Stroll through Beihai Park and appreciate the beauty of archways

Going for a walk in Beihai Park in the warm winter sun, the hustle and bustle of summer is less and the tranquility of winter is more. Stop and go to feel the beautiful scenery in front of you with your heart. The archways in Beihai are so eye-catching, you can't help but stop and admire them.

Archway, also called archway, is a unique building born of Chinese culture, and it is also a carrier of history and traditional culture inheritance. In terms of quantity, the place with the highest concentration of archways in the country is in Beijing, and in Beijing, the place with the highest concentration of archways is Beihai Park. The archway in Beihai Park brings together the essence of traditional architecture and integrates various forms, adding to the scenery of Beihai Park, enhancing the garden atmosphere and creating a unique garden artistic conception.

The predecessor of Beihai Park was the Royal Palace Garden. There are ten wooden archways of various types on Qionghua Island, while five glazed archways stand on the north shore of Beihai. In addition, there is a stone archway at the north end of the Haopujian Stone Bridge on the east bank. These sixteen archways are all archways of the Royal Palace. (Schematic diagram of the names of each part of the archway. See the last page of this article)

There is a strict level difference between the royal palace archway and the folk archway. The biggest feature is that the bucket mouth and column diameter have a fixed "modulus", and each building component is made according to a fixed size. "Jicui" and "Duiyun" archways are located at the north and south ends of Yong'an Bridge in Beihai Park. They were built in the Yuan Dynasty and have a history of more than 700 years. They are the most prominent representative works among the sixteen archways in Beihai Park. It is also one of the famous archways in Beijing. It was repaired in the eighth year of Qianlong in Qing Dynasty (1743). After the founding of New China, it underwent two overhauls and two paintings.

The "Jicui" and "Duiyun" archways belong to the bridge archway. Both archways have four columns, three rooms and three floors. The four wooden pillars all have blue and white stone clamping stones. The main building is a double arch with three angs and eleven arches, and the second building is a vertical arch with nine arches. A pair of stone lions facing outside the bridge are squatting outside the two archways. The stone lions outside the north archway of the bridge are relatively close to the gate of Yong'an Temple, forming an unconventional pattern like the stone lions facing inward in front of the gate of the temple. otherwise. The two bridge archways of "Duiyun" and "Jicui" are like poems that start and end, leading tourists from the main entrance to Qionghua Island naturally.

The biggest feature of the royal palace archway is that there are exquisite colorful paintings of clouds and dragons, but the colored paintings must be drawn according to grades. The emperor claimed to be the "True Dragon Son of Heaven", so cloud and dragon patterns were carved and painted everywhere on the archway. Generally, the golden plaque on the archway is wrapped with clouds and dragons, the large and small flower boards and architraves are made of clouds and dragons playing with pearls, and the large and large gold color paintings on the scrolls or the golden dragon and seal color paintings are decorated with gold foil. The plaques "Jicui" and "Duiyun" on the main building of the archway are both inscribed by Emperor Qianlong, and the words on the front and back of each archway plaque are consistent. The imperial inscribed plaque is surrounded by four golden sitting dragons, eight golden cloud dragons and Baoxiang flowers, showing the grandeur and majesty of imperial power.

The middle of the archway is called "main building", and the two sides are called "secondary buildings". Whether it is a large flower board or a small flower board, it is a unique component of the wooden archway, and it is also the artistic essence of the archway, which can best highlight the decoration of the archway. Whether it is a wooden archway or a glazed archway, its flower boards are very exquisite works of art. The color paintings on the left and right sides of the two archways are the same, and eight golden cloud dragons surround the small flower board of Baoxiang flowers.

The Longmen sparrow commonly used in the archway of the royal palace is a kind of sparrow that plays a decorative role. Although sparrows are inconspicuous, they have dual functions of load bearing and decoration. The characteristic of Longmen Queti is that many parts are added to the main body of Queti, such as Yundun, Zijia, Sanfuyun and so on. Sanfuyun is a component installed on both sides of Longmen Queti in the depth direction, which enriches the style changes of Queti in three-dimensional space. The main building and the second floor of the wooden archway are gorgeous and eye-catching with curly grass patterns of Longmen sparrow, Sanfu cloud and Ganoderma lucidum.

