In the Middle Ages, there were seven wonders in the world, of which China accounted for two. The seven wonders are: the Colosseum in Italy, the Catacombs of Alexandria, the Great Wall of China, Stonehenge in The United Kingdom, the Glass Pagoda of The Great Bao'en Temple in China, the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy, and the Hagia Sophia in Turkey.
The glass pagoda of Dabao'en Temple inside is the landmark building that once towered outside Jinling City, and the master of culture and art.
The Jinling Grand Bao'en Pagoda Glass Pagoda, built during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, was rebuilt on the original site of the former Dynasty Temple Pagoda, requisitioning more than 100,000 craftsmen from all over the world, and the cost was 2.5 million yuan of money, grain and silver, and 2.5 million yuan of money, which took nineteen years to complete.
"According to the Great Inner Tuwu, build a nine-level five-colored glass pagoda, the first pagoda, and the temple is known as the Great Bao'en Temple."
From the beginning of the Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, the Glass Pagoda of Dabao'en Temple, as the most distinctive landmark building in China, was known as the "First Pagoda in the World", and it was also known as "China's Great Antique, Yongle's Great Kiln", which was a must-visit place for Chinese and foreign people to travel to Jinling at that time.
How did such a magnificent Pagoda of the Great Bao'en Temple be destroyed, and like countless famous monuments in history, it was also destroyed in war.
During the Xianfeng period, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement broke out, and after the Taiping Army broke through from Yong'an, it went out of the province to fight, attacking the city all the way, and the Eight Banners and the Green Battalion had no combat strength, and lost their armor.
On the twenty-eighth day of the first month of the third year of Xianfeng (1853), the Taiping Army descended from Wuchang, with a total of more than 500,000 soldiers and civilians, and the army marched eastward, covering the sky and the sun, taking the old road of Zuo Liangyu, a warlord at the end of the Ming Dynasty.
The Taiping Army successfully reached the outskirts of Jiangning City and immediately began to occupy the Dabao'en Temple Pagoda. Because it is located in the south of Nanjing, built on the hillside outside the moat, the tower height of 78 meters, coupled with the height of the terrain, naturally became a military commanding height, the artillery mounted on the tower, you can bombard the city, has important strategic significance.
Of course, the Taiping Army would not let go of this commanding height, they brought artillery, placed them on the third floor of the tower, and fired artillery bombardments into the city, the effect was also remarkable, the south gate tower was shattered, and the defenders suffered heavy casualties.
After resisting for nine days, Jiang Ning was attacked by the Taiping Army with the method of burrowing, and the Taiping Army invaded the city. At this time, the battlefield was transferred from inside and outside the city wall to the city, the Dabao'en Temple Pagoda lost its role, the Taiping Army entered the city, Jiangning garrisoned the Eight Banners and retreated into the City of Mancheng, the Taiping Army finally paid a lot of price to capture the fortified City of Mancheng, and the whole city of Jiangning was declared occupied.
During this time, the Pagoda was not destroyed, and as a strategic location, it was basically intact after it was used during the siege.
In March, the Qing army moved towards the north and south reinforcements under the command of Rong and Qishan in the direction of Nanjing, and the Taiping Army received news that in order to prevent the Dabao'en Temple Pagoda from falling into the hands of the Qing army and becoming a threat, it was set on fire.
In the "Chronicle of Jinling", it is recorded: "After the destruction of the city on the tenth day of the first month of February, the reinforcements arrived in March, and the thieves heard the letter and burned the tower. ”
At this time, although the pagoda of Dabao'en Temple was burned, it did not collapse, because its main body was built of red sand and stone, which was relatively strong, so it still stood outside the city.
However, after burning, the pagoda of Dabao'en Temple has been seriously damaged, and it was originally led by a spiral staircase to the top of the tower, but now that the staircase has been burned, the Qing army cannot use the tower to erect cannons.
This can be confirmed in the records of the U.S. naval physician Fass in the fourth year of Xianfeng (1854), who came to visit the glass pagoda of Dabao'en Temple, and afterwards he wrote in a report to his superiors:
A spiral staircase leads all the way up to the top of the tower, giving the viewer a chance to climb to the top of the tower to enjoy one of the most wonderful and beautiful landscapes the world can see, but now it has become a pile of garbage lying under the tower.
Apparently, in the fourth year of Xianfeng, the tower had not collapsed, but the staircase had been burned down.
In the sixth year of Xianfeng, it was finally completely destroyed.
According to the Records of the Pagoda of Jinling Dabao'en Temple, the pagoda was destroyed by the greed of the Taiping Army.
"The top of the pagoda was cast in gold, and the bandits bombarded it with gunpowder, hollowed out the base under the pagoda, and the pagoda fell down for several days, and the temple was burned down."
At that time, Jiang Ning appeared as a nursery rhyme, which sang: "The pagoda is folded, and it kills each other." ”
The folding of the pagoda refers to the collapse of the pagoda of dabao'en Temple, and the self-killing refers to the Tianjing Incident that occurred in the autumn of 1856, in which the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom killed itself and was seriously injured.
It is also said that on the eve of the Tianjing Incident, the Taiping Army faction that was fighting in the city was afraid that the Dabao'en Temple Pagoda would be used by the enemy and completely destroy it.
Other aspects aside, as far as the damage caused to Nanjing by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom after the occupation of Nanjing, it is far more than a pagoda of the Great Bao'en Temple.
In addition to the Dabao'en Temple Pagoda, famous buildings such as Linggu Temple, Qianlong Palace, and Qixia Ancient Temple were destroyed.
Of course, the destruction of Nanjing's monuments is not entirely the work of the Taiping Army, after the Xiang Army invaded Nanjing, it burned and killed, and then looted Nanjing, and many monuments were destroyed again, such as the Chaotian Palace was used by the Taiping Army as a powder storehouse, and after Nanjing was breached, there was an explosion in the battle, almost completely destroyed. Zeng Guofan later built jiangning fuxue on the original site, and the historical original appearance of chaotian palace is never seen again.
The Forbidden City in Nanjing, built at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, was used by the Taiping Army as a supply place for building materials, and was demolished to the point where only a ruined wall remained, and the materials taken were used to build Hong Xiuquan's Heavenly Palace. The Heavenly King's Mansion was golden and brilliant, but it was burned down by the war after the Xiang army entered the city, and there was a folk song in Nanjing: "Tear down the east wall to make up for the west wall, and the west wall will be burned out."
To this day, the Great Wall of World Wonders still stands, but the glass pagoda of Dabao'en Temple has long disappeared. Lost to know precious, even if modern technology is high, can be restored exactly the same, it is not that taste after all, the meaning is far worse.
Today, the ruins of Dabao'en Temple have been built into a park, a series of buildings have been rebuilt, and a lightweight glass pagoda has been built on the site of the glass pagoda of Dabao'en Temple as a protected building for future generations to see.