After Qin Shihuang unified China, he sent alchemist Xu Fu to the East China Sea to look for the elixir of life, but found nothing.
In the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also dreamed of immortality, but the search was still fruitless, so he ordered to dig a big pool in the north of Chang 'an, named Taiye Pool, and three rockeries were piled up in the pool, named after Penglai, Yingzhou and abbot respectively.
Since then, emperors of all dynasties have liked to build royal palaces in the form of "a pool with three mountains". It seems that only in this way can I live forever like a fairy.
Yongding River originates from Sanggan River in Shanxi, Yanghe River in Inner Mongolia Plateau in Hebei, flows through Beijing and Tianjin, then enters Haihe River, and finally pours into Bohai Sea.
After the Yongding River moved south, it left a Yuan Ye and a pond with an island named Yaoyu in the water. The terrain is very similar to the pattern of "one pool and three mountains", so it has become a treasure trove of geomantic omen for the royal family in past dynasties.
In 938 AD, after Lu Ye Deguang, Emperor Taizong of Liao Dynasty, established Yanjing as its capital, Yao Yu Palace was established in Bailiantan, a suburb northeast of the city. Due to the accumulation of soil in the lake, islands in the water are gradually formed, which are called "round rocks".
According to Liao history:
There are pavilions on the top of the west city, Yanjiao Tower, Fangshi and Guan Jing in the northeast corner, and there are countless books.
The Tu Ping Classic of Wu Hongbei records that Qionghua Island was Yaoyu in Liao Dynasty, which can prove the existence of Yao Yu Palace.
After the state of Jin destroyed the state of Liao, Yanjing was changed to "Zhongdu". 1 150 years, that is, in the second year of Tiande, Wan Yanliang of King Jin Hailing expanded the "Yaoyu Palace" and added the "Daxiong Hall".
From 1 163 to 1 179, the Qionghua Island was built in imitation of Genyue Garden in Bianliang, Northern Song Dynasty, and a large number of Taihu rocks were brought from Genyue Imperial Garden to build rockery caves. In the northeast suburb of Zhongdu, Daning Divorce Palace was built with Yaoyu as the center.
Mud dug in the lake is also used to expand Qionghua Island and dome. At the same time, Guanghan Temple was built on Qionghua Island, and a temple was also built on the dome, which is far away from Guanghan Temple. Since then, a region centered on Yaoyu has gradually formed the pattern of a palace.
At that time, the soil dug into the "Golden Sea" was expanded into islands and hills around the sea. The island is called Qionghua Island and the water is called Xihuatan, and buildings such as Guanghan Hall have been rebuilt.
1260, Kublai Khan, the grandson of a generation of tianjiao Genghis Khan, ascended the throne in Kaiping, becoming the fifth "Great Khan" of the Mongolian khanate. In order to capture the Southern Song Dynasty and control the northern Mongolian ministries, Kublai Khan accepted the advice of his cronies Batulu and Liu, and decided to build the capital in the original place of Jinzhongdu.
Because Jinzhongdu was completely destroyed by Mongolian army in 12 15, Kublai Khan adopted the plan of Taibao Liu Zhongbing and chose Daning Palace in the northeast suburb of Jinzhongdu as the center to establish a new capital. Before the new capital was built, Kublai Khan often lived in Daning Palace.
When the Yuan Dynasty was built, a stone letter was excavated under the Sakyamuni stupa at the site of Ai 'an Temple. There is a small iron tower in the stone letter, which contains a copper bottle with 20 pieces of Sakyamuni Buddha relics.
What is even more peculiar is that there is a copper coin at the bottom of the bottle, on which the words "Zhiyuan Bao Tong" are cast. Kublai Khan was very happy when he heard about it, because his title was Zhiyuan, and the copper coins buried in Taki more than 0/00 years ago actually had the title of Zhiyuan. Isn't it that God is suggesting that this "Zhiyuan Emperor" is really the only thrill?
In addition, Kublai Khan formulated the national policy of "ruling the country with Confucianism and governing the mind with Buddhism", and the appearance of Buddhist relics is more conducive to the implementation of the national policy of "governing the mind with Buddhism".
In addition, Kublai Khan himself is a Buddhist. He respected Basiba, a monk of Tibetan Buddhism, as the "emperor" and accepted the "King Kong initiation" ceremony held by Basiba. He hopes to use the magic of Buddhism to bless the mountains and rivers, and of course he is worshipping Buddhism to strengthen Tibet's submission to the imperial court.
