The Miniature World: A Study of the Revolving Sutra Repository at Pudu Temple in Beijing

GU Xinchun

Studies In Dazu Rock Carvings ›› 2026 ›› Issue (3) : 80-91.

PDF(10842 KB)
PDF(10842 KB)
Studies In Dazu Rock Carvings ›› 2026 ›› Issue (3) : 80-91. DOI: 10.26953/j.cnki.2097-4698.2026.03.006

The Miniature World: A Study of the Revolving Sutra Repository at Pudu Temple in Beijing

  • GU Xinchun
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Abstract

Located east of Nanchizi Street in Dongcheng District, Beijing, adjacent to the Forbidden City, Pudu Temple is an important Buddhist temple supported by the imperial family during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. This paper takes the revolving sutra repository at the southeast corner of the auxiliary hall of Ciji Hall in Pudu Temple as the research object: on the one hand, by placing it in the spatial context of the entire temple, and analysing the documentary accounts by visiting scholars during the Republican era and surviving historical photographs, we can reconstruct the internal structure and exterior decoration of this revolving sutra repository; on the other hand, through the identification and textual research of the marble balustrade of the revolving sutra repository, and by comparing it with the bronze Mount Sumeru at Yonghe Temple, it is found that the revolving sutra repository at Pudu Temple is a miniature model that replicates the Buddhist cosmic world through three-dimensional structure.

Key words

Pudu Temple / revolving sutra repository / Sumeru World

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GU Xinchun. The Miniature World: A Study of the Revolving Sutra Repository at Pudu Temple in Beijing[J]. Studies In Dazu Rock Carvings. 2026(3): 80-91 https://doi.org/10.26953/j.cnki.2097-4698.2026.03.006
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