JieTai Temple (JieTai Si)
JieTai Temple is located 35km west of Beijing and is only 10km from Tanzhe Temple. JieTaiSi, or ‘Temple of the Ordination Altar’, takes its name from its famous Ming marble ordination altar, built some 1,300 years ago. This altar is nearly 5 meters high and is decorated with exquisite carvings.
The temple was first built in the year 622 during the Tang dynasty but most of the buildings here now date from the Qing dynasty (1644 – 1911).
The temple sits on a hillside looking more like a fortress than a temple, surrounded by forbiddingly tall red walls. On a clear day, this temple offers an unhindered view of Beijing.
Surrounding the main hall are a number of courtyards containing rock formations and ancient twisted pine and cypress trees. It is renowned for its venerable pines – eccentric looking trees growing in odd directions. Indeed, one, leaning out at an angle of about thirty degrees, is pushing over a pagoda on the terrace beneath it.
These ancient trees and are the subject of many songs. It is said that the Chinese Scholar Tree, known as the protector of Buddhism, is more than 1,000 years old.
Other famous trees include the ‘Nine Dragon Tree’ which has 9 branches that reach up to the sky like 9 flying dragons, and the ‘Mobile Tree’ which trembles even when only one branch is slightly touched.
The enormous white marble ordination platform (JieTai) is China’s largest and intricately carved with figures – monks, monsters (beaked and winged) and saints. Dating from the Liao Dynasty, it is a three-tiered structure with 113 statues of the God of Ordination placed in niches around the base. It is located in Jie Tan Dian (Hall of the Altar of Ordination) in the far right (north west) corner of the temple.
Ceremonies conducted on this platform to commemorate the ascension of a devotee to full monkhood required permission from the emperor. Often referred to as the “Beida [Peking University, nominally the best university in China] of Buddhism” for its ability to attract the most promising monastic scholars (along with temples in QuanZhou and HangZhou), it has been the most significant site for the ordination of Buddhist monks for 900 years.
Another smaller hall holds a beautiful wooden altar, decorated with dragons in relief. There are also fragrant peony gardens.
