银川玉皇阁, Historical temple in Xingqing District, China.
The Jade Emperor Pavilion is a wooden structure in Yinchuan with curved roofs and ornamental upturned eaves characteristic of traditional Chinese architecture. The building combines the functions of a pavilion with elements of bell and drum towers integrated into its design.
The site began as a bell and drum tower built under the Yongle Emperor in the early 15th century, initially a rammed-earth platform with soldiers' quarters. After Yinchuan's city wall was expanded in the Zhengtong era, a new tower took over its function and this one was called the Old Drum Tower. It was reactivated in 1592 when the new tower was destroyed during the rebellion of Liu Dongyang and Xu Chao, then ruined by the 1738 earthquake and rebuilt as the Jade Emperor Pavilion, a Taoist temple.
The name Yuhuangge refers to the Jade Emperor, to whom the former bell tower was rededicated as a Taoist temple after its 1738 reconstruction. The gate arch carries stone inscriptions: "帝鉴" (Imperial Mirror) on the south side and "天洛" on the north. In 1926 Feng Yuxiang's National United Army installed the editorial office of its newspaper Zhongshan Daily inside the building.
The pavilion stands at the junction of Jiefang East Street and Yuhuangge North-South Street in Xingqing District. A small side door northwest of the central archway opens onto 32 steps that lead to the top of the 8-metre platform. The site charges no admission since 2012.
The two bell and drum towers flanking the main hall are not original: in 2005–2006 restorers placed a 1.43-metre-high bronze bell weighing 1.12 tonnes and a leather drum 1.2 metres in diameter on the east and west towers. The red paint that had covered the base since the 1950s was stripped back to the grey brick.
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