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“The
immortal pavilion
lies on the cliff,
while white snow has
covered it for several
times.” On the cliffs
of Cuiping Peak of
Yugu Valley of Hengshan
Mountain in Hunyuan
County, Shanxi Province,
there is a group of
midair temple construction
complex, just like
sets of excellent
pavilions descending
slowly from the sky.
This construction
is the Midair Temple
- the title of “The
Eighteen Scenes of
Hengshan”. Moreover,
the Midair Temple
has its own romantic
charm.
The Midair Temple
was first built in
the late North Wei
Dynasty, and rebuilt
in the dynasties of
Jin, Yuan, Ming, Qing
in sequence, but its
basic structure hasn't
been changed too much.
Nowadays, it holds
40 halls and pavilions,
which are all hung
from the cliff. Moreover,
its layout is well
balanced with the
high and low sections
strewing in a certain
order.
A carved stone tablet
which keeps the records
of the rebuilding
process is preserved
in the temple. As
indicated in the records,
an artisan with Zhang
as his surname was
praised for that,
he dared to take on
the important task
after others had given
up due to the difficulty.
Led by him, all artisans
first created all
components at the
bottom of the hill;
afterwards they carried
the components to
the Cuiping Peak through
the tens of li (a
Chinese unit of length)
of roundly walking;
then, the components
were hung from the
cliff via cables,
and the workers also
operated by hanging;
after great number
of hammering to the
hill, the caves then
came into being, which
would provide support
for the construction
of beam-columns. After
years of hard work,
the hard rebuilding
project was finished.
The total support
of the Midair Temple
is got from the beams
inserted into the
hill and the upright
columns. To tell it
like it is, the work
is really lofty and
the structure is really
firm. In despite of
the natural corroding
and multi strong earthquakes
of many centuries,
the temple is still
firmly hung from on
the cliff.
In the vagarious layout
of the whole architecture
of the temple, not
only lies the Three-Palace
Hall of Taoism, but
also situates the
Three-Sage Hall of
Buddhism; meanwhile,
the primogenitors’
statues of the three
religions which are
Buddhism, Taoism,
Confucianism, are
offered sacrifice
in the Three-Religion
Hall. Of the statues,
the middle one is
Buddha Sakyamuni,
left one is Confucius,
the founder of the
Confucianism, and
right is Laozi who
is the first ancestor
of Taoism; the layout
above have synthetically
expressed the Chinese
ancient feudal culture
structure which has
made the three religions
as a whole.
The micro-sight of
the Midair Temple
in the Splendid China
Park is built by copying
the pattern of the
Midair Temple of Hunyuan
County of Shanxi Province
according to the proportion
of 1:15. To achieve
lifelikeness, the
high hills and steep
mountains should be
created in landform,
and the architectural
complex of the temple
would be supported
by beams and columns.
Viewed from a long
distance, there is
a scene that the building
perches upon the hill
and rises up along
the hill; while visited
nearly, the lofty-technique
Midair Temple would
just be recognized.
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