Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s3.t25: Miaoying Temple
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s3.t25
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Miaoying Temple
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Miaoying Temple (Miaoying Vihar) is located on the Fuchengmen Inner Street of Xicheng district, Beijing, and is also called as Baita Temple (White Pagoda Temple) as a result of a white pagoda established in Yuan Dynasty.
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There was once a pagoda on the original location of Miaoying Temple built in Changshou second year of Liao (1096) which was damaged by war. Kublai Khan, on the Zhiyuan eighth year of Yuan Dynasty (1271) issued an order to rebuild a pagoda on the basis of old one. The work was presided over by Anika, a Nepalese architect, and went through the entire period of eight years and eventually in 1279, a white pagoda in Indian style was constructed. In the same year, Kublai Khan gave another order to build a temple centering on the white pagoda and covering an area of 160,000 sq m and named it Dasheng Shouwanan Temple. This temple was finished in the Zhiyuan 25th year of Yuan (1288) and became a royal temple and also a place where officials learnt rituals and translated Sanskrit and Mongolian Buddhist scriptures. A national Dharma assembly held in the Yuanzhen first year of Yuan (1295) presided over by the emperor attracted the attention of more than 70,000 persons. This was the period when the glory of White Pagoda Temple was at its peak. However, the temple was completely ruined by a fire caused by lightning in Yuanzheng 28th year (1368). As a result all of its palaces were destroyed except the White Pagoda. In the eighth year of the reign of Emperor Xuande, Ming Dynasty (1433), he ordered to rebuild the White Pagoda and in the Tianshun first year of Ming (1457), the temple was rebuilt and renamed as “Miaoying Temple” with its area reduced to 13,000 sq m. The temple was repaired several times during the Ming and Qing Dynasty and in the era of the People's Republic of China. In 1900, when the Eight-Power Allied Forces attacked and occupied Beijing, Miaoying Temple
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In 996 CE, the King Guger of Ngari built Tuoding Beijilakang (mtho ldings dpal gyi lha khang) in Ngari Prefecture modelling on Samye Monastery in Shannan Prefecture of Tibet which later was called Tholing Monastery and became the first monastery built for Tibetan Buddhism renaissance. Thanks for the vigorous support of the imperial court of King Guger, the monastery has become the centre of Buddhism in Ngari Prefecture.
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The layout of Tholing Monastery looks like a strip and it has such three parts as the hall, monks’ domicile and tower cluster. The main building is the Gaza Hall which is divided into inner and outer parts. The inner part comprises a central hall and four small halls. The square central hall is used to consecrate the body Mandala and the statue of Buddha. The central hall is surrounded by corridors that links with the four small halls. The outer part comprises 16 halls and the circumambulation is in the middle hall. There are four 13 m-high red-brick towers in the four corners of the outer part. The White Hall is located on the northeast of Rally Hall and the walls of White Hall are painted many beautiful paintings. In addition, there are also Arhat Hall, Maitreya Hall, Dharmapala Hall, Atisha Hall, Rinchen Zangpo Lotsawa Hall and so on and the figures and animal on the murals of these halls are true to life. Tower cluster is divided into two groups, each group has three long towers. Each long tower consists of dozens or hundreds of the same connected small towers which looks very spectacular. The style of tower cluster’s construction and mural are obviously influenced by the art of Nepal and India.
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was looted. During the later Qing Dynasty, monks rented the side halls and open spaces and from then on, the temple was gradually turned into a temple fair. Miaoying Temple was destroyed in 1966 again and rebuilt and opened to the public in 1998.
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The white pagoda at the Miaoying Temple can be divided into three parts: stylobate, body and spire. The stylobate is 9 m high, the pagoda measures 50.9 m in height while the base covers an area of 1422 sq m. The shape and structure can be traced back to the
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[Figure: The white pagoda at the Miaoying Temple, Beijing, China]
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stupa of ancient India and the design and process are both the wise results of Anika, a Nepalese architect. In 1978, in the course of consolidating the White Pagoda, some precious historical relics such as *Tripitaka*, the wooden statue of the goddess of mercy, Five-Buddha crown, *Prajna Paramita Sutra* transcribed by Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty, *Usnisa Vijaya Dharani Sutra* and gold-and bronze-made Buddhism statues stored at the top of the pagoda in the 18th year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong were discovered.
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(*Xue Keqiao*)