Juyongguan Pass Cloud Terrace

The Cloud Terrace of Juyongguan Pass

The Cloud Terrace of Juyongguan Pass is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Cloud Terrace of Juyongguan Pass was originally the base of a street-crossing pagoda in the center of the Juyongguan fortress. Constructed during the Zhizheng era of the Yuan Dynasty (1345), it is an exquisitely carved white marble platform.

The terrace is built from white marble, standing 9.5 meters high, with the base measuring 26.84 meters east-west and 17.57 meters north-south. The stone railings, columns, balustrades, and water-spouting dragon heads around the top of the terrace all retain the artistic style of the Yuan Dynasty. At the center of the base is a gate opening, wide enough for people, carts, and horses to pass through. The arched gate and tunnel are adorned with carvings of the Garuda bird, whales, elephants, dragons, mandalas, and Buddha images. On both sides of the tunnel walls are relief sculptures of the Four Heavenly Kings, as well as dhāraṇī scriptures and inscriptions about the merits of building pagodas, all inscribed in six scripts: Sanskrit, Tibetan, Mongolian, Uyghur, Tangut, and Chinese. The Cloud Terrace can be considered a magnificent masterpiece of Yuan Dynasty stone carving art.

Originally, there were three pagodas on the terrace, which were successively destroyed during the late Yuan and early Ming periods. In the fourth year of the Zhengtong era of the Ming Dynasty (1439), a temple named Tai'an Temple was rebuilt on the terrace but was burned down in the forty-first year of the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty (1702), leaving only the Cloud Terrace. The column bases on the terrace today are remnants of the halls of the Ming Dynasty Tai'an Temple.

Juyongguan has two outer passes, one to the south and one to the north. The southern one is called Nankou, the entrance to Guangu Valley. The original old fortress and city walls have largely decayed, though traces of the walls can still be seen along the ridges on both sides of the valley entrance. The northern pass is known as Badaling.

Further Reading:

· First Batch of Municipal-Level Cultural Relics Protection Units in Beijing

· First Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units