Dai Temple Archway

Dai Temple Archway

The Dai Temple Archway is a cultural tourism attraction.

Between the Yuan Can Pavilion and Dai Temple lies the Dai Temple Archway, also known as the Exquisite Archway. Built in the 11th year of the Kangxi reign during the Qing Dynasty (1672 AD), it is a four-pillar, three-bay, three-story style archway. With its staggered heights, fully carved reliefs, majestic form, and exquisite craftsmanship, it is considered a masterpiece of Qing Dynasty stone carving architecture.

The roof of the archway is built in a hip-and-gable wooden imitation style, featuring soaring dragon heads, layered brackets, upturned eaves, and ridge beasts ready to dash. At the center of the main ridge stands a sacred vase, flanked by the Four Heavenly Kings pulling and reinforcing it. The lower beam of the central pillar is adorned with an openwork design of two dragons playing with a pearl, while the lintel beam features a relief of a phoenix facing the sun. Below the archway sits a square stone base, upon which twin pillars are erected. On the lower sides of the pillars are rolling pier stones, each bearing a pair of standing stone lions—front and back. The male lion plays with a silk ball, while the female frolics with her cubs, each in unique and lively poses. The beams, pillars, lintels, and rolling pier stones of the archway are intricately carved with over 30 vivid images of auspicious beasts and birds, including door-knockers with rings, phoenixes facing the sun, two dragons playing with a pearl, flocks of cranes among lotuses, flying heavenly steeds, divine bulls fighting, and qilins delivering treasures. The designs employ symmetrical composition, with varied layouts and carving techniques that deliver a powerful artistic impact. The inner sides of the pillars feature inscribed couplets on both the yang (front) and yin (rear) faces. The southern couplet was composed and inscribed by Shi Tianyi, then Governor of Shandong and Provincial Administration Commissioner: “Soaring to the heavens, it assists in the creation and nurture of all things; emerging from the east, its resplendent might guards the land.” This means that the lofty Mount Tai rivals the heavens, aiding the cosmos in giving birth to all living things; the deity who rules the universe, the God of Mount Tai, exerts a formidable spiritual presence over the east. The northern couplet was authored and written by Zhao Xiangxing, Governor of Shandong and Vice Minister of War: “As the supreme leader of all mountains, revered across nations, how sublime is its virtue; commanding the assembly of spirits, obeyed throughout the land, how boundless is its merit.” In essence: Mount Tai is the foremost of the Five Great Mountains, drawing admirers from all over the country with its majestic presence. Who could surpass the benevolent virtue it bestows upon all life? The deity of Mount Tai governs the realm of spirits, with all under heaven heeding its call. Who could compare to the vast merit it accrues in protecting humanity? These two couplets succinctly encapsulate the divine authority of Mount Tai. Dai Temple, formerly known as the “Temple of the Eastern Peak,” also called the Temple of Tai, is primarily dedicated to the “God of Mount Tai, the Eastern Peak.” It was also the residence and ceremonial site for ancient emperors during their Fengshan (mountain worship and sacrifice) rituals at Mount Tai. Located in the northern part of Tai’an City, it sits precisely along the central axis extending from the old southern gate of Tai’an in the south to the South Heaven Gate at the summit of Mount Tai in the north. Stretching 405.7 meters from north to south and 236.7 meters from east to west, it has a rectangular layout covering an area of 96,000 square meters. The temple is surrounded by high walls, with a perimeter of three li (approximately 1.5 km), walls three zhang (about 10 meters) high, and eight gates around its perimeter. Dai Temple houses the densest collection of cultural relics on Mount Tai, making it China’s third-largest forest of steles after Xi’an and Qufu. It is also a delightful classical garden. Ancient cypresses twist like dragons, and ginkgo trees spread shade like canopies, creating picturesque scenery all year round. The “Dai Temple Archway” was constructed in the 11th year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1672 AD) by Shi Tianyi, then Governor of Shandong. The archway stands 12 meters tall, 9.8 meters wide, and 3 meters deep, in a four-pillar, three-gate style. It features three tiers, with double-layered beams and four pillars entirely covered in carvings. The front and rear bases of the four pillars are adorned with eight stone lions in various poses. The double-layered beams and four pillars are engraved with more than 20 sets of lifelike auspicious birds and beasts and floral patterns, such as “phoenix facing the sun,” “two dragons playing with a pearl,” “a flock of cranes among lotuses,” and “heavenly steeds soaring through the skies.” The entire stone archway is uniquely shaped, with remarkable intricacy in its carving, making it a treasured work of Qing Dynasty stone carving art.