Shanxi ancient buildings are popular.
Located on the top of Mount Heng, the northernmost mountain.
Embedded between cliffs,
The Hanging Temple is built in the air.
It also caused everyone to be amazed.
Why is the Hanging Temple “hanging in the air”?
In addition to Shanxi,
What other places in China
Is there such an exquisite “suspended work”?
Table of Contents
01. Shanxi – Hanging Temple of Hengshan Mountain
In Hunyuan County, Datong City, Shanxi Province, the Hanging Temple stands quietly on the cliff of Cuiping Peak on the west side of Jinlong Gorge in Hengshan Mountain. At first glance, it looks like a huge and exquisite relief mural carved on the cliff by skilled craftsmen.
It is a temple that integrates Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism.
The original name was “Xuankong Pavilion”, which means integrating “Daoxuan” and “Buddhism” into one.
Later, the whole temple seemed to be hanging on a cliff.
And because “Xuan” and “Xuan” have the same pronunciation, it was renamed “Hanging Temple”.
The Hanging Temple located in Hengshan is one of the three largest hanging temples in my country.
The Hanging Temple was built in the sunken part in the middle of Cuiping Peak. The entire temple is a wooden structure . There are more than 40 existing halls and pavilions. The pavilions overlap each other and the structure is ingenious. The tallest building is more than 50 meters above the ground , and this is not its limit. In ancient times, the difference between its height and the ground reached 90 meters .
There is a folk saying that “The Hanging Temple is half a sky high, and three horsetails are hanging in the air”, which means that the temple standing in the air seems to be supported only by the red standing wood connecting the attic and the rock. In fact, the load-bearing components of the Hanging Temple are mainly the beams inserted into the cliff and the standing wood below.
This is because all the beams are inserted into the rock at one end.
They all drove the wedges in first,
When the wedge reaches the innermost part of the rock hole, apply force from the outside.
The wedges will push the beams apart and hold them tight.
The mortise and tenon structure composed of wooden beams and columns is flexible and stable. With the support of rocks , the entire pavilion building becomes more stable.
Not only that, the temple also uses a lot of relatively hard iron fir wood , which has been treated with methods such as soaking in tung oil and painting multiple times to increase its corrosion resistance and aesthetics. The temple is built in a sunken part, which happens to be shielded by cliffs and protruding stone walls to reduce rain erosion.
The Hanging Temple has a layout of ” one courtyard and two towers “. The towers are stacked one on top of the other without feeling messy. It is tortuous and mysterious, with ingenious conception, and is extremely ornamental and artistic.
02. Hebei – Cangyan Mountain Hanging Temple – Bridge Tower Hall
In addition to the Hanging Temple of Hengshan, the Bridge Tower Hall of Fuqing Temple located in Cangyan Mountain, Jingxing County, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, has also appeared in the recent popular game.
Cangyan Mountain is a typical Zhangshiyan landform , with many red steep valleys, rugged rocks, towering ancient trees, flowing springs and green mountains.
It is caused by rock collapse and direct dislocation of rock strata.
Since the main components of the Zhangshiyan landform sedimentary layer are hard,
Quartz sandstone, which is not easily weathered, is difficult to be eroded and deposited.
Therefore, the steep walls of the Zhangshiyan landform are often very straight and have no curvature.
On the two towering cliffs of Cangyan Mountain, there are three single-arch stone bridges . According to research, the stone bridges were built in the Sui Dynasty, using a total of 365 square bluestones of different sizes, with a unique horizontal and vertical design, and the stone seams are quite neat; the buildings built on the stone bridges may be buildings from the Tang Dynasty.
The Bridge Tower Hall faces west and east, and is five rooms wide and three rooms deep. It is a nine-ridge double-eaved pavilion-style building . There is a building on the bridge, and a hall in the building. The temple buildings are distributed on both sides of the mountain cliff. The Bridge Tower Hall connects the buildings on both sides to form a complete temple . The overall design is exquisite and generous, and contains the beauty of details.
