New Summer Palace, Pavilion of the Seal of the Fragrant Rock Sec, western gable

The Pavilion is located along the central axis of Longevity Hill, on its northern slope. It is a core component of the Han-Tibetan architectural complex known as the Four Great Regions Complex. Constructed during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor, the complex was modeled after Tibet's Samye Monastery. Originally a three-story pavilion, it was destroyed by fire during the Anglo-French expedition of 1860 and rebuilt as a single-story Buddhist hall in 1888. The complex centers on Tibetan religious architecture and merges Chinese elements, such as glazed tile roofs, with Tibetan Sumeru pedestal bases and stupas, forming a three-dimensional spatial expression of Buddhist cosmology.

Architecture: New Summer Palace