White Pagoda Temple is a large Buddhist pagoda famous all over the world. It is the the oldest and the largest Tibetan tower in China at present. The temple is located near Beijing Fuchengmen Street. It is one of the most important buildings left as a Yuan dynasty legacy. It is associated with the monographic museum of ancient site of social science. The museum opened officially in 1980.
It is said that Emperor Qianlong ordered the soldiers to store Buddhist treasures in the tower. It is a one-of-a-kind site, encountered only in China. The White Pagoda was built in 1217. It was designed by a Nepalese artist called Anical. When the project was finished, a great temple named “Da Shengshou Wan’An Temple” was built around the pagoda. According to Kublai Khan, it was one of the most important building projects in Yuan dynasty. After rebuilding, its name changed to “Miao Ying temple”.
The White pagoda is 51 meters high. It is erected on a three-storey diamond block 810 sq meters large, in a unique Tibetan style. The body of the pagoda resembles a covered alms bowl. 13 rings around the body reflect deep Buddhist symbolism. There is also a small 2-meter Lamaist pagoda on the sky disk (10m in diameter).
White Pagoda Temple is divided into five parts. The Hall Of Six Supernatural Powers preserves the original structure of family hall for worshipping the Buddha. It contains the wooden carving of shakyamuni from Qing dynasty, as well as statues of Amitabha and Medicine Buddha. Thepicture of Dharmapalas, eight dharma protector, is also displayed on the wall. In the center of the hall, there is an exhibition of pagoda’s model and the treasures of the temple. Nearly 10 thousand figures of Buddha, each of different size, age and design form The Tibetan Buddha Art Palace.
Mythical Stories of White Pagoda Temple:
Go to the temple fair
In the eighth year of Xuande in Ming Dynasty (1433 AD), emperor Mingxuanzong (the emperor’s official name) issued the edict to renovate the white pagoda. In the first year of Tianshun (1457 AD), the whole temple was also under reconstruction and was named “Miaoying Temple” (in fact, “White Pagoda Temple” is just a colloquial name) with an area of merely 13 thousand square meters, covering only a strip in the middle of the temple built in Yuan Dynasty (1206-1368 AD). During the time of Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD), Qing Dynasty (1636-1911 AD) and the Republic of China (1911-1949 AD), the temple experienced several further renovations. In 1900 AD, The Eight Power Allied Force invaded Beijing. They plundered the Miaoying Temple, stealing many ritual instruments and the offering objects. In the second half of the Qing Dynasty rule, the monks rented the side halls and the vacant areas of the Temple to merchants. It later became one of the most famous temple fairs in Beijing, bustling with noise and excitement on holidays. Thus, a folk custom came into being – “the eighth day of the eighth lunar month, time to go to the temple fair of the White Pagoda.”
Another custom associated with the pagoda exists. Every year, on the 25th day of the tenth lunar month (the date of completion of the construction of the White Pagoda), lamas march around the White Pagoda and chant sutras accompanied by the music. The event always gathers big crowds, creating a very lively scene. Even today, there are still many Buddhist devotees circling the pagoda and praying for well-being on that day.
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