A Visit to the Hanging Temple: A Race Against Time

Following a wildfire on Hengshan Mountain, the Hanging Temple was briefly closed. Recalling a phrase I heard during a previous visit to the Hanging Temple: "Visit the Hanging Temple while you can, for one day it may be closed for climbing, like the Wooden Pagoda of Yingxian."

This aerial temple, with its 1500-year history, has survived against the odds. We were fortunate to experience the Hanging Temple during the off-season. At around noon, the morning crowd had departed for Hengshan Mountain, while those coming from Hengshan had not yet arrived, affording us the rare opportunity to explore each open hall of the Hanging Temple at our leisure.

⛩️ The most captivating aspect of the Hanging Temple is, of course, its unique architecture.

Before his death, Kou Qianzhi, a Taoist master of the Northern Wei Dynasty, left instructions to build a temple in the air. His disciples raised funds, selected a location, and carefully designed the Hanging Temple, which was completed in the fifteenth year of the Taihe reign (491 AD) of the Northern Wei Dynasty.

Using 27 wooden beams, each over ten meters long and approximately half a meter in diameter, inserted into the stone wall as a foundation, along with hidden rock supports and numerous columns, the temple appears to emerge from the cliff face. In 2010, the Hanging Temple was selected as one of Time Magazine's Ten Most Precarious Buildings in the World.

Another account of the origin of the Hanging Temple exists. To cross the Hengshan Mountains and head south into the Central Plains, Emperor Daowu of the Northern Wei Dynasty "dispatched tens of thousands of soldiers to carve through the Heng Ridge, creating a direct path of over five hundred li", constructing a trestle road over the Jinlong Gorge. Some scholars speculate that the Hanging Temple was initially a post station along the trestle road, which was later extensively expanded to become a temple as merchants frequented the road.

🗿 When you ascend to the Hanging Temple, you will discover that its attractions extend beyond its architecture.

The Hanging Temple is arranged in a layout resembling "one courtyard and two towers", with a total length of approximately 32 meters and 41 halls and pavilions. The South and North Towers each have three floors, connected by staircases accessible to one person at a time. The clay sculptures and suspended sculptures within these halls are as exquisite as the Hanging Temple's architecture and should not be missed:

1️⃣ The Three Officials Hall: The largest hall in the temple, housing Ming Dynasty clay sculptures, the tallest of which stands at approximately 2 meters, making it the largest sculpture in the Hanging Temple.

2️⃣ The Great Buddha Hall: Formed by the amalgamation of the Hall of the Three Buddhas, the Hall of Guan Yu, and the Hall of the Supreme Oneness, it is the smallest Great Buddha Hall in the country, and houses three valuable lacquer-stripped Buddha statues.

3️⃣ The Three Religions Hall: This Hall is dedicated to sculptures of Sakyamuni in the center, Confucius on the left, and Laozi on the right, representing a syncretism rarely found throughout China.

4️⃣ The Leiyin Hall: The suspended sculptures within, depicting the pavilions of Heaven, are exceptionally beautiful.