Looking down from the bridge, there is a deep abyss below, which is extremely dangerous; looking up from below, there is a bridge building stretching between two mountains, flying in the air, connecting the blue sky above and the deep valley below, like a rainbow, forming the spectacle of “bridge palace flying rainbow”.
They are collectively known as the “Three Wonders” of Cangyan Mountain.
03. Yunnan – Xishan Hanging Temple – Sanqing Pavilion
Sanqing Pavilion is located on Luohan Mountain in Xishan, Kunming City, Yunnan Province. It is a Taoist temple complex with nine floors and eleven pavilions . Due to natural conditions, each building is not large in scale, but they are arranged here in a staggered manner. Many halls and pavilions are built with wooden planks and stone caves, and are stacked and “inlaid” between cliffs.
The establishment of Sanqing Pavilion can be traced back to the Yuan Dynasty. At that time, the King Liang who ruled Yunnan built a “Thousand-Step Cliff” stone staircase at the foot of Luohan Mountain and built a palace on Luohan Cliff to escape the summer heat.
In the early Ming Dynasty, the Summer Palace was abandoned. Later, monks built the Buddhist temple “Luohan Temple” on the north side of the Summer Palace. Soon after, a Taoist temple was built on top of it. After renovation and expansion in the Qing Dynasty, it formed the current building complex.
Looking up at the Sanqing Pavilion from the bottom, you can see beautiful buildings embedded between the cliffs; if you lean on the railing of the Sanqing Pavilion and look out, you can have a panoramic view of the entire Dianchi Lake, with clear skies, fresh air, and beautiful mountains and waters. Although your feet are suspended in the air, you will not feel scared, but rather open-minded.
04. Tibet – Gongburi Temple, Silin Temple, Zizhu Temple, Zhayeba Temple
When talking about Tibetan temples, the Potala Palace and Jokhang Temple may come to mind first. But in fact, there are some temples standing on the rugged cliffs on the mountainside, they are mysterious and aloof.
Gongburi Temple is located on a cliff on the north bank of the Majia Zangbo River in Purang County, Ngari Prefecture. The temple is about 30 meters above the riverbank and is a temple built in a cave . The Buddhist temple, practice room, scripture hall, etc. are all caves dug into the mountain. The exterior is connected to each other by corridors suspended in the air. The corridors are formed by laying wooden boards on logs vertically inserted into the cliff.
Silin Temple is located in Pangduo Village, Pangduo Township, Lingzhou County, Lhasa. It is located on a cliff with a straight up and down cliff . The valley is over 4,000 meters above sea level. Under the sunlight, the temple seems to be suspended in the air hundreds of meters above the valley bottom. The reddish-brown rock wall and the blue-green ice lake not far away complement each other with bright colors.
The surrounding bushes and jungles are as dense as the sea, making it a great place for quiet practice.
Hence it is called Silin, which means Lion Grove.
Zizhu Temple is located on Zizhu Mountain in Dingqing County on National Highway 317, at an altitude of about 4,800 meters. It has a history of more than 3,000 years and is one of the high-altitude temples in Tibet . The mountains here are steep, and various buildings are built on the mountains, with different heights and majestic appearance.
There are main halls, scripture halls and caves for practice on the six peaks.
Zhayeba Temple is located on Hailarinbu Mountain in Dagze County, Lhasa, with an altitude of more than 4,000 meters. It has a history of 1,500 years. After several expansions, it has become a “temple on the cliff” tightly embedded in the crevice of the cliff .
The mountains here are steep, with caves of various shapes on the cliffs . The six groups of karst caves and affiliated artificial buildings on the mountainside form the main body of the temple. The caves have their own characteristics, and many caves have karst landforms such as flowing water and stalactites.
There are more “Hanging Temples” in Tibet than the ones mentioned above. There are also Zhensang Monastery, Sobu Monastery… These temples also naturally have a mysterious and noble atmosphere. They stand there quietly, waiting for people to understand.