The pillars of the wooden archway are thick and simple, the blue and white stones are clamped with stones and two iron pockets

Stone lions in front of the "Jicui" archway

The stone lions behind the archway of "Pile Clouds"

The "Longguang" archway is located in front of Pu'an Hall on the hillside of Qionghua Island. It is a wooden archway with four columns, three rooms and three floors.

The word "Longguang" on the plaque of the main building reveals the supremacy and majesty of the imperial power, and the plaque on the back is "Zizhao", all of which are written by Emperor Qianlong. "Longguang" and "Zizhao" imply auspiciousness. Longguang is the light of the Longquan sword, and Zizhao is the reflection of purple energy. Its codes come from "Book of Jin·Zhang Hua Zhuan" and "Biography of Lie Xian", both of which are signs of auspiciousness. Two cloud dragons on the archway, four sitting dragons sitting alone, brocade patterns, and treasured flowers surround the plaque.

The second buildings on both sides of the archway (the picture above is the left side building, and the picture below is the right side building) centered on the golden double dragon holding birthday flower board, four golden sitting dragons, two cloud dragons and brocade patterns, and golden treasure-faced flowers With the trend of stars holding the moon, the colored paintings are extremely luxurious.

Archway in the Ming Dynasty with curly grass pattern Longmen Sparrow Ti, Double Three Fortune Clouds and Yundun

The scrolls on both sides of the archway are decorated with Longmen Sparrow, Sanfuyun and Yundun.

The pole stones of the archway are not the key parts in terms of structure and vision, but the pole stones of the palace archway borrowed the decorations such as beads and "Badama" (meaning "lotus petals" in Sanskrit) from "Xumizuo". The level of its fine carving is extremely exquisite and has reached the pinnacle, in order to show the bearing and demeanor of royal architecture. The pillars of the archway are blue and white stones, with exquisite carvings of banana leaf patterns, Badama, Lianzhu, Ruyiyun, and iron pockets to strengthen the stones.

Linguang Hall (the Buddhist light between clouds and water is called Linguang) is located at the foot of Xilu Mountain on Qionghua Island in Beihai, facing east and west. It is the West Buddha Hall of Yong'an Temple. On the north and south sides in front of Linguang Hall, there is a wooden archway with four pillars, three rooms and three floors with the same size, color painting pattern and architectural regulations.

The wooden archway on the south side of Linguang Hall

The wooden archway on the north side of Linguang Hall

The green glazed roof of the wooden archway, the golden baoxiang flower and brocade pattern color painting on the forehead, the Ming building (Mingjian) has no plaque, and the central flower board is left blank.

On the second buildings on the left and right sides of the wooden archway, the brocade patterns and golden baoxiang flowers on the forehead frame surround the small flower boards.

The pillars of the archway are blue and white stones, with exquisite carvings of banana leaf patterns, Badama, Lianzhu, Ruyiyun, and iron pockets to strengthen the stones.

Zhishan Bridge Archway is located on the west side of Zhishan Bridge, the east gate (also known as Zhishan Gate) of Beihai Park. The archway is magnificent, simple and elegant, with yellow glazed tile roof and complicated and exquisite bucket arch color paintings.

The Zhishan bridge archway is a wooden archway with four pillars, three rooms and three floors facing east and west, with golden glazed eaves. It was built together with Banyue City in the 16th year of Qianlong (1751). The structure and shape of the archway is the highest among the ancient archways in the country. Compared with other archways, the structure of the archway is different and has many unique features. There are no plaques on the main building and side buildings of such a gorgeous and highest-grade archway.

Under the eaves of the archway of Zhishan Bridge, there are multi-layer Ruyi brackets, which are like "cloud head Ruyi brackets" like a net. Under the bucket arch, there is a row of hanging flowers on the outside of the flower board, which gives people a visual impact and looks very gorgeous. If you stand on the platform of Banyue City and look at the archway of Zhishan Bridge, you will be very shocked by the stacked Ruyi brackets. "Ruyi Dougong" was installed with a protective net for proper protection).

