Beihai Park was built more than 1,000 years ago during the Liao Dynasty (916-1125). After that it was continually rebuilt and renovated in the succeeding four dynasties, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. Eventually it became an imperial garden for the emperors in the past.
Early in the Liao dynasty (916-1125), Beijing was made as the secondary capital for the Liao rulers. On the northeastern outskirts of the city there was a vast lake, and in the middle of the lake, there was a small island called Yao Yu. In 938, ther built a temporary imperial residence, which was called Yao Yu Palace, so the LIao Emperor liked to come here to relax.
In 1115, the Jin Emperor took over Beijing and drove the Liao out, and then started the Jin Dynasty(1115-1234). Later in 1179, the Jin rulers expanded the size of the lake by digging a lake, piling the earth dug out from the lake on the island, thus they formed and enlarged the island in the middle of the lake. Then they changed the name of Yaoyu to Qionghuadao(Jade Flowery Island) and they also built some palace hills, decorated the island with artificial hills. After that the Jin emperors spent four to five months here every year and also administered the state affairs here, then here served as a secondary palace on the island for the Jin emperors, named as Daninggong.
In 1264, after Kublai Khan captured Beijing he burned down and destroyed almost everything in the Jin captital city except the area of Beihai. So he had to stay in the Hall of Vast Cold (Guanghandian) on the Jade Flowery Islet in Beihai when he came to Beijing. Later he took Jade Flowery Islet as the center of his capital, named Dadu and built his imperial palace on the Islet. And then he changed the name of Islet–Qionghuadao to Long Life Hill.
During the Ming Dynasty, the emperor built more pavilions and halls, and finally here became an imperial garden for the Ming emperors and then here was named Western Garden.
Large-scale construction and restoration were carried out under the Qing Dynasty. In 1651, during the Qing Emperor Shunzhi’s reign, a Tibetan style white dagoba was erected on the ruins of the Guanghandian, which had collapsed in 1579, and then the Island was named White Dagoba Hill. During Emperor Qianlong’s reign (1736-1795), the imperial gardens reached its culmination. Further construction on Beihai took place, and many pavilions, halls and terraces were built that made the Imperial Garden even more harmonious in design. Today Beihai Park looks much as it was during Emperor Qianlong’s reign.
The symbol of Beihai Park is the White Dagoba. This White Dagoba is a Tibetan style Lamaist dagoba. It is situated on the top of the Qionghua Islet and was built in 1651 on the site of the Yuan Dynasty’s Palace- Guanghandian.
The White Dagoba looks like an upturned bowl. It is 35.9 meters high and the longest part on the body is 14 meters in diameter. It was built on a square base, which was made of huge stone slabs. Under the dagoba there is a Tibetan Well in which the Buddhist shrine, the Buddhist altar, the Lamaist scriptures, the Buddhist monk’s mantles and the Buddhist instruments were stored.
The body of the dagoba was made of brick, stone and wood and there are 306 air vents on the body of the dagoba. On the front side of the Dagoba there is a gate in the middle, the Sutras in the Tibetan language are carved inside the gate. On the top of the dagoba there is a copper canopy, sixteen copper bells hang from it and on the copper canopy a gilded ball gives the appearance of a flame on the top of the Dagoba.
The other famous site in Beihai Park is the Nine-Dragon Screen. The Nine-Dragon Screen served as a screen wall in front of a temple behind, but the temple was damaged in a fire, so only the screen was damaged in a fire, so only the screen has remained. It was built in 1756 of the Qing Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Qianlong It was made of glazed bricks with 7 colors. It is 6.5 meters high, 27 meters long and 1.2 meters thick. There are nine dragons in different postures, playing with a pearl in the waves of clouds on either side of the screen. Apart from that there are totally 653 big and small dragons built on the screen, including the dragons built on the roof, the eave, the upside and downside of the screen.
Totally there are three Nine-Dragon Screen in China. The largest on is in the city of Datong, Shanxi Province, one is in the Forbidden City and this one is here. The Nine-Dragon Screen in Beihai Park is the best one among the three because it has nine dragons built on double sides; the other two only have nine dragons on the front side.
---------------------------------------------------------------Author: AmoyTrip.com--Beihai Park
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