Temple of ancient poetry that disappeared for thousands of years, video

Mystery of the Millennium Hanging Temple: It has been standing after landslides and earthquakes.

With the approaching tourist season, experts from Datong Cultural Relics Bureau in Shanxi Province are worried that there will be too many tourists in Hengshan Hanging Temple. Can this ancient temple, which has been suspended in the air for thousands of years, withstand more than 3,000 people every day? Chai Zejun, an expert on ancient architecture, and others launched an investigation for this, and the result was unexpected! Taking the "structure and position" of the Hanging Temple as a clue, this film gradually unravels the mystery of the hanging, immortality and load-bearing of the Hanging Temple, and finally reveals the mystery of the ancient temple's "eternal hanging".

It is neither grand nor gorgeous, but it transcends the gravity of the earth and hangs in the air. Its height is frightening! 1500 years has experienced numerous landslides, earthquakes and rain erosion, and it has been standing.

Moderator: Standing on this 60-meter-high cliff and looking down is like standing on the roof of a 20-story building. It really feels mysterious! I think anyone who gets there will be weak under his feet. Friends who like to travel may have seen it. This place is a very famous tourist attraction in our country, which is the Hanging Temple in Hunyuan, Datong, Shanxi. Then the temple is very old, and it is said that more and more people love it. If there are more and more tourists, I'm afraid it will be more and more difficult to protect this Millennium temple. Why do you say that? Because the Hanging Temple, the Hanging Temple, as its name implies, is not only built on a cliff more than 60 meters above the ground, but also the whole building is suspended in the air!

Hanging Temple has 4 1 main hall. Incredibly, the bottom floors of all pavilions seem to protrude from the front of the cliff. It seems that pavilions are hanging on the cliff! So, what is the support of such a large-scale temple on the cliff?

There is a folk song circulating around Hengshan Mountain: Hanging Temple, half a day high, with three ponytails hanging in the air. "ponytails" refer to these red stumps that connect pavilions and plank roads with rocks. There are 30 stumps, divided into three groups, each of which is about 10 meters long. They are set under two pavilions and a plank road, giving the first impression that the Hanging Temple seems to be supported by these three groups of stumps on the cliff. Is the Hanging Temple supported by these stumps?

Chang has worked in the management office of Hangkong Temple for 10 years. At the beginning, he also thought that the Hanging Temple was supported by these stumps. However, an accidental discovery puzzled him very much.

Chang, Chief of Cultural Relics Section, Hunyuan Cultural Relics Bureau, Datong: This place is an ancient plank road, which is connected by two three-story pavilions of the Hanging Temple. Under this plank road, all of us look at this pillar from below as if it were a supporting role. In fact, it can swing.

These swaying stumps are very small, not more than ten centimeters in diameter. And the pavilion above weighs dozens of tons. Can such a slender standing wood play a supporting role? What's even more surprising is that people didn't find any trace of Ren Limu when they looked up the historical materials of the Hanging Temple.

Zhao Si, a member of Beijing Folk Artists Association: When I went in the early 1990s, there were no pillars on the plank road of Hangkong Temple, and there were not many pillars in the temples on both sides. what can I say? There are no pillars, but they are still hanging.

Zhao Sijing has visited Hengshan Hanging Temple many times. In the early photos, he didn't find any Li-mu Ren, so he suspected that the standing wood under the Hanging Temple had no supporting function at all. Without these pillars, what would pavilions and plank roads be supported by?

Archaeologists have found that all the pavilions and plank roads of the Hanging Temple are buried with beams: these pieces of wood with a diameter of about 50 cm seem to grow out of rocks. The exposed part of these beams is about one meter, which happens to be a corridor paved with wooden boards. Not only the corridor, but also the base of the whole exhibition hall is directly pressed against these beams.

According to experts' statistics, there are 27 such beams in the Hanging Temple, and these beams are probably the key to stirring the whole pavilion. But what is puzzling is that the hanging temple is surrounded by cliffs as high as 100 meters. How did the ancients complete the erection of these beams?

In 1980s, archaeologists stumbled upon two rows of square caves on the steep stone wall in the south of the canyon. Interestingly, these caves are lined up along the cliff above the river, as if to lead people out of the valley. Is this the legendary plank road?