Standing on Banyue City, looking at the golden glazed tile roof of Zhishan Bridge Archway

The glazed Chi (chi) kiss (one of the nine sons of the dragon) on both sides of the main ridge on the top of the archway is also called "Dragon Kiss". It is said that two opposite owl kisses are placed on the roof ridges of palaces, temples and other buildings, which can avoid fire and drive away evil spirits.

The ridges on the left and right sides of the roof of the archway are also called "fork ridges". The auspicious beasts on the ridges are arranged in order from the front to the rear and upper part: the fairy riding a phoenix, the dragon, the phoenix, the lion and the glazed beast on the vertical ridge. Below the person riding the impatiens is the beast with horns and beams.

Under the brackets of the main building in the Ming Dynasty of the wooden archway, there are five architraves sandwiching three layers of flower boards. On the top of the upper architraves, there are eight flower covers with hanging flowers.

There are three architraves under the bucket arches of the second building on both sides of the wooden archway and a layer of flower boards. On the top of the upper architrave, there are six flower covers hanging flowers. On the architrave, there are four sitting dragons sitting alone, two cloud dragons and brocade patterns. With auspicious beast small flower plate. The picture above is the second building on the left, and the picture below is the second building on the right. All the friezes, flower boards and sparrows of the Zhishan bridge archway are covered with various patterns of golden dragons and seals, and Xuanzi Dadian gold paintings, which fully play the role of the archway, and the visual effect is breathtaking.

Exquisite and gorgeous curly grass patterns on the wooden archway Longmen Queti and Sanfuyun

The blue and white stones of the wooden archway pillars are carved with exquisite banana leaf patterns, curly grass patterns, Badama, Lianzhu, curly grass patterns, wishful clouds, and iron pockets to reinforce the clamping stones.

The wooden archways of the Ming and Qing Dynasties all have closing poles (to resist wind and bear the weight of the top), and under each closing pole there must be a large stone supporting it as a support point, that is, "the closing stone". There are very few archways. The archway of Zhishan Bridge sits west and faces east. There are two closing poles on the west side and four closing poles on the east side. There is a stone beast under each pole, a total of six, very lifelike in appearance. Under the two poles on the west side are Jiaolongs (pictured above); the two outermost ones on the east side are stone lions (pictured in the middle), and the two inside are kylins (pictured below). These four mythical beasts have a symmetrical structure in space.

Zhizhu Hall and Banyue City are located at the foot of Donglu Mountain in Qiongdao, sitting west and facing Zhishan Bridge in the east. They were built in the 16th year of Qianlong (1751). The Zhizhu Hall is built on the platform of Banyue City, with golden tiles and red walls, majestic and magnificent. There are five archways facing each other on all sides. The central axis is symmetrical and the layout is unique. It is relatively rare in ancient Chinese architecture.

At the entrance and exit of the southwest corner (above picture) and northwest corner (below picture) of Zhizhu Hall, there are four wooden archways with two columns and single rooms on the third floor (with spans). The two towers in the west are opposite to the Zhizhu Hall, and serve as a barrier between the platform of Banyue City and the mountain behind, and the two towers in the north and south serve as the entrances to the platform of Banyue City, enclosing Zhizhu Hall together with the city wall.

The four wooden archways have the same size, painted patterns and architectural regulations.

The wooden archways are all Ruyi brackets, and the Minglou (Mingjian) has no plaques, and the position of the flower board in the center is left blank.

The essence of the vertical flower gate is that there are a pair of "vertical lotus pillars" at the front and rear of the gateposts, and there are budding weeping lotus pillars under the capitals. The archway with vertical flower gate borrows its essence "vertical lotus column". The head of the golden dragon on the left side of the archway faces the Ming Dynasty to the right (pictured above). The head of the golden dragon on the right side of the archway faces the Ming Dynasty to the left (below).

Haopujian is located on the east bank of Beihai Park. In the 13th year of Jiajing (1534) of the Ming Dynasty, the Hall of Ninghe was first built here, and in the 22nd year of Qianlong (1757), it was added to become a garden within a garden in Beihai. The curved bridges, pools, rocks, and corridors in the garden circle within a short distance. The scenery is quiet and deep, surrounded by ancient pines and lush, covering the sky and the sun, which is very distinctive.

On the pool of Haopujian, there is a stone bridge with nine curved carved railings. At the north end of the bridge is an exquisite and exquisite stone archway with two columns and the first floor. All the architectural components are exquisitely carved and carry rich cultural heritage. It is a decorative and ornamental bridgehead archway.

