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Temple mount full of treasures
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五台山 (wǔ tái shān) Mount Wutai
Featuring five flat peaks, Mount Wutai is one of four sacred Buddhist mountains in China and home to some of the country’s most important temples and monasteries. Located in northern China’s Shanxi Province, Mount Wutai once hosted more than 360 temples during its peak and there are still 53 well-preserved ones standing today, including the country’s oldest wooden architecture.
In AD 68, two reverent Indian Buddhist monks, Kasyapa Pandita and Bharana Pandita, visited Mount Wutai and thought its topography resembled Vulture Peak in India, where Sakyamuni gave lectures on Buddhism. That area also was considered the earthly abode of Manjusri, Bodhisattva of Wisdom.
So Mount Wutai was chosen as the site of the Great Fu Tamawashi Temple, the second Buddhist temple in China after the Baima (White Horse) Temple built a few months earlier near Luoyang, capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220). The one at Mount Wutai later became known as Xiantong Temple.
The first wave of major construction of Buddhist buildings in Mount Wutai began in the Southern and Northern Dynasties (AD 420-589). During the middle of sixth century, there were more than 200 Buddhist temples there. The second wave appeared during the peak of the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), when the temples surpassed 300, with over 3,000 monks and attracting pilgrims from as far as Korea, Japan, Sri Lanka and India.
However, in AD 845, Emperor Wuzong (AD 814-846) issued an edict to abolish Buddhism in China, saying it had adversely influenced politics, society and the economy. Like in many other areas in the country, most of the grandiose temples in Mount Wutai were reduced to ashes and monks were banished.
But when Emperor Xuanzong (AD 810-859) ascended the throne, he ordered rebuilding of Buddhist temples. In the following centuries, many new monasteries and temples were built in Mount Wutai.
As a result, Mount Wutai has long been deemed by both Chinese and overseas architects as a great museum to study ancient Chinese architecture.
The architectural gems there include some of the country’s oldest wooden buildings, such as the main hall of Nanchan Temple and the East Hall of Foguang Temple, built in AD 782 and AD 857, respectively.
The main hall of Nanchan Temple, the only temple that survived the AD 845 campaign against Buddhism, is the country’s oldest wooden architecture.
Without a single pillar inside the hall, it features a simple structure and a gable and hip roof with a single eave. It still houses more than a dozen Buddhist statues created during the Tang Dynasty.
The East Hall of Foguang Temple is much larger than the main hall of Nanchan Temple. It has sophisticated bracket set works and an imposing structure. It also houses several giant Buddhist statues and precious Tang murals.
Also, there are three halls without beams, one large and two small ones, in the Tongxian Temple. They were built with bricks during the early years of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), when China’s brick-making reached its zenith. The two-story halls with no beams were built with cleverly designed arches. The largest arch has a span of 9.5 meters.
In the same temple, there’s also a Bronze Hall, surrounded by numerous small pagodas. The hall is 5 meters tall and weighs 50 tons. Inside, its four walls are decorated with 10,000 miniature bronze Buddhist statues.
In 2009, Mount Wutai was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
屋架 (wū jià) Truss (II)
The ancient Chinese roof trusses can be roughly divided into two types, namely, the post-and-lintel construction (抬梁式构架) and the post-and-baulk construction (穿斗式).
The former used two or more levels of post and lintel structure to uphold the roof and the latter used square logs to bind together pillars and posts to provide support to the roof.
The post-and-lintel construction was widely applied in official buildings, temples and folk houses in the northern part of the country, while the post-and-baulk construction was often seen in the south.
However, sometimes, both wooden roof trusses were used in the same building.
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