127 1 year, Kublai Khan ordered the construction of a huge stupa in order to worship the relics and bless Dayuan Mountain forever. The inscription on the Sharifutsu Tower of Sakyamuni built by imperial edict in the early Yuan Dynasty clearly pointed out:
Considering that the new capital has been built, it should be built in Yongnian, based on happiness, unlike building towers, protecting dragons and investing in the country for a long time.
Because Kublai Khan took Tibetan Buddhism as the state religion, he chose Anika, a Nepalese craftsman who was proficient in Tibetan Buddhist pagodas and was recommended by Emperor Basiba, to be responsible for the design and supervision of the White Pagoda of Ai 'an Temple.
"Tower" is a transliteration of the Sanskrit word "pagoda" in ancient India. Buddha relic is a small particle condensed after the cremation of Sakyamuni's body. It is a popular practice for believers in ancient India to build towers to worship Buddhist relics. The style of Tibetan stupa comes from ancient India.
Anika designed and built the White Pagoda of Tibetan Buddhism Pagoda, whose main body looks like an inverted alms bowl, so it is also called the "Pot Pagoda". In the lower part of the tower, there is a circle of lotus seats composed of 24 huge petals, which is connected with the tower seat. At the top of the tower, there is a conical "long neck" called the phase wheel, which is also called "thirteen days" because it has 13 rings.
"Thirteen Days" is the grade symbol of the stupa, which shows that it is a stupa dedicated to Buddhist relics, not an ordinary stupa. At the top of the White Pagoda is a gilded fire orb tower with bronze "sun", "moon" and "flame". There is a bronze canopy under the top of the tower, and a 14 bronze bell is hung on the side to show respect for the Buddha.
The crown diameter is 9.7 meters. There are 36 copper hollow patterns hanging around the canopy, and a copper wind chime is hung under each pattern.
Above the canopy is a copper hollow gold-plated dome about 5 meters high and weighing about 4 tons. Shaped like a small tower, it is the highest point of the whole tower. The whole stupa is 50.9 meters high, with masonry structure and white body. There are also many Buddha statues carved on the tower.
When the style of Tibetan stupa is fixed, its shape has a specific meaning. The tower foundation is square, symbolizing "the earth", the tower body is round, symbolizing "water", the tower gate under the tower is triangular, symbolizing "fire", and the canopy umbrella symbolizes "wind". These four are the basic elements that Buddhism believes constitute the world.
Tibetan stupa, also known as Lama Pagoda, is silvery white, indicating purity, purity and sincerity.
According to the rituals of Tibetan Buddhism, after the tower is completed, a large number of Buddhist artifacts and treasures will be filled in the tower body and bottom, and the tower will produce "spirituality" when the project is completed.
1264, Kublai Khan of Yuan Shizu decided to choose a new site in the northeast suburb of the old capital to build a metropolis. From 1264 to 127 1, Kublai Khan expanded Qionghua Island three times and rebuilt Guanghan Hall.
The rebuilt Guanghan Temple is 120 feet wide from east to west, 62 feet deep, 50 feet high and 7 halls wide, which is the residence of the imperial court. There is a "mundane mountain and jade sea" in the temple, and a "jade hall" is built to place the "Five Yue Zhen Yu couch".
Dushan jade Sea is a kind of jade in Yuan Dynasty, also known as jade pot and jade bowl. It is oval in shape, with a height of 0.7m, a caliber of1.3m and1.8m, and weighs about 3,500kg.
The jade material of dushan jade Sea is blue-gray with black spots, which is produced in Nanyang. The outer wall of the Jade Sea is carved with hidden stormy waves, dragons, horses, apes, deer, rhinoceroses, snails and other different animals and marine animals. 1265, after its completion, was placed in Guanghan Hall, Qionghua Island, the capital of Yuan Dynasty, at the order of Kublai Khan, Yuan Shizu.
Later, Yu Hai was once moved to Zhenwu Temple outside Xihuamen of the Forbidden City. 1745, Emperor Qianlong ordered the Jade Sea, a sacred mountain, to be moved to the later built Chengguang Temple and protected by stone stands and pavilions.
At the same time, Kublai Khan also built a jade rockery, with a tinkling iron bar hanging from the top of the hall, and two other small stalagmites in the hall, each with a faucet, spewing out the lake water carried by a water truck from the back of the mountain. It can be seen that Guanghan Temple in Yuan Dynasty is magnificent, exquisite and luxurious.
127 1 year, Qionghua Island was renamed "Wanshou Mountain" and Yaoyu Island was renamed "Beihai". Later, with Wanshou Mountain as the center, palaces were built on the east and west sides of the lake, and Beihai was built into a magnificent royal garden.
Beihai park memorial archway