There are couplets on both sides of the archway, all of which are written by Emperor Qianlong. The couplet on the south side is "Riyong Pavilion is cool and quiet, and the flowers and trees are beautiful and fresh after rain";

The couplet on the north side is "Henggao's rain is full of vitality, and the pine peaks and clouds are painted to welcome you", and the banner is "Tinglan's banks spit out fragrant fragrance".

Exquisite and exquisite carvings with curly grass patterns, sparrows and cloud pier

Holding drums and stones to stabilize the pillars of the archway

There are ten glazed archways in Beijing, five of which are in Beihai Park. The glazed archway is the highest grade and the most gorgeous. It is a form of archway decorated with glazed bricks and tiles mainly in yellow and green. Because of its heavy shape, it is most suitable for building in front of solemn temples.

Xitian Fanjing, also known as Daxitian, is located on the north bank of Beihai Park. After the expansion in the twenty-fourth year of Qianlong (1759), it was renamed Xitian Fanjing. The glazed archway of "Huazang Realm" is a typical "gate-style" building in front of the Brahma Realm in the West Heaven. The inscription "Huazang Realm" in the south and "Xumerhun" in the north are written by Emperor Qianlong. About 13 meters high and 25 meters wide, this colored glazed archway with three doors, four pillars and seven floors is tall and exquisite.

The white marble plaque on the front of the archway is "Huazangjie", which means that entering this archway will lead to the pure land of Buddhism. There are twelve cloud dragon frames on the plaque, which means that the standard here is the highest. The Baoxiang flower decoration on both sides is also unique, which reproduces the architectural style of the royal palace.

The white marble plaque on the back of the archway is "Xu Michun". Xumi Chun means the holy land of Buddha, full of spring, it is a fairyland, and entering this temple means coming to a fairyland.

There is a large flower board of "Two Dragons Playing with Pearls" on both sides of the plaque on the archway. The auspicious cloud decoration on both sides of the large flower board is more like a flying cloud and dragon. The picture above shows the pattern of the large flower plate on the left, and the picture below shows the pattern of the large flower plate on the right. The overall decoration is ingeniously conceived and is an exquisite work of art.

The pillars and arches of the archway are carved with fine white marble, and the door of the archway is connected with the wall. There are white marble coupons around the archway, which are beautiful in shape and exquisitely carved, highlighting the magnificence and dignity of the royal palace building. The exquisite yellow and green glazed pillars are eye-catching and gorgeous, with curly grass pattern sparrows, ganoderma lucidum, and glazed lotus flowers, banana leaves, and auspicious clouds on the pillars.

On both sides of the arched door are beautifully carved Mount Sumeru, and the blooming treasures and flowers on the mountain surround the arched door. Sixteen baoxiang flowers surround the central gate (above), and twelve baoxiang flowers surround the side door (below).

The stamens of each baoxiang flower on the arched door are exquisitely carved with the most commonly used treasures symbolizing auspiciousness in Buddhism, Buddhist instruments (also known as "eight auspicious signs") dharma wheel, dharma conch, treasure umbrella, canopy, lotus, treasure jar , Pisces, Panchang and other mascots.

The Dharma wheel represents the Buddha's big Dharma round wheel, which lasts forever; the Dharma conch represents the auspicious sound of the bodhisattva fruit; ; The treasure jar represents the perfection of blessing and wisdom, with no leaks;

The Xumi seat carved with white marble in the glazed archway. The white marble xumizuo on the front and side of the archway is exquisitely carved, surrounded by exquisitely carved opera beads, clouds and dragons on the upper and lower sides.

Stone lions in front of the glazed archway

Xiaoxitian was first built in the 33rd year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty (1768). It was built by Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty to celebrate the birthday of his mother, Empress Dowager Xiaosheng. The main building is the Paradise of Paradise, which is the largest square pavilion-style palace building in China. The hall is surrounded by water on all sides, and there are bridges on all sides. It is built by the wall, which surrounds the Palace of Ultimate Bliss into a courtyard. The overall architectural concept is ingenious and magnificent.