Mr. Luo is the head of the expert group on the study of ancient buildings in National Cultural Heritage Administration, and has been engaged in the study of ancient buildings in China for a long time. He inferred from the arrangement of these caves that this was a cork, probably the remains of an ancient plank road.

In order to transport materials through the cliff, the ancients dug a stone hole on the cliff, then inserted beams into it and laid boards, thus building a plank road passing through the cliff. Luo believes that there are caves like this on the beams of the Hanging Temple, which play a supporting role.

Luo, head of the National Cultural Heritage Administration Ancient Architecture Expert Group: Exactly the same, exactly the same, just like this hanging temple, that is, drilling holes in the cliff and inserting this beam.

Judging from the existing beams of the Aviation Temple, the diameter of the beams is very consistent with these caves. According to the measurement, the depth of these caves is about one meter, so it is estimated that the depth of the caves and the one meter exposed by the beams may be only two meters long.

However, the weight of the pavilion in the Hanging Temple far exceeds the weight of the plank on the plank road. Can a two-meter-long beam support a huge pavilion?

Luo believes that the length of the beam under the Hanging Temple must be more than two meters. At present, the one-meter beam exposed is only a small part of itself, and most of the beams are hidden in the cliff. If these beams were only two meters, then the whole exhibition hall would have fallen into the abyss!

Luo, head of the National Cultural Heritage Administration Ancient Architecture Expert Group: Just like this lever, when a beam is picked out, it is picked out. The long tail is deep in the cliff. Compared with this part, it is two-thirds. It just ensures the safety of the selected part.

Compere: We can regard this place as Mount Hengshan. We regard it as this beam, single root, and this small building regards it as a suspended temple. What do we use it to illustrate? Let's assume that this beam is 4 meters long, and now we dig this cave in the mountain, I mean this part. The length of this part is one meter. Now I'm going to shoot a beam into this cave. What about this? It is a beam that has been driven into the hole for one meter. However, let's not forget that under the beam, there is still a part of the base of this 3-meter-long rock, so what will it become? This is a cross beam, 3 meters long, tightly leaning against the rock. Only one meter is really suspended, which constitutes a lever, and the beam itself is a lever. Then the end of the base becomes the fulcrum. What about these buildings in the Hanging Temple? It is based on this. However, outside, there is still a distance of one meter, which is really suspended. And this place is just another corridor of the Hanging Temple. Then tourists will walk on it. So some people think that if there are many tourists standing in this part, can this beam still withstand it? Will it crack!

When the experts made a further investigation on the beam, they found that the stump under the plank road could shake without supporting, but the stump under the pavilion was completely different. These columns only support the beam and can hardly move. Do these stumps also play a supporting role?

Luo, head of the National Cultural Heritage Administration Ancient Architecture Expert Group: Because this wood is relatively heavy, it must be supported by this pillar under it, so it will be safe. We used to say that when the wall falls, the house will not collapse. Why? It is supported by this pillar.

The tallest building in Hangkong Temple has 22 stumps. The upper ends of these columns support the beams and the lower ends are firmly pressed against the rocks. It is these columns and beams that form a powerful support system, which ensures the suspension of the pavilion and the safe passage of pedestrians in the corridor. After years of research, Luo found that this kind of beam-column support was widely used in ancient architecture.

Luo, head of the expert group on ancient architecture research in National Cultural Heritage Administration: In ancient times, there was a man named Youchao. He had a nest, and this nest was a bird's nest. Probably earlier than Shennong, the house he built with branches and trunks came from this source, just like the bird's nest on the tree. This source later developed into China wood structure system.

Ancient Chinese artisans have mastered this technology for a long time and it has been widely used in palaces, capitals, bridges and houses. However, it is almost unimaginable for anyone to build a temple on such a precipice as Mount Hengshan. Therefore, once the Hanging Temple was built, it was regarded as a miracle.

Zhao Sijing, a member of Beijing Folk Artists Association: According to the records in Jiaqing Rebuilding the Great Unity, this hanging temple was built in the Northern Wei Dynasty and flourished in the Yuan Dynasty.

