[VOL II] THE PORCELAIN TOWER, NANKING

THE PORCELAIN TOWER, NANKING

Cover Image: The Porcelain Tower, Nanking / NanJing JiangSu China / Drawn by T. Allom Engraved by H.Adlard – ALAMY Image ID:2X4BD3C

*Postscript From a sketch on the spot by Lieut White Royal Marines./The Porcelain Tower （Lüli Pagoda） of the Grand Bao’en Temple is located in the Qinhuai District of Nanjing, China. It is the central structure of the Grand Bao’en Temple, standing at a height of 78.2 meters with nine stories and eight sides, and a perimeter of one hundred meters. It is said that this construction project took nearly 20 years, involving around 100,000 craftsmen and laborers, and costing 2.485 million taels of silver.

“Here frugal monks their little relics show,
And some dry legend to the stranger tell.”

R. W.

THE primary object of these columnar towers does not appear to be distinctly understood by Europeans, nor indeed by the inhabitants of those countries in which they exist. That they are now, in some instances, dedicated to Buddhism is fully ascertained; but the inconvenience of their shape for the performance of religious rites, leaves room for other conclusions that they were simply commemorative, or commemorative. Their origin in China is very ancient, nor, in all probability, is it satisfactorily recorded; and the coincidence of their history in this respect with that of the Irish pillar-towers is peculiarly striking. Neither the origin, era, or application of these latter extraordinary edifices has yet been discovered, although the learning and discrimination of various antiquaries have been earnestly devoted to the investigation. Harris thought they were pillars of penance, such as Simon Stylites stood on for forty years; Leckie believed them to be merely belfries; Vallancy asserted that they were evidently fire-towers erected to Baal, or the Sun; a writer less eminent, suggests the probability of their having served as landmarks (περας γης-πυρων) by day, and beacons at night. Montmorency Morris thought that they were keeps, or safes, or citadels, such as the Egyptian Copts erected as sanctuaries of shelter on the approach of danger; and the discovery of a stone coffin, exactly fitted within the pedestal of the tower of Ardmore, has contributed to strengthen the cause of those who maintain that, like the pyramids and pillars of Irish history, was presented to the Royal Irish Academy by Henry O’Brien, in which much learning is expended in endeavouring to identify the round towers of Ireland with the worship of Buddhism; but, however the style of architecture may have been derived from the East, little reason exists for supposing that Buddhism ever prevailed in Ireland.

Chinese scholars, by whom we are to understand those who possess an acquaintance with the written and spoken language of that country, but who are wholly ignorant of its real history, too confidently affirm that all pagodas are temples of Fo; whereas some are dedicated to the winds, and the elements generally; others to qualities of the heart and the head, such as gratitude and wisdom; and others, far removed from any places of present worship, like our towers of Furness, and of Fountains, and of Glastonbury, are tottering to decay.

The history of the porcelain pagoda at Nanking is preserved by the monks of the adjoining monastery; and, if reliance can be placed upon their narration, one step in the analysis of its beauty and its origin is safely secured. Father Samedo, who resided at Nanking some time between the years 1613 and 1635, calls it “an edifice that ought to be ranked with the most famous of ancient Rome;” Le Comte, who saw it in 1687, says “it is undoubtedly the best constructed and noblest building of all the East;” and these praises have been reiterated by the English who examined it during our occupancy of Nanking in the late Chinese war.

Devoted exclusively to Buddhist worship, it is denominated at one time, “Paou-gan-sze,” the Temple of Gratitude, and at another, “Lew le paou ta,” the Porcelain Pagoda. On the site of the present building, an obelisk of three stories once stood, dedicated to Yuh-Wang, the Fostering King, a title given to Buddha in allusion to the providential care he extends over all animal and vegetable life. The emperor Ta-te (A.D. 240) repaired and adorned the obelisk, which had become much decayed, and changed its name to that of Kéén-cho; but the whole of Ta-te’s erection was destroyed by an accidental fire, in the reign of Yuen-Shun. We are told that temple succeeded this in its consecrated site, each distinguished by a name expressive of the object of its erection, until the construction of the present splendid tower, which is considered amongst the Chinese as only second in importance and miraculous character to the Great Wall of the empire. After the removal of the court from Nanking to Peking, under the Ming dynasty, the first stone of the present building was laid, at the imperial command. The work commenced at noon on the fifteenth day of the sixth month of the tenth year of the reign of Yung-Lo, (A.D. 1412,) and, as the tower was nineteen years in building, it was not completed until the first day of the eighth month of Leven-ti’s sixth year, (1431), that is, six years after the death of Yung-lo. Raised originally as a tribute of gratitude to the empress, and a record to posterity of the high estimation in which her character and virtues were held, it still retains the name of “the Temple of Gratitude.” The architect who superintended the work, and set up and framed the edifice, in conformity with a magnificent plan, was named Shelang-Hwang; and the exact cost of the whole was 2,485,484 leang, or Chinese ounces of silver, equivalent to about £750,000 of English money.

