Jiètái Sì 戒台寺
门头沟
Part of A Better Guide to Běijīng’s coverage of Běijīng Suburbs and Beyond
The Ordination Terrace Temple is another very pleasant complex built up a leafy hillside but on an east-west axis, with views across assorted scenery. It has the best collection in Běijīng of ancient, twisted, and gnarled pine trees with individual personalities. There may have been a temple here in the Suí dynasty (581–618), and the monastery buildings were added in the Liáo dynasty (907–1125).
The temple’s main interest is the white marble triple-layered ordination terrace, one of the three largest in China, housed in an unusual large and square hall, topped with a gilded Buddha seated on a lotus. It’s set with chairs for the three masters and seven witnesses necessary to the ordination ceremony, in which ordinands were raised to higher grades in the Buddhist hierarchy. Signs suggest that special permission was required from the emperor to perform the ceremony, but that may just be modern politics, which likes to suggest that all the religions in China have always regarded the government of the day as their highest authority, and thus the current government can interfere with the practice of religion as much as it wants to now.
The complex bracketing of the roof is visible in the interior, and the ceiling is gaudily painted and has a gilded section over the statue. The terrace itself is carved with niches housing 113 statues (the lower ones of which have a resemblance to Batman), and the stone between them is extensively carved with flying dragon and cloud motifs. The attendants for once actually seem to be involved with the temple’s function, standing around and discussing ‘what the Master said’.
Other points of interest include the fine statues in the first gate of Hēng (can blow out a white cloud from his nostrils) and Hā (can blow out a yellow cloud from his mouth), thus also known as the White and Yellow Generals. The Mahavira Hall contains three Míng bronzes, and on the east side of the temple a small hall has a remarkable altarpiece completely covered in dragons worked in both high and low relief, ranging from 0.4 to 3.3m in length. This would be worth coming to see in its own right. A broad terrace running across the site gives views of the valley and looks down on two Liáo dynasty brick relic pagodas standing in a pleasant garden, holding the remains, clothing, and alms bowls of two monks. Between the two are shady benches where you can rest before the trip back to town.
The pines here come in a wide range of types, some with mottled and curling bark. The Embracing Pagoda Pine is in danger of pushing over one of the pagodas, and the Nine Dragon Pine, resembling ‘nine dancing dragons in the sky’, is supposedly 1000 years old. The particularly knotted Sleeping Dragon Pine projects impressively from the terrace. There’s also a lilac, supposedly 2–300 years old, and a 1000-year-old sophora.
▶ In Méntóugōu, about 35km W of Běijīng, t 6980 6611, www.jietaisi.net, 8am–5pm, (4.30pm winter). ¥35. m Pínguǒ Yuán (Line 1), then
b to 戒台寺: 931.
Eight stops before Tánzhè Sì, this leafy temple is easily visited on the same trip. b 931 services from the 地铁苹果园西 stop just west of m Píngguǒ Yuán begin at 6.15am, and the last bus back from 潭柘寺 is a little after 6pm. Walk uphill for less than 1km and then turn left across a car park (where you may encounter a flock of sheep) to stairs you’ll see on the opposite side. You may be greeted by the cries of peacocks, although these seem to keep themselves invisible.
The Tánzhè Sì is a few stops further on at the terminus of b 931. m Píngguǒ Yuán is the starting point for visits to nearby Tián Yì Mù eunuch temple and tomb, and mural-laden Fǎ Hǎi Sì, as well as a string of sights up the western side of the city conveniently linked by bus.
Next in Běijīng Suburbs and Beyond: Shall We Have Dinner on the Terrace? (story)
Previously: The Flight of the Beekeepers (story)
Main Index of A Better Guide to Beijing.
For discussion of China travel, see The Oriental-List.