The first three stone buddhas in the Hanging Temple were carved in the Northern Wei Dynasty around 500 AD, so the Hanging Temple has a history of at least 1500 years. For modern people, craftsmen 1500 years ago had neither explosives nor complex construction machinery today. How did they dig holes in the stone wall? Zhang Shouzhi is a famous stonemason in Hunyuan. Until now, the stone cutting tools handed down by our ancestors are still preserved.

Zhang Shouzhi: This thing was handed down from the older generation. This thing is called horn, and this thing is called chisel. This kind of steel was scarce in ancient times. It pressed this, this surface is ground, but this surface is not ground.

Experts concluded that craftsmen at that time could only dig 27 stone caves with these simple iron tools.

Today, the beams of the ancient plank road no longer exist, but the traces of these caves are still clearly visible. So, how did the ancients firmly insert the beam in the cave? In the 1990s, the cultural relics protection department tried to replace some beams of the Hanging Temple, but found that they could not be pulled out of the caves. After many twists and turns, experts found that all the beams had been specially treated. When they are inserted into the cave, they are wedged at one end. When they are driven into the cave, the wedge will scatter the beam and firmly stick to the stone wall. Their function is similar to today's expansion bolts, and the deeper they are, the tighter they are fixed.

Compere: Now, I'll show you again. Now I'll wedge the wedge gently here and wedge it into the beam. Now I start to put the beam into the hole and keep knocking outside. This wedge has been completely embedded in this beam, so the head in front of it has become very large, which actually means expansion. In this way, if this beam can't be pulled out, in fact, if you think about it, it will be the same with the hanging temple. This beam can be firmly stuck on the cliff. This is also a reason why the Hanging Temple is not bad for thousands of years. Because of the building materials of that era, we had no choice but to choose wood. However, as we all know, wood has a certain life and will corrode. After all, the Hanging Temple was built 1500 years ago. Is there any change in this forest?

According to historical records, the Hanging Temple has undergone many overhauls during the period of 1500 years since its establishment. Although the structure and location of today's Hanging Temple have not changed, experts judge from the architectural style that most of the existing Hanging Temple buildings were rebuilt in the Ming Dynasty.

Luo, head of the expert group on the study of ancient buildings in National Cultural Heritage Administration: In terms of the French style of its buildings, it is its structure, which belongs to the Ming Dynasty. Bucket arch changes with the development of each era.

According to a stone tablet in the temple during the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, the last maintenance of the wooden structure of the Hanging Temple has been 140 years. Although these beams have cracked, they are not decayed. A special treatment is the key for the beam to withstand the erosion of wind and rain for a hundred years.

Zhao Sijing, a member of Beijing Folk Artists Association: Because it has been soaked in tung oil or smeared repeatedly, it has not been corroded by insects and ants, so it can still be firmly on this rock for more than 1000 years. Because the wood it uses is local Chinese fir, which is rich in China. This kind of wood is very suitable for construction, shipbuilding and vehicles.

Moderator: According to the records of the stone tablet in the temple, at that time, the workers first arranged the beams for it, and then at the foot of the mountain, they used wood as the wooden components for each building. When all the components are finished, they are transported to the top of the mountain. After reaching the top of the mountain, the workers and these components are placed on the hillside with ropes. Then, the workers assembled these components into independent buildings. When all the single buildings are completed, the work is not over yet, and a plank road will be paved to connect the single buildings into a whole, thus becoming a suspended temple. Of course, it takes a very long time. Then there was a poem by the ancients describing the hanging temple at that time, which was called "On the precipice of the flying pavilion, there were several white clouds, a mirage suspected the sea, and the bird path was not among the clouds." But now this castle in the air is facing a threat from underground!

In the 1990s, there was a crisis in Jinlongkou Valley where Hangkong Temple was located.

Staff of Wang Xia Hangkong Temple Management Office: noon 1: 48, we just finished lunch and are resting in the reception room. While we were having a rest, there was a loud noise outside and many stones flew down. The hanging temple is gray, and I can't see anything. I was so scared. I thought the Aviation Temple was gone, and all the stones that big were smashed in. Fortunately, the Hanging Temple is safe and sound. What are you happier about? At that time, we received a 42-member German delegation, all in the temple, unscathed.

