The
Tower of Buddist Incense
The
Tower of Buddist Incense stands atop the Longevity Hill, it is the symbol of this royal
garden and highest building inside the Palace.
Situated on the
central axis of the Palace, north of the Hall of Dispelling Clouds, this 21 metre high,
eight-facade tower is built on a 20 metre high stone planet with eight huge columns as its
backbone. It was built in 1750, but it was destroyed in 1860 by the Allied Anglo-French
Forces. It was rebuilt in 1889 but destroyed again the following year. The reconstruction
this time was in 1903. After that, several renovations took place which gave this tower
its present look.
According to the
original master plan for the Palace, a nine storey tower designed after the Tower of Six
Harmony in Hangzhou was about to be built. Just before the completion of the tower,
Emperor Qianlong found out that that tower did not fit with the surrounding hills and
lakes, the Emperor accepted the suggestions of some other designers and the present Tower
of Buddist Incense was built instead. It took 780,000 taels of silver to reconstruct the
building during 1891-1894.
This Tower used to
be a place for emperors and Empresses to pray. Empress Dowager Ci'xi always held praying
cere monies here on the 1st and 15th day of each lunar month.
Behind the tower
of Buddhist Incense is the Sea of Wisdom, on which there are about 1,000 small glazed
Buddhist sculptures.
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