Hanging ten tons of temples to 90 meters high on the mountainside, marveling at the wisdom of the ancients 1500 years ago

In the 5,000 years of China's history, we have built countless traditional buildings, and there are still 263,885 of them scattered across the Chinese landscape. Most of them were built either on flat land or on mountains with relatively gentle slopes. About 1,500 years ago, in the mountains of northern Shanxi, there appeared a "pavilion in the air", "hanging" on the cliff face, known as "Hanging Temple". Above the pavilion is a dangerous rock, the limestone layers formed by ancient marine deposits are clear and neatly arranged like an array, slanting into the sky, forming the geological "monoclinic structure". Below is a river that floods from time to time, with sudden summer rains and torrents of mud, sand and debris constantly washing over the valley. It was only in modern times that a dam was built upstream, creating a 13.3 million cubic meter reservoir that gradually eliminated the flooding. Hengshan Reservoir, completed in 1960, is mainly for flood control and irrigation The Hangkong Temple is located between such mountains and water, and the bottom of its highest pavilion is about 90 meters from the river valley below, equivalent to the height of a 30-story building or the Statue of Liberty. The height of the Hanging Temple is shown here for the initial construction of the relative height, and later because of the siltation of the river, the relative height down to 60-70 meters Why build such a height of the pavilion here? 1500 years ago, the ancients, with what imagination and wisdom? Origin 1500 years ago, China was in the period of the North and South Dynasties, when the Tuoba Xianbei came south from the steppe and established the Northern Wei Dynasty in the north, whose territory reached south of the Yellow River. Its capital city, Pingcheng (Datong), was located in the Datong Basin of Shanxi Province, surrounded by mountains and peaks on all sides. The Hengshan Mountain range in the south is particularly dangerous, with the highest peak, Tianfengling, at an altitude of 2016 meters, which is honored as the Northern Mountain because of its overwhelming danger. The emperor sat in the middle of the dangers, controlling the Central Plains with two major transportation routes, one running through Shanxi and arriving at Hezhou (Taiyuan) in the south, and one cutting through the Hengshan Mountains and connecting to the plains of North China. The road was cut by tens of thousands of soldiers in the Hengshan Mountain, day and night. Remnants of the massive project remain today. Various religions also converged on the capital city, with the beliefs of the emperor and the nobility swaying from side to side. Under the influence of Taoism, the emperor built a large number of Taoist temples. The five-story Tianshi Dojo rose up in the capital, and the Yue Temple, worshipped by the state, stood on the main peak of Mount Hengshan. Hengshan Beiyue Bedchamber, built in the Northern Wei Dynasty And under the influence of Buddhism, they excavated the Yungang Grottoes in Datong; expanded the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang. When they went south, then the trend of excavating grottoes to Luoyang, the formation of Longmen Grottoes, China's three major grottoes are actually closely related to the Northern Wei Dynasty. Cave 20 of the Yungang Grottoes, carved in the image of the Northern Wei emperor The competition between Buddhism and Taoism for followers, and the support of the emperor's aristocracy, set the stage for the construction of a more imaginative temple. It had to be built to be special: to have a special effect, to be especially revered. It was against this background that the Hanging Temple was born. Construction The temple's builders chose a valley at the foot of Mount Hengshan, with the main peak Tianfengling to the east; Cuiping Peak, over 1,600 meters above sea level, to the west; and the Tangyu River, a secondary tributary of the Sanggan River, in the middle, creating a wonderland of bliss with its mountain and water features. The trestle road connecting the national capital with the North China Plain and passing through the valley, with north and south pedestrians traveling to and from the area, is both a "fairy realm" and close to the red dust, making it an excellent site for the temple. But how can a temple weighing more than ten tons be suspended from a mountain? First it needs a set of ""hooks"". Halfway up Cuiping Peak on the west side of the valley is not straight up and down, but a natural groove. Craftsmen hung down from a high point using tools to enlarge the groove and chisel out a platform that could be used for casting. On the platform, huge holes were cut into the rock, several meters deep inside and outside, where the "hooks" would be installed. The "hook" itself is also quite amazing, it uses hard hemlock wood, and with tung oil soaked for a long time to prevent corrosion and moisture, the most amazing thing is that one end of the wood is pre-punched with wedges, when the wood is inserted into the stone