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0Living history towers over the nation's capital
耸立在北京城的“活历史”
When one thinks of the historical places of Beijing, what usually comes to mind are the regal red walls and glazed tile roofs, synonymous with the long imperial past of the capital, particularly during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. However, the city has a much lengthier and varied visual history than can be seen from these more widely represented eras, and there are still places where examples of this can be seen within Beijing.
一说到北京的历史古迹，我们总会想到皇家红墙和琉璃瓦屋顶，代表了北京城悠久的王朝历史，尤其是明清时期历史。然而，北京的视觉历史跨度更长、种类更为丰富，城内也有一些古迹为证。
One is the Cishou pagoda, or Pagoda of Benevolence and Longevity, which can be found in Linglong Park, only a few minutes walk from the Cishousi subway station. Aside from some great views of the nearby China Central Television tower, a pond which aligns with the pagoda to offer a perfect reflection of the tower and a decommissioned steam train, the surrounding park is nothing out of the ordinary, with all attention being drawn toward the pagoda itself to the south.
其中一个就是慈寿寺塔，坐落于玲珑公园，距离慈寿寺地铁站几分钟步程。公园旁边的中央广播电视塔景色秀美，塔边水池中可见慈寿塔倒影，另外还有一个废弃的蒸汽火车，除此之外公园其他地方乏善可陈，亮点都集中于位于南边的慈寿寺塔。
Towering high above the trees, the 50-meter-tall, 13-tiered octagonal tower is an imposing sight to behold. Visually, the pagoda gives a strikingly different impression compared to sites such as the Forbidden City, or Summer Palace. Its stone gray walls and carved reliefs of fearsome warriors and creatures on its facade give off a foreboding and almost sinister air, arguably more so now, after hundreds of years of weather damage have worn down their features and amputated many of their limbs.
慈寿寺塔为八边十三级实心砖塔，通高50米，树木掩映其下，与故宫、颐和园等古迹给人的感觉大不相同。灰色砖墙和正面令人生畏的金刚力士等浮雕庄严肃穆，在几百年的风雨洗礼之后，浮雕像特征被侵蚀，肢体残缺，按理说其庄严肃穆更甚。
While pondering the purpose of such formidable designs, I was stopped by a man who informed me that I was walking around the pagoda in the wrong direction, and promptly pointed me in the right direction — which was to walk clockwise around its base. It wasn't until I later looked into this that I learned that circumambulation, or walking around an object of veneration or something that houses a holy relic, must be done in a clockwise direction for three or more times, keeping your right side to the object, as a gesture of respect.
在沉浸于思考这种令人畏惧的设计的目的时，我被一个人叫住，告知我环绕塔的方向是错的，并随即指给我正确的方向，也就是要绕塔基顺时针行走。在事后当我在研究这个事情的时候，我才意识到如果要绕着庄重神圣的建筑物行走时，必须要顺时针绕行三次及以上，身体右侧靠着它，以显示自己对它的敬重。
Seeing the pagoda itself was an interesting enough experience, with its more unique architecture, in comparison to the majority of ancient sites in Beijing, offering a glimpse of a less well-known visual style of the capital. It is still a place of prayer and worship for many, and its importance goes beyond it simply being a historical relic or curiosity but a spot that still has a purpose and place in modern Beijing.
看到这个塔本身就是足够有趣的经历，比起北京大多数古迹，它的建筑设计独一无二，让我们能够了解到北京不为人知的视觉风格。对很多人来说，它仍是祷告和礼拜的场所，其重要性远远超出作为历史名胜的存在，在现代的北京城仍然有其存在的目的和地位。