05. Zhejiang – Daciyan Hanging Temple
The Daciyan Hanging Temple, located in the south of Jiande City, Zhejiang Province, is similar to the Hanging Temple of Hengshan Mountain in Shanxi Province, and is therefore also known as the ” Hanging Temple of Jiangnan “.
Mo Ziyuan from Lin’an dreamed that he had achieved success in practicing Buddhism here.
After waking up from the dream, I left home and came here, inviting skilled craftsmen,
A huge natural rock from the mountain was carved into a Buddha statue, named “Da Ci”.
A magnificent Buddhist temple was built on the cliff.
People named this mountain Daci Rock after Buddha.
Daciyan is a mountain made of volcanic clastic rocks . Its shape is strange, with five peaks like fingers bent into a fist. It is 586 meters above sea level. The mountain is high and steep, with cliffs thousands of feet high. Cave buildings are lined up at the top of the cliff. The main hall is built in a cave 3 meters high, 60 meters long and 20 meters wide. Half of it is suspended in the air and half is embedded in the belly of the rock, which looks like it is about to fly into the sky.
The mountains are filled with mist and the water flows gently below. When you climb up to the Hanging Temple, you can see the towering mountains. The cliffs of Daci Rock are also covered with cliff carvings of different styles and exquisite calligraphy, which are relatively well preserved. The content is rich and interesting, which complements the beautiful scenery of the mountains and the Hanging Temple.
06. Fujian – Lingtong Mountain Hanging Temple, Ganluyan Temple, Fangguangyan Temple
There is also a Hanging Temple in Pinghe County, Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province, which is known as ” the most beautiful Hanging Temple in the South “. It is the Hanging Temple located on Lingtong Mountain – Lingtong Temple.
Lingtong Mountain has a typical cliff-shaped landform – the top is relatively flat, with steep cliffs on the sides, and Lingtong Temple is a “castle in the air” built on the cliff of the cliff-shaped landform.
Thick rhyolite formations with steep cliffs on the sides.
Its width is generally greater than 50 meters.
It is formed after the volcano collapses.
A volcanic rock formation formed within a volcano.
Lingtong Temple was first built in the Tang Dynasty. It was constructed using natural stone caves formed by years of weathering and erosion of volcanic rocks on the cliff . It was built in the air according to the shape of the cliff. It is an official reinforced concrete wooden structure with green tiles, red wood and white walls.
The building complex consists of two floors, the first floor is the Heavenly King Hall, the second floor is the Great Hall, and the two sides are the bell and drum towers. On the east side, along Tianjie, there are dormitory buildings, pavilions, Tongtian Terrace, Pantao Street, etc.
It takes more than a thousand steps to walk from the bottom of the mountain to Lingtong Temple. The winding steps are like a ladder to heaven, but you can also ascend step by step to the pavilion halfway up the mountain. On the cliff above Lingtong Temple, there is a waterfall with a drop of 300 meters, which falls from the sky like a high-hanging pearl curtain hanging down from the air, and the pearl curtain turns into rain.
In addition to Lingtong Temple, Ganluyan Temple in Taining County, Fujian Province is also a building hidden in the cliff. There are many caves in the Danxia Peaks of Dajin Lake in Taining County. Ganluyan Temple is built in an “inverted triangle” cave and has been preserved for a long time by relying on the shelter of the cave.
The stalactites in the cave drip water all year round.
It is clear and sweet, like nectar, hence the name “Ganlu Rock”.
The temple is named after the rock, so it is called “Ganluyan Temple”.
Ganluyan Temple is an all-wood structure , built in the air by cleverly taking advantage of the rock terrain. All the buildings are supported by a single well-shaped wooden frame , without any tiles, and the structure is very unique.
It was first built in the Song Dynasty. The building’s vermilion pillars, doors and windows, sloping roof and upturned corners, as well as the “dougong” made of layers of arm-shaped wood stacked on the capitals and the colorful paintings on the beams, all have a strong Song Dynasty architectural style.
