New Summer Palace, Pavilion of the Seal of the Fragrant Rock Sect

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.