Tianning Temple (Beijing)

Tianning Temple
File:Tianning Temple1.JPG A plaque at the front gate of the Tianning Temple
Information
Location
Address	Beijing
Country	China

The Tianning Temple (simplified Chinese: 天宁寺; traditional Chinese: 天寧寺; pinyin: TiānníngSì) is located in Xicheng District of Beijing, China. The temple contains the 12th-century Pagoda of Tianning Temple. The pagoda is a Liao Dynasty pagoda built from around 1100 to 1119 or 1120 CE, shortly before the Liao Dynasty was conquered by Song and Jin.

Architecture

Liao dynasty brick and stone pagoda at Tianning Temple

This thirteen story, 57.8 m (189 ft) tall, octagonal-based Chinese pagoda is made of brick and stone, yet imitates the design of wooden-constructed pagodas from the era by featuring ornamental dougong (bracket supports). It rests on a large square platform, with the bottom portion of the pagoda taking on the shape of a sumeru pedestal. The pagoda features a veranda with banisters, yet is entirely solid with no hollow inside or staircase as some pagodas feature. Other ornamental designs include arched doorways and heavenly Buddhist guardians. Its design inspired that of later pagodas, such as the similar Ming Dynasty era Pagoda of Cishou Temple of Beijing built in 1576.

The structure and ornamentation have remained the same since the pagoda was built, but a major earthquake in 1976 caused the original pearl-shaped steeple of the pagoda to break off and fall. It has since been restored. The temple grounds surrounding the pagoda have also been renovated and rebuilt several times over the course of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The architectural historian Liang Sicheng (1901–1972)—known for discovering and documenting the oldest existent wooden structures still standing in China—lauded the Pagoda of Tianning Temple as a pristine architectural design of antiquity.

File:Tianning Pagoda (south panel).jpg

Relief sculpture on the south face of the pagoda

File:People's Republic of China Beijing Tianningsi Tianing Temple David McBride Photography-0045 05.jpg

People's Republic of China Beijing Tianningsi Tianing Temple Panoramic view of the pagoda and surroundings.

See also

• Chinese architecture
• Architecture of the Song Dynasty
• Tianning Temple (Changzhou)
• History of Beijing

External links

• (English) China Through a Lens about the temple