Yinshan Pagoda Forest

Yinshan Pagoda Forest is located in the southwest of Haizi Village, 35 kilometers east of Changping District, Beijing. It is a part of the Badaling – Ming Tombs Protection Zone of Scenic Spots and Historical Sites. It is also referred to as "Iron-Wall Silver Mountain (Yinshan Tiebi)". the rocks of Yanshan Mountain are as black as iron. It is mainly granite in minerals like manganese and iron and become black because of erosion by rain. The Yinshan or Silver Mountain was so name for in snow-covered mountain was as white as silver. With three peaks and black cliffs, the Pagoda Forest is charming especially in winter. Although the three peaks of the mountain are not high at all, the cliffs are as steep as walls. It is one of the eight most beautiful scenic spots in Beijing during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. This scenic spot features by beautiful natural landscapes and a forest of pagodas. The pagoda forest was actually the cemetery of the monks of the temple.

Except for the forest pagodas in this place, an ancient lectern and many tablets are also worth having a look. It is a perfect destination to appreciate the natural scenery and research ancient China Buddhism and architecture.

History 

Since the Sui Dynasty (581 - 618), this place has been a holy site of Buddhism and many temples had been built near the mountains. In the early Tang Dynasty (618-907), the Avatamasaka Temple with more than 70 rooms was built here. In the Liao Dynasty (907-1125), Man Gong, a Zen master, had the Temple of Precious Rock built here. Later, three other Zen masters came to practice and preach Buddhism. To save Buddhist relic and protect the Buddhist culture of it, many pagodas were built in Jin (1115 - 1234) and the following dynasties. In 1437, Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty visited Silver Mountain and gave the temple another name "Splendor-of-the-Buddha Temple" which led to the construction of 72 nunneries on the mountain. It is said that there were as many as seventy-two temples at one time. And the one called Fahua Temple, which was built in 1125, was the grandest one of all. But, over the centuries, the temples and a lot of pagodas were ruined for many reasons.



Now, you can only find eighteen pagodas in the area and in the original temple site. Those pagodas are made of bricks and stones. And they usually consist of four parts: the base, the body, the corbel bracket and the top. Of the eighteen pagodas standing in this place, there are seven ones in the original temple site which are the most renowned: five built in the Kin Dynasty and two during the Yuan Dynasty. The five built in Kin Dynasty pagodas are multi-eaved bricks structures on large Sumeru platforms. These platforms, together with the first storey of the pagodas are decorated by beautiful relief carvings. Bricks brackets are under the eaves. Short eaves are spaced at between twenty and thirty meters, like ordinary pagodas rather than tomb pagodas. They are ginger yellow in color and stand in a tall base. The two ones that were built in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) are smaller than the above five ones. However, each has its own characteristics and they are lama pagodas. Each has seven stories. One is octagonai building that has thirteen floors. Good-patterned reliefs are engraved on the surface of the bricks carving of corbei brackets can be found under the eaves of the first floor.

Travel Guide 

Address: in the southwest of Haizi Village, Changping District, Beijing