Nanjing Grand Bao'en Temple Lighting Case | Museum Lighting Recreates a Millennium of Buddhist Radiance

The historic Changgan Li area by the Qinhuai River has been a sacred Buddhist site through successive dynasties. Its origins trace back to Jianchu Temple, built during the reign of Sun Quan of Eastern Wu. During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, Monk Kezheng constructed Changgan Temple here. Later, during the reign of Emperor Chengzu of Ming, the Yongle Emperor built the royal Grand Bao'en Temple here to honor his parents. It was destroyed by war during the Xianfeng era, leaving only the ruins.

The Grand Bao'en Temple Ruins Park project started in 2007 and officially opened in late 2015. Featuring a modern-style museum pavilion and the Grand Bao'en Pagoda as its main structures, it displays precious Buddhist artifacts unearthed from the millennium-old underground palace, showcasing the inheritance of thousand-year Buddhist history and culture.

As one of China's leading lighting enterprises, NVC Lighting participated in the lighting construction of the Grand Bao'en Temple. Given the exceptional value of the exhibited items, the lighting design fully considered the temperature, humidity, and light conditions required for the artifacts, reasonably arranging appropriate lighting techniques and luminaires to ensure their protection and preservation. NVC Lighting's customized lighting application for this museum allows this once-glorious royal temple to recreate a millennium of Buddhist radiance.

A critical aspect of museum lighting is the protection of displayed artifacts.

　　照明的应用难度很大，一方面需要满足展品的品质细节特征展示，往往运用重点照明聚焦在展品上，因此如果照明应用不合理，会造成照度过高，损坏国宝，另一方面由于展柜玻璃的部分反射而产生大量的眩光，刺激眼睛，然而照度偏低，又会造成细节无法直观观赏，特别是对出土文物的照明来说，难度更大。

　　充分考虑到以上问题，雷士为此博物馆照明特别设计和研发了满足相关特性的照明产品，并设计了合理的照度，设置了适宜的光线角度，避免破坏佛教珍贵宝藏，同时有效地控制了眩光，达到观赏和保护文物的双重目的。

The Great Bao'en Pagoda

Standing on the wall of Zhonghua Gate and looking south, you will see a pagoda with a modern glass frame structure. This pagoda resembles a golden wheel towering into the clouds during the day and a splendid lamp shining like the moon at night. That is the famous Great Bao'en Pagoda in Nanjing.

The historic Great Bao'en Pagoda was also known as the Glazed Tile Pagoda. Its main body was built of brick, and apart from a "central wooden pillar" at the top, no wood was used in the entire structure. The inner and outer surfaces were entirely assembled using glazed components of various shapes and colors. This unique decorative art earned the Glazed Tile Pagoda the reputation of being "China's great antique, Yongle's great kiln masterpiece."

Nanjing's Great Bao'en Temple was the pinnacle of Buddhist art at the time. The Glazed Tile Pagoda was not only the tallest building in Chinese architectural history at that time but also extremely luxurious. From various documents and historical materials, we can imagine such a beautiful night scene: outside Zhonghua Gate, the Glazed Tile Pagoda emitted colorful lights under the moonlight, and the bells hanging from the eaves tinkled in the breeze. People returning home late could hear the crisp bell sounds and know the direction of their homes. However, these beauties were destroyed by war, leaving modern people with only a glazed archway.

To inherit millennia of human culture, the government built a nine-story, eight-sided lightweight glass pagoda on the site of the old Great Bao'en Pagoda. The pagoda stands majestically with a massive and unique structure, composed of an internal steel frame combined with external glass materials. The Great Bao'en Pagoda adopts an internal transillumination lighting method, installing LED floodlights at the internal steel frame nodes, making the overall lighting magnificent and colorful, perfectly restoring the night view effect of the Glazed Tile Pagoda.

　　<<<大报恩塔原塔身< p="">

Whenever twilight arrives, the lights on the Glazed Tile Pagoda remain on all night. Whether it is the evening when the moon sets and stars are sparse, or the dark night with heavy rain and wind, whether in the forests at the foot of Zhongshan Mountain or on the fishing boats on the great river, people can always see the unextinguished lights on this tall tower. The lighting effect of the glass structure is magnificent and soul-stirring, allowing people to feel the beauty.

Site Museum

The Grand Bao'en Temple Ruins Museum is built around the Grand Bao'en Pagoda. The architectural style is full of modern technological appeal, and the museum floor clearly reveals relics such as the original temple's foundation and corridor columns. The Grand Bao'en Temple utilizes modern exhibition lighting technology to create magical and stunning visual effects, using high-tech means to restore the thousand-year history and culture of Buddhism.

There is an area in the exhibition hall called "Sarira Buddha Light," where one feels as if arriving at a magical sacred place. 42,000 LED lamps change their seven-colored rays at irregular intervals, symbolizing the seven appearances of Sarira Buddha Light in the history of the Grand Bao'en Temple. Against the backdrop of changing colored lighting, there stands a statue of the Buddha with palms joined and a compassionate, merciful expression. The largest is a reclining Tathagata Buddha. Under the effect of accent lighting, the ethereal and dynamic space, exquisite murals, and statues of Buddhas, recording the "Lotus Pond Grand Assembly" of the Bodhisattvas, are rendered vividly.

　　<<<模拟菩提树和万千佛舍利< p="">

Various lighting technologies are used in the museum. Even from a distance, before approaching another area of the exhibition hall, one can see eight majestic quadrilateral columns, emitting a faint blue-white light from within. At the end is a Buddha head composed of countless optical fibers, with the Buddha's gaze fixed forward. Opposite it sits the statue of the famous Tang Dynasty monk Master Xuanzang, seated cross-legged. This scene inspires endless reverie; perhaps Master Xuanzang, in the state of Zen meditation, has already encountered the Buddha. Under the depiction of the lighting, the thousand-year gaze becomes frozen in the interplay of time.

In the lighting application of the Grand Bao'en Temple Museum exhibition, besides the need for accent lighting which required surface-mounted track spotlights and recessed downlights, the rest of the lighting is cleverly integrated with the interior decorative structure, becoming a new lighting landscape.

NVC's extensive use of high-luminous-flux LED downlights and spotlights is responsible for functional lighting, providing sufficient illuminance conditions. Additionally, the application of low-energy-consumption LED luminaires has saved a significant amount of energy.

Conclusion

To align with the architectural and decorative features of the Grand Bao'en Temple and perfectly showcase its millennium-old Buddhist culture, NVC Lighting, as the lighting construction partner for the temple, conducted extensive on-site research and surveys in the early stages. By providing customized system solutions, along with high-quality products and attentive service, NVC Lighting received high praise and recognition from local cultural heritage authorities and other relevant units.

Under this meticulously designed lighting, the glorious era of Buddha's light from a thousand years ago has been revived. Every night, the Grand Bao'en Temple lights up, displaying a dazzling interplay of colorful lights and shadows. Especially during the Spring Festival, the temple holds a lighting ceremony, where various exquisite and charming lanterns are illuminated within the Grand Bao'en Temple, making it a representative symbol of Nanjing's new art.