengtong Emperor (1427–1464), and now only the arch remains.
White, stupa style pagoda, 50.9 metres (167ft) in height.[8]
Built on the site of a Liao dynasty pagoda erected in 1092. The current pagoda was commissioned by Kublai Khan in 1271, and its construction was supervised by the Nepali architect Araniko. In 1978, many religious artefacts deposited in the pinnacle of the stupa in 1753 by the Qianlong Emperor were discovered.[2][9]
Octagonal, nine-storeyed, brick pagoda, 16 metres (52ft) in height.
A seven-storeyed brick pagoda was built to house the remains of Wansong Xingxiu (1166–1246), but a new nine-storeyed pagoda was built around the original pagoda in 1753, and the original pagoda was only rediscovered in 1986.[10]
Qingshou Temple Twin Pagodas (Pagoda of Haiyun and Pagoda of Ke'an) 慶壽寺雙塔 (海雲塔、可庵塔)
Two octagonal, multi-eaved style pagodas, one named after the temple's eminent abbot, the Chan master Haiyun 海雲 (1203–1257), the other named after Haiyun's disciple, Ke'an 可庵. The Pagoda of Haiyun was nine storeys high, and the Pagoda of Ke'an was seven storeys high.
On the site of the Qingshou Temple (慶壽寺), which was founded during the Jin dynasty, in 1186. The two pagodas were demolished in 1954 to widen Chang'an Avenue.[11]
A group of five pagodas built on the site of the Yanshou Temple (延壽寺), and two separate pagodas. Two of the pagodas date to the Liao dynasty, and five of the pagodas date to the Jin dynasty. The temples were destroyed during the Second Sino-Japanese War.[12]
Octagonal, three-storeyed, multi-storey style pagoda, 15.0 metres (49.2ft) in height.
On the site of the Tiankai Temple (天開寺), founded during the Tang dynasty. A pagoda was first built on this site during the Tang dynasty, but the present pagoda dates to the Liao dynasty. In 1990, more than 30 religious artefacts were recovered from the pagoda during emergency excavations to secure the safety of the pagoda. The pagoda was restored in 2005.[13]
On the site of a temple where there were originally several dozen multi-eaved style brick pagodas dating to the Jin, Yuan and Ming dynasties. All but one of these pagodas were destroyed during the Second Sino-Japanese War.[15]
Octagonal, brick pagoda separated into three vertical sections, with the top section comprising nine layers with niches for Buddhist sculptures all around.
There are inscriptions dating to the Liao, Jin and Yuan dynasties written in ink on the pagoda, including inscriptions dated the 6th year of the Xianyong era (1070) and the 7th year of the Shouchang era (1101).
On the site of Yilin Temple (義林寺). Destroyed during an earthquake in 1720. In 1963 the underground hall of the pagoda was excavated, and about thirty religious artefacts were discovered.[16]
Octagonal, three-storeyed, multi-storey style pagoda, 12.0 metres (39.4ft) in height.
On the site of the Puzhao Temple (普照寺). Destroyed in the mid 20th century. In 1988 the pagoda base was excavated, and more than 40 religious artefacts, as well as a large quantity of coins, were found.[17]
Yong'an Temple White Pagoda (Beihai Park White Pagoda) 永安寺白塔 (北海公園白塔)
Octagonal, eleven-tiered, multi-eaved style stone pagoda, 30 metres (98ft) in height.
Built to house Buddhist scriptures engraved on stone tablets during the reign of Emperor Daozong of Liao. Between 1957 and 1958 10,082 stone tablets engraved with Buddhist scriptures during the Liao and Jin dynasties were recovered from the underground hall in the pagoda.[18]
Diamond throne pagoda, with a square base 7.7 metres (25ft) in height, surmounted by four eleven-storeyed square-based pagodas at the corners and one thirteen-storeyed square-based pagoda in the middle. In total the diamond throne pagoda is 17 metres (56ft) in height.
A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, and were often located in or near viharas. The pagoda traces its origins to the stupa while its design was developed in ancient Nepal.
Anyang is a prefecture-level city in Henan province, China. The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the east, Hebi and Xinxiang to the south, and the provinces of Shanxi and Hebei to its west and north respectively.
Aniko, Anige or Araniko was one of the key figures in the arts of Nepal and the Yuan dynasty of China, and the artistic exchanges in these areas. He was born in Kathmandu Valley during the reign of Abhaya Malla. He is known for building the White Stupa at the Miaoying Temple in Beijing. During the reign of Jayabhimadeva, he was sent on a project to build a golden stupa in Tibet, where he also initiated into monkhood. From Tibet he was sent further to northern China to work in the court of the emperor Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan dynasty, where he brought the trans-Himalayan artistic tradition to China. Araniko led a team of 80 artists to China proper and Tibet to make a number of pagoda-style buildings. In his later life, he renounced monkhood and started a family.
The Jade Peak Pagoda is a Chinese pagoda on Jade Spring Hill in an Imperial Garden, Jingming Yuan, in Beijing, China. The site was originally an imperial retreat during the Liao Dynasty (907–1125) and was renovated by the Qianlong Emperor in 1752.
Fangshan District is situated in the southwest of Beijing, 38 km (24 mi) away from downtown Beijing. It has an area of 2,019 square kilometres (780 sq mi) and a population of 814,367. The district is divided into 8 subdistricts, 14 towns, and 6 townships.
