A.D.

adv

1. Alternative form of AD; initialism of anno Domini.

   “In China, surviving single pagodas at the Fo-kung Temple, Ying Hsien, Shansi, and at the P'u-shou Temple in Hopei, both dating from the eleventh century A.D., no doubt indicate persistence of this earliest plan under the architecturally conservative Liao (p. 709) long after it had disappeared in more metropolitan areas.”

   “Their greatest discovery came on an expedition in 1937 when they dated and meticulously catalogued Foguang Si, or the Temple of Buddha’s Light, in Wutai County, Shanxi Province. The breathtaking wooden temple was built in 857 A.D., making it the oldest building known in China at the time. (It is now the fourth-oldest known).”