Porcelain turn of Nanjing
The turn of porcelain (or Pagoda of porcelain ) of Nanjing (Chinese: 南京陶塔; Hanyu pinyin : Nánjīng Táotǎ), also known under the name of Bao' ensi (which means “Temple of Gratitude”) was a monument located on southern bank of the Yangzi Jiang at Nanjing, in China. It is from now on an archeological site in the course of rebuilding.
The tower was built in the 15th century like a Buddhist pagoda , but it was almost completely destroyed at the 19th century, when armed conflicts appeared in the area.
Description
The tower is octagonale, with a base 30 m in diameter. Once built, it was one of the largest buildings of China, culminating to 80 m and comprising eight stages. There was a spiral staircase of 130 steps in the center. The roof was surmounted by a gilded sphere.
The tower was built with bricks of Porcelaine, which one said to reflect the sunlight. The night one lit to 140 lamps of the tower to illuminate it. One worked the porcelain with varnished and earthenware, creating drawings of animals, flowers and landscapes on the frontage, the colors used being the green, the yellow, the brown one and the white. One also decorated it with Buddhist images .
History
The tower was drawn by the Chinese emperor Yongle little before the beginning of its construction at the beginning of the 15th century. Once Westerners transfer it and spoke about it in their books and newspapers, some thought it a news wonder of the world.
In 1801 the lightning struck the tower, destroying the three stages of in top, but it was repaired soon. In a book of 1843, Granville Gower Loch includes a detailed description of the tower such as it was in the years 1840.
In the years the 1850 area sees a civil war: the rebellious Taiping occupy Nanjing. They destroy the Buddhist images as well as the staircase to prevent that their enemies Qing do not use the tower like turn of observation of their movements in the city. American sailors arrive in May 1854 and visit the tower, and two years later the rebels destroy it completely.
The ruins of the tower were forgotten; it is only in these last years that one sees a movement to rebuild it.
References
- Granville Gower Log; '' The Closing Events off the Campaign in Clouded ''; London; 1843
- Jonathan D. Spence; God' S Chinese Its ; New York; 1996
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