A thousand-year-old temple in Shanxi is built on a cliff, and it is amazing that it has been supported by wood for thousands of years
The real photo of the Xuankong Temple in Shanxi with a long history. The unique architecture and structure make people linger and forget to return. The temple is built on a cliff and looks at Haobi Wonderland from a distance. Among the cliffs, there is a slang saying "Hanging Temple, half a day high, with three horsetails hanging in the air", and it is famous for its precipitousness like facing an abyss. Built in the late Northern Wei Dynasty 1400 years ago, it is the only unique temple in China that combines Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism.
Such a unique Xuankong Temple was originally called "Xuankong Temple". Hanging on the cliff, in Chinese, "xuan" and "xuan" are the same sound, so it got its name. At the same time, Xuankong Temple is also a key cultural relic protection unit in Shanxi Province, and "the first scenic spot" among the eighteen scenic spots of Hengshan.
In the first year of Tianxing in the Northern Wei Dynasty, in 398 AD, the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty was established in Pingcheng, which is now Datong City. Kou Qianzhi, the Taoist priest of the Northern Wei Dynasty, left a legacy before his death during the period of 365-448 AD: to build a temple in the air to achieve " Go up to Yanxiaoke, go down to Juexiaofu". After that, the disciples of Tianshi raised funds from various sources and carefully selected the site design. The Xuankong Temple was built in the 15th year of Taihe in the Northern Wei Dynasty, 491 AD. In the 23rd year of Tang Kaiyuan (AD 735), Li Bai wrote the word "spectacular" on the rock wall after visiting the Xuankong Temple. The existing buildings of Xuankong Temple are the relics of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Xuankong Temple has a layout of "one courtyard and two floors", with a total length of about 32 meters and 40 pavilions and halls. The overall layout of the Xuankong Temple consists of temples, meditation rooms, Buddhist halls, Sanfo Hall, Taiyi Hall, Guandi Temple, Drum Tower, Bell Tower, Garan Hall, Songzi Guanyin Hall, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Hall, Thousand-Hand Guanjian Hall, and Jia Hall, Leiyin Hall, Sanguan Hall, Chunyang Palace, Plank Road, Three Religions Hall, Five Buddha Hall and so on.
The two majestic high-rise buildings on the top of the mountain with three eaves in the north and the south seem to face each other in the sky. They are suspended on the cliff like a knife. At first glance, the whole temple is only supported by a dozen wooden pillars about the thickness of the mouth of a bowl, and the highest point is about 50 meters from the ground. The mechanical principle is based on half-inserted beams, with the support of rocks, corridor railings, upper and lower beams and columns are closely connected to form a whole wooden frame structure, which also increases the earthquake resistance. Hengshan Hanging Temple uses the principle of mechanics to half-insert flying beams as the base, skillfully borrows the hidden support of rocks, the beams and columns are integrated up and down, and the corridors and railings are connected left and right. There are more than 80 copper, iron, stone, and clay Buddha statues in the temple. The word "magnificent" on the rock under the temple is the calligraphy of Li Bai, a poet of the Tang Dynasty. The whole temple is a wooden frame structure, with holes dug on the cliff and hanging beams as the foundation. Looking down, you can also enjoy the endless scenery
The distribution of the halls and buildings is symmetrical with changes, scattered with connections, twists and turns, virtual and real, small and exquisite, rich in space, with changeable levels, small in size, and small in size. The Xuankong Temple not only has a thrilling, unique and spectacular appearance, but also has a distinctive architectural structure with rich and colorful forms. The eaves include single eaves, double eaves, and three-story eaves. Vertical ridge, ridge ridge, poor ridge. The overall appearance is ingeniously constructed and stacked on top of each other, resulting in a unique style of a cave with a building, a building with a cave, a half-walled building and a half-walled cave, caves connected to halls, and halls to connected buildings. , without losing the pattern of traditional Chinese architecture. Among the various copper castings, iron castings, clay sculptures and stone sculptures existing in the Xuankong Temple, many styles and styles have the characteristics of the early period, and they are treasures with high artistic value. The scenery is amazing.