Xuankang Temple - a temple architecture that combines Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism

    Chinese ancient craftsmen were very skilled at building buildings based on natural environments, and some of them are still shocking. For example, the Xuankang Temple, rated by Time magazine as one of the "Ten Most Threatened Buildings in the World," stands on a cliff and hangs by the edge of the cliff, standing still. From a distance, it seems that only a few long pillars support this precarious tower.

    Xuankong Temple is built in an inward depression halfway up the mountain, with the highest point within the temple located more than 90 meters from the valley bottom. A gutter was dug in the mountain directly above the temple to prevent falling rocks from the high mountain from hitting the temple building. There are a total of 27 wooden beams buried at the bottom of the entire temple, with a diameter of about 50 centimeters. These beams have all been soaked in tung oil, and one end of them is fixed in the mountain by a mortise and tenon structure. Another part takes on the main building of the temple and extends about 1 meter from below to take on the plank road. In addition, there are more than ten vertical wooden columns at the bottom of the temple, but these wooden columns themselves are not the main load-bearing structure. There is a saying that because the suspended temple looked worrying at the time, wooden pillars were erected to make it look more stable.

    Xuankong Temple is located in a north-south direction, facing west and east. It is a "one courtyard, two floors" layout, with a total length of about 32 meters and 40 pavilions and halls. The overall structure is made of wood. The mountain gate is adjacent to the cliff, with a red stone wall measuring about 10 meters on the right. Not far after entering the mountain gate, there is the main hall, whose foundation is entirely made of strip stones, approximately 20 meters long and more than 10 meters high. It is divided into two levels: the upper and lower levels. The lower level was originally a meditation room for monks to eat and sleep in, and a hall for reciting scriptures.

    Overall, the two buildings in the north and south are suspended on the cliffs, surrounded by circular corridors on three sides, and six palaces intersect with each other, connected by plank roads. The terrain is well arranged along the mountains. Based on the principles of mechanics, a semi inserted beam is used as the foundation, and supported by rocks. The corridor railing, upper and lower beams and columns are closely connected to form a complete wooden frame structure, which also increases seismic resistance. The Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai referred to it as "magnificent", while the great traveler Xu Xiake of the Ming Dynasty praised it as "the grand view of the world".