Zhuozhou, is a county-level city with 628,000 inhabitants in central Hebei province, southwest of Beijing. It is administered by Baoding prefecture-level city. Zhuozhou has 3 subdistricts, 6 towns, 5 townships, and 1 development zone.
The Tianning Temple is a Buddhist temple complex located in Xicheng District of Beijing, in northern China.
The Miaoying Temple, also known as the "White Stupa Temple", is a Chinese Buddhist temple on the north side of Fuchengmennei Street in the Xicheng District of Beijing. The temple was a monastery of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism and is now open to the public as a museum. The temple's White Pagoda was built 1279 in the Yuan Dynasty and is the oldest and largest Tibetan Buddhist pagoda in China.
The Tianning Temple, is a Buddhist temple located in Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China, is noted for its giant pagoda, the Tianning Pagoda (天宁宝塔/天寧宝塔). Construction began in April 2002 with the opening ceremony for the completed structure held on April 30, 2007, where a crowd of hundreds of Buddhist monks gathered for the ceremony. With 13 stories and a height of 153.79 metres (505 ft), this is now the tallest pagoda in the world, taller than China's tallest existent pre-modern Buddhist pagoda, the Liaodi Pagoda built in 1055 at a height of 84 m (275 ft). Although the existing pagoda was built by April 2007, the temple grounds and the pagoda have a history of construction and destruction for the past 1,350 years, since the time of the Tang dynasty (618–907). Building of the pagoda was proposed by the Buddhist Association of China in 2001, yet providing money donations for the temple was an international effort, as leaders of 108 Buddhist associations and temples worldwide attended the opening ceremony at the temple.
Yunju Temple is a Buddhist temple located in Fangshan District, 70 kilometers (43 mi) southwest of Beijing and contains the world's largest collection of stone Buddhist sutra steles in the world. Yunju Temple also contains one of only two extant woodblocks for the Chinese Buddhist Tripitaka in the world as well as rare copies of printed and manuscript Chinese Buddhist Tripitakas. It also has many historic pagodas dating from the Tang and Liao Dynasty.
Beijing, alternatively romanized as Peking, is the capital of the People's Republic of China. With over 21 million residents, Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city as well as China's second largest city after Shanghai. It is located in Northern China, and is governed as a municipality under the direct administration of the State Council with 16 urban, suburban, and rural districts. Beijing is mostly surrounded by Hebei Province with the exception of neighboring Tianjin to the southeast; together, the three divisions form the Jingjinji megalopolis and the national capital region of China.
The Tangut dharani pillars are two stone dharani pillars, with the text of a dhāraṇī-sutra inscribed on them in the Tangut script, which were found in Baoding, Hebei, China in 1962. The dharani pillars were erected during the middle of the Ming dynasty, in 1502, and they are the latest known examples of the use of the Tangut script. They are also very rare examples of Tangut monumental inscriptions outside of the territories ruled by the Western Xia dynasty. The only other known example of an inscription in the Tangut script that has been found in north China is on the 14th-century Cloud Platform at Juyongguan in Beijing. These pillars indicate that there was a vibrant Tangut community living in Baoding, far from the Tangut homeland in modern Ningxia and Gansu, during the early 16th century, nearly 300 years after the Western Xia was conquered by the Mongol Empire.
Tayuan Temple is located in the central area of Taihuai town in Mount Wutai, Shanxi Province, China. Tayuan Temple was originally a stupa of Xiantong Temple. The stupa, named the Great White Pagoda, was constructed in the 6th year of DaDe reign of the Yuan dynasty. In the 5th year of Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty (1407AD), it was expanded to a temple and got its name as Tayuan Temple. It is listed in the Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected in Shanxi Province, China.
Yao Guangxiao, also known by his dharma name Daoyan (道衍), was a Chinese military strategist, statesman and Chan Buddhist monk who lived in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties.
↑ "Tiankai Pagoda in Fangshan District". Information board at an exhibition at the Capital Museum, Beijing. Accessed 2013-12-08.
↑ "Tiankai Pagoda in Fangshan District". Information board at Tianning Temple, Beijing. Accessed 2013-12-12.
↑ "Wayao Pagoda Fangshan District". Information board at an exhibition at the Capital Museum, Beijing. Accessed 2013-12-08.
↑ "Wugou Jinggang Sarira Pagoda in Shunyi District". Information board at an exhibition at the Capital Museum, Beijing. Accessed 2013-12-08.
↑ "Yexian Pagoda in Miyun County". Information board at an exhibition at the Capital Museum, Beijing. Accessed 2013-12-08.
↑ "Pagoda for Preserving Stone Scriptures in Yunju Temple, Fangshan District". Information board at an exhibition at the Capital Museum, Beijing. Accessed 2013-12-08.
Archaeological Team of Beijing (1962). 北京名勝古跡[Places of Historic Interest and Scenic Beauty in Beijing]. Beijingshi Wenwu Gongzuodui.
Aldrich, M. A. (2006). The Search for a Vanishing Beijing: A Guide to China's Capital Through the Ages. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN978-962-209-777-3.
Wang, Jun (2011). Beijing Record: A Physical and Political History of Planning Modern Beijing. World Scientific. ISBN978-9814295727.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