For many ages this delicate and gorgeous temple withstood the violence of time; but in the fifth year of the fifth month, and fifteenth day of the reign of Kea-King (a.d. 1800) between the hours of three and five o’clock in the afternoon, (according to the Chilo-woo-ling tablet,) “the god of thunder, displaying his power and severe majesty, and driving some strange insects before him, struck the tower, and in a moment shattered the sides of the nine-stories.” The governor and lieutenant-governor of Nanking obtained the imperial permission to repair all injuries inflicted by the thunderbolts, which was executed in a masterly style in the year 1802; from which period until 1842, when a party of English seamen, attached to the expedition, with pickaxes and hammers endeavoured to deface the walls, and remove the curiosities,—no injury of any kind has been inflicted on this Chinese miracle of art. The hand of the spoiler, however, was quickly arrested, and indemnification instantly made by the English authorities.

The tower or pagoda is octagonal, of nine stories, tapering as they rise, and finished with a cupola, or cap, (the inverted nelumbium,) overlaid with shining brass, which preserves its lustre untarnished. From the gilded ball surmounting the cupola, a rod of iron rises to a still greater height, and from its highest point eight chains descend, from which seventy-two bells are suspended; to the heads of eight “cloud-loving dragons.” Bells are hung from the angles of every story, making, with those attached to the chains of the cupola, a total number of one hundred and fifty-two. On the outside of the nine stories, are a hundred and twenty-eight lanterns, made of thin oyster-shells, a substitute for glass in China, and the effect of their subdued light on the reflective surface of the tower is striking and delicate. Twelve lamp-bowls of porcelain (lew-le) are preserved in the great hall which occupies the ground-floor of the temple, and the quantity of oil consumed in each total illumination exceeds eighty pounds weight. These lamps are occasionally lighted at the expense of some superstitious devotee, who is taught by the attendants that bonzes that they are destined to illuminate the space of the thirty-three heavens—to enlighten the world, to relieve good and evil men, and to avert for ever many calamities incident to humanity.

According to a Chinese description, accompanied by a wood-cut of the tower, which the bonzes print for distribution, within the building, the height of the gilded ball on the cupola is 346 feet; but Père Bourgeois understood from an attendant priest, in 1768, that it did not exceed 258 English feet, and the measurements of the engineers who accompanied our recent expedition, reduce this amount to 236.

The inner part, or body of the walls, is brick, but the inside lining and the facing without, of beautiful white glazed porcelain slabs, fixed in the masonry by means of deep keys, cut like a half T in the brick. The projecting roof of each story consists of green and yellow porcelain tiles in alternate perpendicular rows; and, running up each angle is a moulding of larger tiles, glazed and coloured red and green alternately. From each story projects a balcony, enclosed by a light balustrade of green porcelain, upon which open four doorways, set to the cardinal points, their arches being elegantly turned with glazed tiles, cast in all imaginable fancies of design and variation of colour, representing deities, demons, and monsters of all descriptions. The bells dependent from dragons’ mouths at every angle of each story, once sounded in harmony, but, in consequence of the long neglect of religious rites at this ancient shrine, the offended deity marked his displeasure by depriving them for ever of their musical tones. If Æolus were now to give sweetness to their hundred tongues, the infatuated Chinese would call it discord –

– “By the gods’ decree,

All hear, but none believe it harmony.”

The interior of the pagoda, which is also cased with porcelain, is disfigured by a number of idols in basso-relievo on the walls. On each floor is an image of Buddha surrounded by about four hundred minor objects of idolatry. Nor are these the only offerings to superstition belonging to the temple:—the spire, or cupola, suppresses noxious influences, and shows light in the night-time, that is one pearl or bead (the bonzes use rosaries, and count by beads); it defends from water, which is another bead; from wind, another bead; and from dust, a fourth bead. The relics laid up here are also celebrated, including translations from Sanskrit relating to Bhuddism; one ingot of gold weighing forty taels—one thousand ounces of silver—tea, one picul—precious stones, one set—happy money, one thousand strings, including one hundred strings of Yung-lo’s copper coin—yellow silk, two pieces—the book of Tartaries, one copy—the book of Arcite fish, one copy—the Shipkea-fuh’s book, one copy—the book of ‘Tsee-yin-tuh, one copy; all tending to control demoniacal agencies; the royal book of the present dynasty, not containing two leaves on the same subject; and lastly, the Chilo-woo-ling tablet, before alluded to.

The stairs to the summit (consisting of one hundred and ninety steps) are narrow and steep; but the extent and beauty of the prospect and scenery, from the highest balcony, soon obliterate the recollection of any inconvenience their ascent may have occasioned. Situated at the angle of the mural enclosure, on one side the whole enclosure is beheld from the balcony, the vast suburbs on the other, while a wide-spread landscape beyond both, is traversed by the windings of the Yang-tse-keang. Eastward of the pagoda, in its immediate vicinity, is a path consecrated to all the sea-born deities; on the south side, are the rice-walk and the spacious storehouse garden; on the west, the bridge of hospitality; and on the north, the great river. The religious domains, including the Bhuddist monastery, are more than three miles in circuit; and all the temples, and towers, and oratories, apprenticing to the establishment, are situated in the periphery—”From everlasting a tower has been built here, and it will hereafter enjoy the bright flowers of a hundred ages, to perpetuate a thankfulness ten thousand fold, whence it is called the ‘Fane of Gratitude.’”

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