Tianning Temple (Ancient Architecture, Pagoda from Liao Dynasty)
Tianning Temple, located at No. 3A, Tianningsi Front Street, Xicheng District, Beijing, is a Chinese Buddhist temple. Today, it is a nunnery. Within the temple grounds stands the tallest dense-eave brick pagoda in Beijing, built during the Liao Dynasty.
Tianning Temple was formerly known as Tianwang Temple during the Liao Dynasty. From 1991 to 1992, the Tianning Temple Pagoda underwent major renovations. During the dismantling of the pagoda's spire, a Liao Dynasty inscription tablet regarding the pagoda's construction was discovered within the spire base (currently housed in the Beijing Stone Carving Art Museum). This discovery confirmed the exact date of construction and the original name of the pagoda. The main text of the inscription reads:
Record of the Construction of the Sarira Pagoda at Tianwang Temple in Yanjing, Liao Dynasty
On the 23rd day of the fifth month of the ninth year of Tianqing, by imperial decree, the construction of a brick pagoda at Tianwang Temple commenced, reaching a height of 230 feet, and was completed in a total of ten months.
This shows that the pagoda was built between the ninth and tenth years of Tianqing during the reign of Emperor Tianzuo of the Liao Dynasty (1119–1120), and its name was "Tianwang Temple Sarira Pagoda." (During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and up until the Republic of China, it was still called "Tianwang Sarira Pagoda" or "Tianwang Pagoda.") The inscription mentions that the imperial uncle who oversaw the construction was Yelü Chun, Emperor Tianzuo's uncle. Yelü Chun later proclaimed himself emperor in the second year of Baoda (1122), becoming Emperor Xuanzong of Northern Liao, but died only three months later. The pagoda's design is based on the scriptures of the Avatamsaka Sutra.
A long-held misconception claims that Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Tuoba Hong, first built the temple, then called "Guanglin Temple," and that it was renamed "Hongye Temple" in the second year of Renshou during the Sui Dynasty (602). The Tianning Temple Pagoda was supposedly first built at that time as a wooden pagoda, which has long since collapsed. Another legend says that before Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty ascended the throne, an Indian monk gave him a bag of sarira relics. After becoming emperor, Emperor Wen distributed the relics to thirty states in the Central Plains during the Renshou period, each to build a pagoda for safekeeping. Famen Temple and Hongye Temple were among them, and the sarira relics were enshrined in the pagoda in the second year of Renshou (602).
Cultural relic expert Wang Shiren, after careful research, pointed out that the Sui Dynasty's Hongye Temple and the Liao Dynasty's Tianwang Temple were not related but two different temples. The earliest documented instance of confusing the two temples is found in the Ming Dynasty's Wanli-era "Chang'an Kehua," which states in Volume 2, "Tianning Pagoda Courtyard": "The pagoda built at Hongye Temple in Youzhou during the Renshou period of the Sui Dynasty to house sarira relics is this one. During the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, it was renamed Tianwang Temple." Since then, this misconception has been repeatedly propagated, even appearing in two imperial steles inscribed by the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty (both steles are now located in front of the Jieyin Hall). The three earliest documents mentioning Hongye Temple were all written by the Tang Dynasty monk Daoxuan: "Shenzhou Ta Zhuan" records, "During the Renshou period of the Sui Dynasty, a pagoda was built at Hongye Temple in Youzhou to house sarira relics"; "Xu Gaoseng Zhuan · Shi Baoyan Zhuan" records, "During the Renshou period, an imperial edict ordered the delivery of sarira relics to Hongye Temple in this state, which was originally built by Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty and formerly known as Guanglin Temple. Situated against a peak and beside a stream, with a high and open aspect, the mountain had been constantly shaking since the end of the Kaihuang period of the Sui Dynasty, and it did not cease until the pagoda was completed"; "Guang Hongming Ji" records, "In the second year of Renshou, sarira relics were distributed to fifty-one states, and pagodas were built. The Youzhou memorial states: On the twenty-sixth day of the third month, sarira relics were enshrined at Hongye Temple." Yelü Chucai's "Zhanran Jushi Ji" from the Yuan Dynasty records, "In the twenty-first year of Dading of the Jin Dynasty, Hongye Temple was renamed Da Wan'an Chan Temple." From the temple's geographical location and historical evolution, it is clear that the Sui Dynasty's Hongye Temple and the Liao Dynasty's Tianwang Temple are unrelated. Moreover, Liao Dynasty woodblock printed scriptures discovered in 1974 within a statue at Fogong Temple Pagoda in Ying County, Shanxi Province, contain inscriptions such as "(Yantai) Hongye Temple Sakyamuni Sarira Pagoda Master Shaman Zhiyun's inscription" and "Yanjing Youjie Tianwang Temple Shaman Zhiyan's proofreading inscription," indicating that Hongye Temple and Tianwang Temple coexisted in Youzhou until the late Liao Dynasty.
