How was Hengshan Xuankong Temple built?
Mount Heng Xuan Kong Temple was built during the Northern Wei Dynasty. According to the information provided, Xuankong Temple was built by the Northern Wei Celestial Master Daoist Kou Qianzhi before his death. Through site selection and design, his disciples built the temple on a steep cliff, relying mainly on the shape of the mountain and the shape of the rock to support the building. The building structure used a combination of wooden structures and cable structures, allowing the entire temple to hang firmly on the cliff. The buildings of Xuan Kong Temple were made of wood and stones, which were cleverly embedded in the cracks between the rocks in the mountains, forming a floating effect. Xuankong Temple was one of the earliest and best preserved wooden cliff buildings in China. The specific construction process and technical details were not provided.
When was the Hengshan Xuankong Temple built?
Hengshan Xuankong Temple was built in the 15th year of Taihe of the Northern Wei Dynasty, which was 491 AD.
In which dynasty was Hengshan Xuankong Temple built?
Mount Heng Xuan Kong Temple was built in the late Northern Wei Dynasty.
Hengshan Xuankong Temple
Mount Heng Xuan Kong Temple was located on a steep cliff on Cuiping Peak of Mount Heng's Golden Dragon Gorge in Hunyuan County, Datong City, Shanxi Province.
Xuankong Temple or Hengshan Temple first?
It could be seen that the information about going to Xuan Kong Temple or Heng Shan Temple first was not clear. Although some tourists mentioned that they could go to Xuankong Temple first before going to Mount Heng, they did not specify which attraction was better or more suitable to visit first. Therefore, based on the information provided, it was impossible to determine whether to go to Xuan Kong Temple or Heng Shan Temple first.
How was Xuankong Temple built?
Xuan Kong Temple was built more than 1000 years ago in the later period of the Northern Wei Dynasty. According to legend, the ruler of the Northern Wei Dynasty believed in Taoism and ordered craftsmen to build Xuankong Temple according to the requirements of Taoism. Xuankong Temple was located on a steep cliff, about 60 meters above the ground, and on both sides were cliffs that stood more than 100 meters. The experts had inspected Xuan Kong Temple many times and put forward many opinions. Some experts believed that the reason why Xuankong Temple could be built on the cliff was mainly because of the "iron carrying pole" that erected the pavilion. In addition, the architectural structure of Xuankong Temple used a variety of different wooden structure techniques, such as mortise and tenon, bucket arch, bucket arch color painting, wing angle mortise and tenon, etc. The architectural features of Xuankong Temple were strange, suspended, and ingenious. The overall structure was made of wood. The builders of Xuankong Temple were craftsmen from the Northern Wei Dynasty. According to the requirements of Taoism, they used wooden structure techniques and special architectural layout to build the temple on the cliff so that it could survive for thousands of years.
How was Xuankong Temple built?
Xuan Kong Temple was built using wooden structures and mechanical principles. The buildings of Xuankong Temple mainly relied on the support of "iron carrying poles" and standing trees. Experts pointed out that the boardwalk and pavilions of Xuankong Temple were supported by wooden beams deeply inserted into the rocks, using ironwood trees soaked in tung oil. These wooden beams and stumps had been carefully calculated and designed to be able to withstand several tons of weight, allowing the entire Xuankong Temple to hang firmly on the cliff. In addition, Xuankong Temple's architectural structure also adopted the design of mortise and tenon structures and elastic structures to enhance its earthquake resistance. In general, the architecture of Xuankong Temple was a miracle built by ancient craftsmen using wooden structures and mechanical principles.
How was Xuankong Temple built?
Xuankong Temple was built in the later period of the Northern Wei Dynasty, about 1500 years ago. It was located between the cliffs of the Golden Dragon Gorge in Hengshan, Hunyuan County, Shanxi Province. It was one of the earliest wooden structures built on the cliffs in the world. Xuan Kong Temple was built on a steep cliff on both sides, and the temple was built on these cliffs. It gave people the feeling that it was stuck to the cliff. From afar, they could see layers of pavilions, supported by dozens of wooden pillars that looked like chopsticks. Xuankong Temple was built with a wooden frame structure and was designed according to the principles of mechanics. The overall layout of Xuankong Temple included the temple, meditation room, Buddhist hall, Three Buddha Hall, Guandi Temple, drum tower, and other buildings. There was no clear answer to why Xuan Kong Temple was built and how it had been maintained for thousands of years.
The characteristics of Hengshan Xuankong Temple
Mount Heng's Xuankong Temple was unique in its architecture, and its appearance was breathtaking, peculiar, and spectacular. Its architectural structure was rich and colorful. The eaves had single eaves, double eaves, and three-layer eaves. The structure had raised beam structure, flat roof structure, and bucket arch structure. The roof had main ridge, hanging ridge, hip ridge, and poor ridge. The overall appearance was ingenious and grand, overlapping each other to form a unique style of a cave with a building, a cave within a building, half a building and half a cave, a cave connected to a hall, and a hall connected to a building. The Xuankong Temple also preserved many bronze, iron, clay, stone statues and other works of art, which had high artistic value. The Xuankong Temple was about 50 meters above the ground, and it was a major feature of Mount Heng.
Hengshan Xuankong Temple Incident
The Hengshan Xuankong Temple incident happened on the afternoon of May 2nd, 2024. A rockfall occurred at the Tiger Wind Entrance of the Hengshan scenic area, causing six tourists to be injured. One of them died due to serious injuries, while the other five were not in danger. After the accident, the scenic area quickly carried out rescue work and sent the injured to the hospital for treatment. At present, the scenic area has been closed and clean-up work has been carried out. The specific cause of the accident was still under investigation. The accident raised concerns about the safety of the Hengshan scenic area, including the lack of protection of the mountain and the low guardrail of the Xuankong Temple. Similar safety incidents in mountainous tourist attractions were not uncommon in China, which also reminded people to pay more attention to the safety issues of tourist attractions.
Shanxi Hengshan Xuankong Temple
Xuankong Temple, also known as Xuankong Temple, was located between the cliffs of Cuiping Peak on the west side of Jinlong Gorge, Hengshan Mountain, Hunyuan County, Shanxi Province. Xuankong Temple was built in the late Northern Wei Dynasty nearly 1400 years ago. It was the only unique temple in China that combined Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. It was also a national key cultural relic protection unit. The entire temple was suspended on the cliff, about 50 meters above the ground. It was one of the earliest wooden structures built on the cliff in the world. The architectural structure of Xuankong Temple was ingenious. It used the principle of mechanics to insert flying beams as the foundation and used rocks to support it. The beams and columns were one body, and the corridors were connected to the left and right. Xuankong Temple was a major scenic spot in Hengshan, Shanxi Province. It was also the "first scenic spot" of the 18 scenic spots in Hengshan.