The four glazed archways in Xiaoxitian, east, west, north, south, and north are consistent in size, architectural shape, color and pattern, all of which are four-pillar, three-room, seven-floor glazed archways.

The glazed archway to the south of Xiaoxitian

The forehead of the white marble gate on the south side of the archway is a frame of six opera beads and cloud dragons, and the inscription "Zheng Gongde Water" is Qianlong's imperial pen. To prove means to obtain, what kind of merit water is or a status, and to prove merit water is to obtain that status. Evidence: Use reliable evidence and materials to explain that the emperor's mother gave birth to Qianlong is the greatest merit. The forehead on the north side of the archway is titled "Xianhuanxiyuan". Now Huanxiyuan explained it more straightforwardly, this is the current Huanxiyuan, and anyone who comes is happy.

The glazed archway on the east side of Xiaoxitian

The forehead of the white marble gate on the east side of the archway is a frame of six opera beads and cloud dragons, and the title "Aurora Fragrant Forest" is Qianlong's imperial pen. Ancient India called China Aurora, and Xianglin means the modern "Shangri-La", which means that China is a beautiful realm, where "Shangri-La" and "Xanadu" are everywhere.

Inside the archway on the east side

The forehead of the white marble gate in the archway on the east side is a frame of six opera beads and cloud dragons, and the title "Shenzhou Treasure Land" is Qianlong's imperial pen. This is to praise and praise China as a treasure land.

The glazed archway on the north side of Xiaoxitian

The forehead of the white marble gate on the north side of the archway is a frame of six opera beads and cloud dragons, and the inscription "Falun Gaosheng" is Qianlong's imperial pen. Falun Gaosheng: Falun, another name for Buddhism, Buddhists use Sakyamuni teachings, which can eliminate troubles, just like the wheel of the wheel king, can urge enemies, and Buddhism does not stay in one place, twisting and passing on, like a wheel, So Dharma Wheel. This means that Buddhism is the absolute truth, an indestructible truth. The gate forehead inside the archway on the north side is titled "Wonderful Land Solemn". Miao means beautiful, and a beautiful state is extremely solemn and sacred. In our suffering life, encountering such a wonderful state is limited. People choose to escape in order to get rid of the suffering around them. It is to believe in Buddhism and to believe that there is such an illusory state in the world.

The glazed archway on the west side of Xiaoxitian

The forehead of the white marble gate on the west side of the archway is a frame of six opera beads and cloud dragons, and the inscription "Ren Shou Pu Yuan" on the forehead is written by Emperor Qianlong. This sentence means that the life span of a benevolent person depends entirely on his own physical condition and the surrounding environment. A person's fate is destined. Long is inevitable. The gate forehead inside the archway on the west side is titled "An Yang Shi Di". Anyang means that groups with difficulties can be taken care of peacefully, revealing the truth, meaning being attentive and careful. There is a word to listen carefully, and Buddhism has the meaning of being true and infallible. In general, it can be understood that it is an eternal truth to help the difficult and distressed groups.

On both sides of each glazed archway plaque is a two-dragon play bead glazed large flower board. The outer side of the faucet is the upper head, and the inner side is the lower head (the picture above shows the pattern on the left flower plate, and the picture below shows the pattern on the right flower plate) .

The glazed archway is composed of three white marble arched gates (the upper picture is the middle gate, and the lower picture is the side gate). On both sides of the arched gate, there are exquisitely carved Mount Sumeru, and the blooming treasure-faced flowers on the mountain surround the arched gate. The middle gate is surrounded by fourteen treasure-faced flowers, and the side gate is surrounded by twelve treasure-faced flowers.

The front and side of the base of the mountain gate are exquisitely carved white marble Xumizuo, and the upper and lower sides of the seat are carved with lifelike opera beads and cloud dragons.

The white marble inlaid stone is carved with exquisite banana leaf patterns, fancao patterns, badama (meaning "lotus petals" in Sanskrit), lianzhu, and wishful clouds, and the yellow and green glazed pillars are eye-catching and gorgeous.

Exquisite yellow and white glazed curly sparrows, ganoderma lucidum, bucket arches, and glazed lotuses, banana leaves, and auspicious clouds on the pillars are extremely gorgeous.

Schematic diagram of the names of various parts of the archway

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