Wang Shiren deduced that Tianwang Temple in Youzhou was likely built between the fifth year of Tianbao (746) and the fourteenth year of Tianbao (755) during the Tang Dynasty. Xiong Mengxiang's "Xijin Zhi" from the late Yuan Dynasty records, "Tianwang Temple is located on Huangtupo, with a pagoda." The "Shuntianfu Zhi," Volume 7, "Temples," in the "Yongle Dadian" records: "Tianwang Temple, located within the old city's Yanqing Ward, was first built during the Tang Dynasty. Its halls and steles were all destroyed by fire. In the seventh year of Zhiyuan during the Yuan Dynasty, a three-bay gate was built, but the Buddhist temple was not fully completed." The Ming Dynasty's "Ao Zhi" records: "The renaming of Tianwang Temple to Tianning Temple occurred in the tenth year of Xuande." Combining the above documents and other records, Tianwang Temple, originally built during the Tang Dynasty, only had its three-bay gate (i.e., the mountain gate) rebuilt in the seventh year of Zhiyuan during the Yuan Dynasty (1270). In the early Ming Dynasty, the Prince of Yan, Zhu Di, rebuilt Tianwang Temple. In the tenth year of Xuande (1435), it was renamed Tianning Temple. In the year of Yichou during the Zhengtong period (1445), it was renamed Guangshan Jietan, but later reverted to Tianning Temple. The temple underwent renovations in the Yichou year of Zhengtong (1445) and the Jiasheng year (1524) during the Ming Dynasty, and in the seventeenth year of Shunzhi (1660), the twenty-first year of Qianlong (1756), and the forty-seventh year of Qianlong (1782) during the Qing Dynasty.
In the early Ming Dynasty, the Prince of Yan, Zhu Di, ordered the reconstruction of the temple, replacing the brick carvings on the base of the sarira pagoda according to the Liao Dynasty's original design and expanding the temple's scale. Yao Guangxiao, the high monk who assisted Zhu Di in becoming emperor, declined titles and honors, retiring to Shuangta Qingshou Temple in Beijing and later moving to this temple. In the early Qing Dynasty, the top of the Tianning Temple Pagoda collapsed.
Li Zongwan's "Jingcheng Guji Kao," written in the tenth year of Qianlong (1745), records that Tianning Temple "only has one ancient hall remaining, with a statue of Amitabha Buddha inside." This ancient hall is the Jieyin Buddha Hall in front of the pagoda. "Rixia Jiuwen Kao" records that during the Qing Dynasty, Tianning Temple had a mountain gate, Jieyin Buddha Hall, and side halls in front of the pagoda, and two main halls behind the pagoda: the first being the Dabei Hall and the second being the Guangshan Jietan. To the northwest of Tianning Temple was a separate courtyard called "Tianshifu." Since the late Qing Dynasty, most of Tianning Temple's buildings have been destroyed. From 1937 to 1938, the temple underwent renovations, during which the three Dabei Halls behind the pagoda were demolished, and the old materials were used to build the mountain gate.
The Tianning Temple Pagoda is a dense-eave brick pagoda with an octagonal base. It stands 57.8m tall, with its base elevated 1m above ground level. The pagoda is majestic and elegant, with exquisite carvings, demonstrating a high level of architectural artistry and representing a masterpiece among Liao Dynasty pagodas. Architect Liang Sicheng praised the architectural design of the Tianning Temple Pagoda, calling it "rich in musical rhythm, a masterpiece of ancient Chinese architectural design." In January 1988, the Tianning Temple Pagoda was designated as a National Key Cultural Relic Protection Unit.