Xuankong Temple
2 min readXuankong Temple is located at hillside of verdant Jinlong Ravine in Heng Mountain. Pavilions and halls are close to the cliff, which seem to hang in the air . With strange wonderful location, Xuankong Temple occupies a significant position in the history of Chinese architecture. Xuankong Temple was built in the late Northern Wei Dynasty 1400 six years ago. The existing 40 pavilions and halls (including temple gate, bell tower , drum tower , temple hall, etc) were rebuilt the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The buildings either back on the cliff or overhang. A dozen of wood columns on the rock support wooden beams from the clif f. As described by local folklore, “Xuankong Temple hangs in the half height of the sky. Three horse tails hang the air”.
Construction of Xuankong Temple
How can Xuankong Temple hang in the air? Take the highest Sandao Hall (Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism) as example, it features three floors and nine ridges, respectively supported by wood beam inserted into rock. The columns of wood beam and interlayers and bracing f xed on the clif f are interconnected in one, which forms extremely stable structure. It is said that when Xuankong Temple was rebuilt, the craftsmen didn’t know how to do because of construction dif f culty. A craftsman surnamed Zhang found a way out: All the components were prepared. Craftsmen bypassed for dozens of miles to transport to remote mountain on the top of the temple. Components and craftsmen were hung with a rope from the top to the hillside. When craftsmen fixed wooden beams with hammer, and then launched construction. In this way, Xuankong Temple was rebuilt for several years.
Heng Mountain
Heng Mountain is located in Hunyuan County, Shanxi Province. It is North Mountain among “Five Famous Mountains of China”. It stretches about 200 km. The main peak Xuanwu Peak has altitude of 2017 meters. Strange rocks, old trees and forest embrace towering pavilions, halls and temples. It was home to 18 tourist attractions in ancient times, among which Xuankou Temple is the most famous one.
