Xuankong Temple
悬空寺
Xuankong Temple, located 5 kilometers south of Hunyuan town in Shanxi Province; is perched on the cliff of Mount Hengshan. It is one of the key cultural relics sites under state protection and the only temple in existence featuring the cultures of the three Chinese religions, i. e. Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. First built in the late Northern Wei more than 1400 years ago, Xuankong Tem-pIe was taken as the Taoist altar when the Northen Wei Dynasty moved the initial Taoist altar in Pingcheng (now Datong City) southward there. The ancient craftsmen built this temple in accordance with the Taoist requirement of "not hearing the sound of cock crowing and dog barking". lt was later renovated in the Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. Xuankong Temple, about so meters above the ground,developed the traditions and siyles of architecture in our country. The architectural features of the temple can be summarized in three characters, that is, "Qi" ( surprising) , "Xuan" ( hanging) and "Qiao" ( ingenious). What is " surprising" is "its design and location selection. In a small basin in the deep valley, the temple hangs in the middle of the cliff, the top protruding part of which, like an umbrella ,protects it from the erosion of the rain. Besides, the surrounding mountains reduce the time of sunshine streaming into the temple. The favorable geographical location is one of the important reasons Xuankong Temple can be well preserved. " Hanging" is another feature of the temple, which, with a total of 40 halls, was proppeded up by ten bowl-mouth-thick wooden beams on the surface. In fact, some of them do not bear any load at all. The temple, with its centre of gravity actually in the hard rocks, took as its base the beams partially inserted into the cliff in the light of the principle of mechanics. The "ingenuity" of the temple can be displayed in its corformity with the local conditions in the building process. The craftsmen, taking full advantage of the natural state of the cliff, arranged and built the various parts of the temple, making the layout and design of the plain architectural structure for the ordinary temples ingeniously realized in the three-dimensional space. There are in the temple over 80 Buddha statues. Xuankong Temple has gained for its mystery and ingenuity a reputation in the history of ancient and modern architecture. We could not help expressing our admiration and surprise for its audacity, ingenuity and dauntlessness, not only in the design methods but in the architectural conceptions. Li Bai, after visiting Xuankong Temple in the 23rd year of Kaiyuan of the Tang Dynasty (735) , wrote the two characters "Zhuang Guan" ( meaning magnificent and imposing) on the cliff. The great traveller in the Ming Dynasty, Xu Xiake, once called the temple "a great scenery in the world".
悬空寺座落在中国山西省浑源县城南5千米处，北岳恒山的绝壁之上。是全国重点文物保持单位，是国内仅存的佛、道、儒三教合一的独特寺庙。悬空寺始建于1400多年前的北魏晚期，北魏王朝将道家的道坛从平城，今大同南移到此，古代工匠根据道家“不闻鸡鸣犬吠之声”的要求建设了悬空寺。后金、元、明、清各代均有修缮。悬空寺距地面高约50米，悬空寺发展了我国的建筑传统和建筑风格，其建筑特色可以概括为“奇、悬、巧”三个字。值得称“奇”的是，建寺设计与选址，悬空寺处于深山峡谷的一个小盆地内全身悬挂于石崖中间，石崖顶峰突出部分好像一把伞，使古寺免受雨水冲刷。四周的大山也减少了阳光的照射时间。优越的地理位置是悬空寺能完好保存的重要原因之一。“悬”是悬空寺的另一特色，全寺共有殿阁40间，表面看上去支撑它们的是十几根碗口粗的木柱，其实有的木柱根本不受力，而真正的重心撑在坚硬岩石里，利用力学原理半插飞梁为基。悬空寺的“巧”体现在建寺时因地制宜，充分利用峭壁的自然状态布置和建造寺庙各部分建筑，将一般寺庙平面建筑的布局、形制等建造在立体的空间中，设计非常精巧。寺内有佛像80多尊。“悬空寺”以其玄妙的特点誉满古今建筑史。无论是从宅的设计构思，还是它的建筑构想，它的大胆、它的奇巧、它的无畏都可以说是让人惊慕不已，慨叹不尽！唐开元二十三年(735)，李白游览悬空寺后，在石崖上书写了“壮观”二字，明代大旅行家徐霞客称悬空寺为“天下巨观”。