Not only Ganluyan Temple has sweet springs, but Fanguangyan Temple in Yongtai County, Fuzhou City also has stone springs with clear water.
The Fanguangyan Temple was first built during the Northern Song Dynasty. It is located in a natural cave on a cliff. Part of it is suspended outside the cave, and part of it is hidden inside the cave. Only a dozen wooden pillars are used to support the rock wall below, forming a frame structure. What is more special is that the temple complex is built in the cave without tiles, but with rocks as tiles, so it is called “a tile”.
There are stalactites of various shapes hanging in the cave, and outside the cave there are cliffs with waterfalls, dense bamboo forests, and stone sculptures. Although it is located next to a deep valley and the terrain is steep, it is also unique and interesting.
07. Qinghai – Xining Hanging Temple – Beichan Temple
Beichan Temple, also known as Tulou Temple, is located between the cliffs of Beishan in Xining City. It was built according to the special Danxia landform shape . It has a history of more than 1,000 years and there were written records of it as early as the Northern Wei Dynasty.
It is a special Danxia landform.
Because it has been weathered by wind and rain, it looks like a Tulou.
Therefore it is also called Tulou Mountain.
Therefore, Beichan Temple is also called Tulou Temple.
The steepness of Beichan Temple lies not only in the fact that it is built on a mountain, but also in the steepness of its ancient caves and plank roads, among which the ” Nine Caves and Eighteen Caves ” are the most famous.
The ancient caves are divided into four layers on the cliff, most of which are located on the mountainside. The caves are of different sizes and depths. There are plank roads and corridors connecting the caves, and the plank roads are also built in the air. If you walk here and look down, it is inevitably daunting.
Danxia landform is characterized by red cliffs, caves and dangerous peaks.
Get typical development.
The soft rock layer is concave inward, forming caves of varying sizes.
That is to say, “Nine Grottoes and Eighteen Caves”.
In addition, you can see vivid murals in the caves, and some of them even retain murals from the Sui and Tang dynasties, which are exquisite and of great artistic value. Outside the caves, the buildings built along the mountain are equally magnificent. The natural landscape and the cultural landscape complement each other, together depicting the steep and dangerous scenery of Beichan Temple.
08. Henan – Chaoyang Hanging Temple
Among the numerous hanging temples in China, some are built in caves, while others face the sun. The Chaoyang Hanging Temple, located on the hillside of Chaoyang Mountain in Qi County, Hebi City, Henan Province, is named Chaoyang Hanging Temple, also known as Chaoyang Temple, because it is built on the mountain, built on a cliff, facing south, and sheltered from the wind .
According to the “Qi County Chronicles” of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Chaoyang Temple was originally the former palace of the Shang Dynasty , and was the palace used by King Zhou of Shang for heating in winter. In summer, there was a cool and pleasant Qingliang Temple behind Chaoyang Mountain, where the green trees shaded the sun and was also a great place to cool off. It was not until the seventh year of Wuding in the Eastern Wei Dynasty that a temple was built here.
Chaoyang Mountain is covered with lush trees, and clear springs and waterfalls flow behind the mountain. Whenever the sun shines on the mountainside, the temple buildings hanging on the mountainside appear more magnificent, as if they were coated with a layer of golden light. Walking on Chaoyang Mountain, seeing the magnificent ancient temples, listening to the birds singing in the mountains and the gurgling water, you can’t help but feel peaceful and relaxed.
The Hanging Temple is built on the mountain, and its craftsmanship is amazing.
In addition to the above mentioned,
There are still many high-hanging buildings in our country.
Such as: Fanjing Mountain Red Cloud Golden Summit,
Longmen Cave in Shaanxi, Laojun Temple in Henan, etc.
There are even many excellent ancient buildings.
Ancient buildings not only contain historical culture,
It also reflects human wisdom.
I hope that more ancient buildings will be noticed and understood by everyone.
May the excellent skills continue to be passed on and continued.
【References】
