Photography White Stupa on Qinghua Island
A black-and-white photograph showing the White stupa (Baita 白塔) on Qinghua Island (Qinghuadao 瓊華島) in what is now Beihai Park (Beihai Gongyuan 北海公園) in Beijing. The park is located northeast of the Forbidden City (Gugong 故宫 or Zijincheng 紫禁城) and was once an imperial garden. The stupa was built in the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). Its misnomer in the album’s inventory as “pagoda” comes from the character ta 塔, which means both stupa and pagoda in Chinese.
The photograph is the 275th 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 Ming Pagodas. (DZ, MV)
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