The scene just now was a cliff rolling stone caused by the earthquake. There have been many earthquakes in Hunyuan history. In the past 40 years, there have been two earthquakes of magnitude 6 or above, one of which caused one third of the houses in hun yuan to collapse, resulting in huge losses. Hanging Temple is safe and sound! What kept this castle in the air from collapsing? Hanging Temple is a typical ancient wooden structure building. Not only is the hanging pavilion supported on the cliff with wood, but the frame structure of the pavilion itself is also composed of wooden beams and columns, forming a tenon-mortise structure.

Luo, head of the expert group of National Cultural Heritage Administration ancient buildings: The combination of beams and columns is called tenon and mortise. The biggest feature of this tenon structure is that it can prevent earthquakes and absorb earthquake energy. I call it an elastic structure.

The tenon-mortise structure is to insert the protruding part of a piece of wood into a concave hole of the same size in another piece of wood. When the building of this structure is subjected to huge external force, all parts move with each other, and can be restored to the original state after the external force disappears, so it will not be completely destroyed. The characteristic of this structure is the main reason why the Hanging Temple survived all previous earthquakes.

Above the Hanging Temple is a cliff more than 200 meters high at Cuiping Peak. Why can't a boulder falling 200 meters high be a small temple?

Seen from the side, the elevation of Cuiping Peak is a concave arc, and the location of the Hanging Temple is just the most concave place of Cuiping Peak, so the stones rolling down from the mountain will only fall directly to the ground from the front of the Hanging Temple, and will not hit the Hanging Temple at all.

Zhao Sijing, member of Beijing Folk Artists Association: The reason why the Hanging Temple can survive for more than 400 years/kloc-0 has nothing to change or collapse, which is related to the environment it chose. Let's take a look at Hangkong Temple, which is located at the bottom of a pot. On the mountain, it is said to be the bottom of the pot. The bottom of this pot can keep out the rain in rainy season.

Zhao Sijing, member of Beijing Folk Artists Association: In this sunny day, it can only last for a few hours in the morning.

Cuiping Peak, where the Hanging Temple is located, overlooks an internal arc, and the main peak of Hengshan Mountain opposite is also an internal arc. The two peaks are wrapped around the Hanging Temple like two hands, which makes the sunshine time of the Hanging Temple very short and avoids the weathering of wood due to exposure. It's just a short sunshine time, which creates conditions for enjoying the unique night view of Hangkong Temple.

Archaeologists also found some anomalies in this canyon: Hunyuan River flows at the foot of the Hanging Temple, while the Hanging Temple on one side of the canyon is dry and abnormal; The wind is very strong at the bottom of this canyon, but the wind of the hanging temple on the cliff is very small.

It turns out that the exit of Jinlongkou Canyon between the two mountains is very narrow. No matter how strong the wind blows into the bottom of the valley, the recess of the cliff will become smaller. The strong wind blew away the moisture of Hunyuan River, which ensured the ventilation and dryness of Hangkong Temple.

Luo, head of the expert group of National Cultural Heritage Administration ancient buildings: Where the mountains stand out or change, they are combined with beams or bridges to form a group of art with a castle-like combination of fairy mountains. The value is very high, and it does have a musical style and ups and downs. I think the Hanging Temple is very, very good in this respect.

Today, walking on the pavilions and plank roads of the Hanging Temple again, time seems to have stopped. Only the flowing winds of the Hunyuan River and the valley remind us that this building has long been integrated with the valley. Time flies, it is the wisdom of craftsmen before 1500 that created such incredible great buildings on the cliffs.

Moderator: It is said that Li Bai, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, traveled here and saw the Hanging Temple. This situation made him poetic, but instead of writing poetry, he left two words called "spectacular". This is rare. Li Bai wrote many poems and left few words. Later, Xu Xiake, a famous geographer in the late Ming Dynasty, also came here and wrote "A Grand View of the World" happily, describing a great miracle in the history of ancient architecture. When building the Hanging Temple, our ancient ancestors did not have such modern production tools and such good building materials as we do now. They used only some wood, ropes and chisels, and skillfully used the terrain of Hengshan Mountain to build such a magnificent building. It's really admirable. However, the hanging temple is a wooden structure after all. What future generations have to do now is to try their best to prolong its life and let it stand in Hengshan forever. Well, thank you for watching today's Approaching Science.