Page:Peking the Beautiful.pdf/50

 Temple of the Five Towers

ISITORS, motoring to and from the capital along the far-famed avenue of to weeping willows, pause in their journey along this charming highway to view at close range a strange, pagodalike structure, half hidden behind groves of ancient cypress and pine. Standing a little more than a li S e from the road, almost midway between the sparkling waters of the SC K'un Ming Lake and the gloomy battlements of old Hsi Chih Men, this ruined remnant of past splendor lifts its lonely towers above the tombs and princely sepulchers that dot the western suburb of the capital. The Du T'a $să, or "Five-Pagoda Temple" as this odd monument is called, shows strong traces of Indian influence; in fact, it is supposed to be an exact copy of the ancient Indian Buddhist temple of Buddhagaya Juliet Bredon, in her monumental work Peking gives a fascinating glimpse into the picturesque history of this six-hundred-year-old shrine, which once bore the impressive title of "Great Perfect latelligence Temple." Her story is as follows: "In the early part of Yung Le's reign, during which time a new impetus was given to the intercourse between China and India, a Hindu 'sramana' of high degree came to the Chinese capital and was received in audience by the emperor, to whom he presented golden images of the five Buddhas and a model in stone of the diamond throne, the 'vajrasana' of the Hindus, such being the name of the memorial temple erected on the spot where Sakyamuni attained his Buddhahood. In return the emperor, himself the son of a Buddhist monk, appointed him state hierarch, and fitted up for his residence the 'True Bodhi' temple to the west of Peking (founded during the preceding Mongol dynasty), promising at the same time to erect there a reproduction in stone of the model temple he had brought with him, as a shrine for the sacred images. The new temple was not, however, finished and dedicated until the reign of Cheng Hua, according to the marble slab set up near it, and inscribed by the emperor for the occasion. This specifically states that in dimensions as well as in every detail the Wu T'a Ssŭ is an exact reproduction of the celebrated diamond throne of central India. Only the five pagodas from which the temple takes its name remain, standing on a massive square foundation whose sides are decorated with rows of Buddhas. Worshipers and objects of worship-all have vanished. The priests are gone and the site is utterly abandoned save for the occasional visit of a hurried tourist." The imposing terrace, which forms the base of the tower, is constructed entirely of pink marble and stands about thirty feet high. The group of five marble pagodas that surmount it are approximately twenty feet in height, and are engraved with Hindu characters and adorned with seated figures of noted Buddhist disciples. For a description of other Peking monuments bearing traces of Indian influence and design, see paqes 22, 48, and 98