Photography Balustrade with Pond in Front of the Hall of Classics at the Beijing Imperial Academy Guozijian
Photography Balustrade with Pond in Front of the Hall of Classics at the Beijing Imperial Academy Guozijian
CC BY-SA 4.0
A black-and-white photograph showing a close-up of the balustrade in front of the Hall of Classics (Biyong 辟雍) of the Guozijian Imperial Academy 北京國子監 in Beijing, a stone’s throw from the Temple of Confucius. The Hall of Classics was built in the 49th year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong (reigned 1735-1796) of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911). Since then, it has been the central building of the Imperial Academy. The white marble balustrade of the hanbai yushi 漢白玉石 is decorated with patterned reliefs and rounded finials on the columns.
On the right-hand side is the covered eave over the Hall of Classics. On the eaves, glazed figures placed in strict sequence are clearly visible, beginning with the large phoenix rider (ji feng xianren 騎鳳仙人), literally “daoist immortal riding the phoenix”. Together they are said to protect the building from natural disasters and malicious acts.
The Guozijian Imperial Academy in Beijing was founded ... more
A black-and-white photograph showing a close-up of the balustrade in front of the Hall of Classics (Biyong 辟雍) of the Guozijian Imperial Academy 北京國子監 in Beijing, a stone’s throw from the Temple of Confucius. The Hall of Classics was built in the 49th year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong (reigned 1735-1796) of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911). Since then, it has been the central building of the Imperial Academy. The white marble balustrade of the hanbai yushi 漢白玉石 is decorated with patterned reliefs and rounded finials on the columns.
On the right-hand side is the covered eave over the Hall of Classics. On the eaves, glazed figures placed in strict sequence are clearly visible, beginning with the large phoenix rider (ji feng xianren 騎鳳仙人), literally “daoist immortal riding the phoenix”. Together they are said to protect the building from natural disasters and malicious acts.
The Guozijian Imperial Academy in Beijing was founded in 1306. It was the highest educational institution in the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties.
The photograph is the 206th of 449 photographs of Beijing and its surroundings in the album of Ivan Skušek Jr., purchased during his stay in Beijing (1914–1920). In the handwritten inventory of the album, the photograph is referred to as Klassiker-Halle: Teich-Einfassung. (DZ, MV)
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