holes, the wedges will hold up the wood, and it is just right to be stuck in the inner and outer holes, which is equivalent to the modern day "expanding screws". "expansion screws". With more than 2/3 of the length of these timbers penetrating deep into the mountain and using the rock platform as a fulcrum, each of which could support several tons of weight, the "Hooks" were created. With the "hooks" in place, the craftsmen once again embarked on "suspension work". The building materials were transported up the cliff and then suspended to the "hooks". In mid-air, the craftsmen used the "hooks" as beams, set up pillars on top of the beams, and then built beams and square pillars on top of the pillars, utilizing traditional Chinese mortise-and-tenon beams and frames to join the building materials together. A complete frame is formed by building battlements like building blocks. After the framework, the roof, doors, windows, railings, one after another laid, a layer of the temple pavilion jumped out. In order to get more space inside the temple, craftsmen continued to dig out the grottoes to the side of the mountain, and the grottoes were connected to the halls, and the halls were connected to the grottoes to form the wooden structure of the high-altitude cliff building. Hanging Temple of the main body of the building north and south of the two lofts is so built to complete, of which the south floor is three layers high, about 8 meters long, about 4 meters wide, from low to high is the pure Yang Palace, the three official halls and Leiyin Hall. North building is also three stories high, about 7 meters long, about 4 meters wide, the lowest floor for the five Buddha Hall, the middle floor of the building for the Hall of Goddess of Mercy, the uppermost for the three religions Hall. So including the temple, meditation room, Buddha Hall, drum tower, bell tower, including large and small halls 40 north and south staggered arrangement. Between the halls are connected with a trestle, the later is added to the upper and lower trestles to form a closed loop, people walk on it, the stairs or bright or dark, twisting and turning, such as climbing the ladder. Eventually a complete hanging temple, a shape is not inferior to the flat earth temple of the hanging temple, will be presented in front of our eyes, can be called a miracle. Miracle The miracle of the Hanging Temple, first of all, the mechanics of the miracle, it successfully shaped a light "hanging" illusion. Only those who are well versed in the principles of the temple know that its tight and delicate structure makes it quite stable. Later generations added dozens of slender columns below the pavilion, thus creating another illusion: as if the entire building was supported by these trembling columns. In fact, in general these pillars do not bear the weight, but in extreme cases, the pillars are equivalent to the Hanging Temple to add an insurance policy, which allows the Hanging Temple from the general "" static structure "" jumped up to be able to resist the extreme conditions of "" super-static structure "". According to local county records, there have been two earthquakes of magnitude 6 or so in the last 40 years, and the Hanging Temple still stands, thanks to the traditional Chinese wooden frame beam and column system and the pillars below. Hanging Temple next to the "spectacular" two words, legend has it that Li Bai, the original inscription does not exist, in 1990 to Huayan Temple Li Bai's handwriting topography copy engraving, next to a little more metaphorical "than spectacular a little more" Secondly, the miracle of the Hanging Temple is also a miracle of the site, it is the site of the "spectacular", it is a miracle of the "spectacular". The location of the "Hanging" effect, but also for the Hanging Temple added many advantages. Hanging Temple leaning on the Cuiping Peak, the mountainside for a natural groove, the top of the natural outward extension can block the rain wash, the higher position and to avoid flooding. Hanging Temple of the sun is covered by the mountain Cuiping Peak and Tianfengling formed between the harbor-shaped valley, play the role of the wind harbor, reducing the wind on the Hanging Temple of erosion, like a mother's hands will be held in the palm of her hands in all-round care. The mountain also shields the Hanging Temple from the sun, with an average of only 2-3 hours of direct sunlight per day, avoiding the weathering of the wood caused by exposure to the sun. Please look at the horizontal screen, the Hanging Temple complex After more than 1,500 years of frost, the Hanging Temple has seen all the people coming and going, the clouds rise and fall, through the change of dynasties, the stars and the moon sinking and floating. It has been repeatedly repaired in wars and natural disasters, and the appearance we see today is basically a relic of the reconstruction of the Ming and Qing dynasties. As architect Luo Zhewen commented, "A fairy mountain pavilion type, high artistic value of the combination." This is China's first "pavilion in the sky," from the imagination of 1,500 years ago. Editor/Jing Zhao