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White Pagoda of Beihai Park
---Baita of Beihai Park

Introduction of White Pagoda of Beihai Park

The White Pagoda atop Jade Islet in the Beihai Park is a famous landmark in Beijing. The pagoda is 35.9 meters high and has a 30-meter-tall column inside. It was built on a square base built of huge stone slabs, and is topped by two bronze parasols. It resembles a huge umbrella resting on a densely-wooded island. Since it was the highest point in old Beijing, it served as a vantage point of military significance.

Sutras in Tibetan language are carved inside the front gate. Fourteen copper bells hang from its copper canopy on top of which is a gilt ball like a flame. Inside a gold box atop the column are reputed to be two teeth belonging to Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism.

The White Dagoba was built in 1651 on the former site of the Palace in the Moon. At the suggestion of a famous Tibetan lama priest named Momhan, Emperor Shunzhi, the first emperor of the Qing Dynasty agreed to the suggestion as a gesture of devotion to the Buddhist belief and a desire for unification among China's various nationalities. The dagoba was damaged in an earthquake and reconstructed on two occasions. The present structure was a later reconstruction.

Under the pagoda is a lamasery, which was formerly inhabited by scripture-chanting monks. The dagoba together with a painting depicting Emperor Shunzhi (the first emperor of the Qing) meeting with the Fifth Dalai is the witness of the Central Government-Tibet alliance at that time. The top is a gold-gilded copper lid decorated with dozens of bells with jingle far in the wind. In front of the Dagoba stand the Temple of Enternal Peace (Yong'an si) and Hall of Universal Peace. At the back of the island is Hall of Rippling Water.

Discover the Military function of the White Dagoba!
According to records in Da Qing Hui Dian (Book of the Qing Dynasty), a signal gun used to be installed on the dagoba and an officer was assigned to look after it, so it could give the alarm in case of emergency. In front of the building is a tall terrace on which a glazed chamber was built, called Shanyin Hall The four sides of the chamber are inlaid with a hundred little statues of Buddha made of glazed bricks. A Buddha of a thousand hands and a thousand eyes, who, as legend has it, defends Beihai, is enshrined in the chamber. This chamber is also regarded as part of the White Dagoba.