Photography Courtyard for Offerings at a Temple in the Western Hills
Photography Courtyard for Offerings at a Temple in the Western Hills
CC BY-SA 4.0
A black-and-white photograph showing the inner courtyard of one of the many temples in the several thousand-hectare area around Beijing known as the Western Hills (Xishan 西山). In the elevated courtyard stands a larger rectangular smoking room with a roof, typical of Buddhist temples. At the rear, the courtyard is bordered by a building constructed using the traditional Chinese technique known as dougong 斗拱. Ornaments and figures are less visible on the ridges. Memorial plaques or stelae can be seen on the right.
With peaks as high as 700 metres and only a few kilometres from Beijing, the Western Hills were a popular vacation spot for the city’s elite in pre-modern times. Even today, visitors can see a variety of infrastructures, from gardens, pavilions, and temples to pagodas.
The photograph is the 201st 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 ... more
A black-and-white photograph showing the inner courtyard of one of the many temples in the several thousand-hectare area around Beijing known as the Western Hills (Xishan 西山). In the elevated courtyard stands a larger rectangular smoking room with a roof, typical of Buddhist temples. At the rear, the courtyard is bordered by a building constructed using the traditional Chinese technique known as dougong 斗拱. Ornaments and figures are less visible on the ridges. Memorial plaques or stelae can be seen on the right.
With peaks as high as 700 metres and only a few kilometres from Beijing, the Western Hills were a popular vacation spot for the city’s elite in pre-modern times. Even today, visitors can see a variety of infrastructures, from gardens, pavilions, and temples to pagodas.
The photograph is the 201st 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 Opferhof im “Tempel der Westlichen Berge”. (DZ, MV)
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