The White Pagoda, which stands inside the Fucheng Gate in Beijing, is the only surviving Yuan Dynasty building in Beijing. For more than 700 years, the original name of the temple in front of the pagoda was little known, and it was customarily called the White Pagoda Temple.
The history of the White Pagoda Temple can be traced back to the Yong'an Temple built during the Liao Shouchang period. The monastery was destroyed in the war at the end of the Jin Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, and only one Shakya Stupa survived. In order to preserve the relics and pray for the blessing of the newly completed capital, Kublai Khan decided to build a new pagoda on the site under the auspices of the Nepalese craftsman Anigo. After its completion, this white pagoda became the tallest building in the city at that time, and the magnificent scene of the "Golden City Jade Pagoda" formed by the capital city.
The Seven Buddhas Treasure Hall is the largest temple in the White Pagoda Temple and is dedicated to the seven Buddhas of the past. Photographed in 1928
In 1937, the Cultural Relics Sorting Committee of the Old Capital raised funds to repair the White Tower. In May 1938, the Tibetan Anchin Living Buddha was specially invited to hold a three-day Kaiguang Festival. During this period, a color arch building was erected in front of the mountain gate of the White Pagoda Temple.
In the year of the defeat of the Yuan Shun Emperor and the northern part of the desert, the Great Saint Shou Wan'an Temple was destroyed by lightning fire, and only the White Pagoda survived. The Ming Dynasty rebuilt the temple in front of the pagoda and renamed it Miaoying Temple, which is less than one-eighth the size of the Yuan Dynasty. During the Qing Dynasty, Miaoying Temple became a lama temple.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, many temples began to hold temple fairs to subsidize their livelihoods by attracting merchants and collecting rents, and the White Pagoda Temple was no exception, opening on every Friday or Saturday, with a total of six days a month. Later, together with Huguo Temple, Longfu Temple, Land Temple and Flower Market Temple Fair, it was called the "Five Great Temple Fairs" in Beijing during the Republic of China.
According to the "Investigation of the Beiping Temple Fair and the History of the Temple Fair" (printed by the Beiping Civil State College in May 1937), "The earliest of the Beiping Temple Fair, as we know today, should be the 'Shangwei' spring tour of the Liao. Among the "five major temple fairs", only the White Pagoda Temple was built in the Liao Dynasty. From this quotation, can it be inferred that the White Pagoda Temple arose in the Liao Dynasty? This still needs to be examined by experts and scholars.
The plaque of the temple is a combination of dental and ophthalmology.
The stalls selling household items at the temple fair, and the wooden bowls that cannot be broken are the special products of the White Pagoda Temple Club.
In fact, to be precise, the White Pagoda Temple will be regarded as a temple market. Because, when it was opened, there were no ritual activities in the temple, and tourists did not go to the incense Buddha, but just pure shopping and play, entertainment. The "Beiping Temple Fair Survey" records that the area of the White Pagoda Temple is 1600 abbots, the assembly area inside the temple is 240 abbots, and the assembly area outside the temple is 700 abbots, a total of 940 abbots, ranking third in the "Five Great Temple Fairs", with a total of 735 gatherings and business stalls, second only to Longfu Temple.
"World Journal" in 1926 once described the scene of the White Pagoda Temple during the Republic of China: "People who have lived in Beijing for a long time have not known about the White Pagoda Temple, the White Pagoda Temple is on Pingzemen (that is, Fuchengmen) Street, but to find the name of the White Pagoda Temple, it is impossible to find, because the Original Name of the White Pagoda Temple was Miaoying Temple, and there was a huge White Pagoda in the backyard, named after the tower, commonly known as the White Pagoda Temple." The interior of the White Pagoda Temple can be divided into three parts: One is the juggling field, of which the Wanfutang bungee play and Hou Wude's Le Ting drum have the most ability to shout. The second is the goods pusher, selling a complete range of goods, everything, the price can be slightly cheaper than the store, if you do not palm the eyes will be deceived. The third is the lama tea house, there are four or five tea houses, each person has six water money, and the tea leaves are outside, but they are limited to selling female guests to sit. Because all the lamas opened it, they called lama tea. ”
The acrobatics of the art of the bold stacked arhats attracted many people to watch.
The temple fairs under the White Pagoda Temple are bustling with excitement, and people line up to watch Layang films.
The courtyard, which brings together a variety of cultural and entertainment performances, is the liveliest place in the temple fair. Those who sang big drums, pulled foreign pieces, talked about cross-talk, and played with big knives, each family was temporarily surrounded with a curtain cloth, and each side occupied one side. Fu Shiting's Big Drum and the Funny Big Drum of "Little Bee" are very famous. Those who sang small plays, surrounded by cloth, performed inside, and the money collected at the entrance shouted: "Five cents to see two plays, "Three Niang Godson" and "Empty City Plan". "Here, for a few cents, ordinary people can make a happy peace."
The open space north of the pagoda courtyard is full of stalls for word measurement, face-to-face and fortune-telling, and the stall owners attract guests through strange costumes. Among them, one of them is the highest in the "Talking about The Bull Lotte": rough talk about one yuan, detailed explanation of two yuan. Some people think that "cheap is not good, good goods are not cheap", would rather pay more money and listen to his "God blowing" a pass, and at the end he nodded his head and said: Spirit.
In some other cross-courtyard empty fields, there are also tricks, hard bows, monkeys and birds, renting books for villains, some trades are now extinct, but they were children's favorites at that time.
In the 1950s, the White Pagoda Temple After Liberation was still widely popular with the masses.
From 1958 onwards, the White Pagoda Temple would gradually decline. In 1997, the Beijing Municipal Government put forward the slogan of "open the mountain gate and show off the white pagoda", demolished the shopping mall, and rebuilt the mountain gate and the temple building. Today, the White Pagoda stands majestically in the temple, but no more temple fairs are held.
In recent years, with the exploration and implementation of the "White Pagoda Temple Regeneration Plan", the hutongs under the White Pagoda are undergoing subtle updates through the innovation and design of designers. The life of the city under the White Tower is also in the increasingly thick style of the ancient capital, and it is bustling with fire.
Original title: City Life Under the White Tower
Source: Beijing Daily Wentu/Luo Dongsheng
Process Editor: L004