Ren'an Gate

Ren'an Gate

Ren'an Gate is situated behind Peitian Gate and is the last gate before the main structure, Tiankuang Hall. A passageway links Peitian Gate and Ren'an Gate. The gate is five bays wide, totaling 2,440 cm, and two bays deep, measuring 1,026 cm. The central bay is 510 cm, the adjacent bays are 476 cm each, and the smaller side bays are 482 cm each. It has a nine-ridged hip-and-gable roof. The roof has a relatively steep pitch with a rise-to-run ratio of 1:2.5 and is covered with yellow glazed tiles. The platform measures 2,863 cm in length from east to west and 1,373 cm in width from north to south.

The Ming Dynasty work *Dai Shi* (Records of Mount Tai) states: “Ascending from the Dai Temple Gate, the first inner gate is Peitian, followed by Ren'an,” and this name has been used ever since. According to the *Stele Inscription on the Reconstruction of the Eastern Mountain’s Auxiliary Halls* and related materials, Ren'an Gate was originally built during the Yuandade era. It once housed the deities Tianlong (Heavenly Deaf) and Diya (Earthly Mute), and has undergone multiple renovations. Historical records indicate that due to fires and earthquakes, Ren'an Gate was extensively repaired twice—once during the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty and again during the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty—both times following catastrophic fire and seismic events.

According to *Li Qin's Brief Account of the Temple of the Eastern Mountain*, recorded in Volume 9 of *Dai Shi*: “In the winter of the Dingwei year of the Jiajing reign, the temple caught fire. Halls, corridors, guesthouses, meditation rooms, gates, and towers were completely destroyed, leaving only the three rear palace halls and the two shrines of Bingling and Yanxi.” The subsequent reconstruction “began in the spring of the Renxu year and was completed in the summer of the Jisi year. From the halls downward, what had collapsed was rebuilt, what had tilted was replaced, and what had been damaged was restored,” taking nearly two years (1562–1563).

In the seventh year of the Kangxi reign (1668), a major earthquake struck. “At that time, the surrounding city walls had all collapsed, leaving only the Five Phoenix Towers in front. The Rear Gate had only its beams and columns remaining. Donghua Gate, Xihua Gate, along with the gate towers on the city walls and the four corner towers, were reduced to foundations.” Ren'an Gate and other structures suffered even more severe damage: “The three rear palace halls, the Bell and Drum Towers, the Imperial Stele Tower, Ren'an Gate, Peitian Gate, the Three Spirits Lords Hall, and the Grand Marshal Hall—all eleven structures—had their tiles and walls collapsed, their beams and planks shattered, and only about thirty percent of the beams, columns, purlins, and rafters were salvageable.” These buildings were repaired by “dismantling all tiles, timber, and walls to the ground and replacing them entirely with new materials.” The full-scale renovation project began in the second month of the spring of the eighth year of the Kangxi reign (1669) and was completed in the fifth month of the seventeenth year (1678), taking nine years. Multiple repairs have been carried out since then.