Pagoda of Cishou Temple

About

The Pagoda of Cishou Temple, originally called the Yong'an Wanshou Pagoda, stands within the precincts of the Buddhist Cishou Temple at Balizhuang in the Haidian District of Beijing. Although the Temple complex around it has long since vanished, the pagoda itself has weathered the centuries largely intact and remains one of the more striking Ming-era pagodas of the Chinese capital.

The octagonal pagoda rises to roughly fifty metres with thirteen tiers of carved eaves and a small steeple at the summit. It was raised in 1576 during the Wanli era of the Ming dynasty, commissioned by the Empress Dowager Li. Its form was modelled upon the well-known pagoda of Tianning Temple outside the Guang'anmen gate, and the rhythm of its eaves recalls the older traditions of Liao and Jin dynasty pagoda design.

The brick base takes the shape of a Sumeru pedestal and is finely worked with relief carvings of the Buddha, lotus petals, and ornamental patterns. Higher up, carvings of Chinese musical instruments including the guqin enliven the surfaces, while stylised dougong brackets, typically the structural supports of timber architecture, appear between the eaves rendered in stone and brick. Weathering has softened the relief in places, but the carvings remain among the most elaborate surviving on any pagoda of the period.

History

Empress Dowager Li commissioned the pagoda in 1576, during the Wanli era of the Ming dynasty, modelling it on the well-known pagoda of Tianning Temple outside Beijing's Guang'anmen gate. The Temple that once surrounded it, Cishou Temple, has since been destroyed, leaving the pagoda as the site's sole survivor. In 1990 the Haidian district government built Linglong Park around the tower and opened it to the public free of charge, and the pagoda still stands at the park's centre today.

Significance

The octagonal brick and stone tower rises through thirteen tightly stacked tiers of eaves to roughly fifty metres, its rhythm recalling older Liao and Jin dynasty pagoda design. Its Sumeru-shaped base carries relief carvings of the Buddha, lotus petals, and Chinese musical instruments including the guqin, while stone dougong brackets between the eaves imitate the joinery of timber Temple architecture.

Architecture

Ming dynasty octagonal stone-and-brick densely-eaved (miyan) pagoda modelled on the Tianning Temple pagoda, with Liao and Jin dynasty-influenced eave rhythm