Hanging Temple-Hengshan Mountain

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HENGSHAN MOUNTAIN

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Hanging Temple

One of the world's ten most dangerous buildings

Hanging Temple is located on the cliff face of Cui Ping Peak, the second main peak of Hengshan Mountain. It was built in the later Northern Wei Dynasty, boasting a history of over 1500 years. The entire structure is perched precariously on a cliff, overlooking a deep valley. Its suspended pavilions and ingenious structure are rare masterpieces in ancient Chinese architecture, considered "a unique wonder under heaven." In 1982, it was designated a nationally key cultural relic protection unit by the State Council. After visiting the temple, Li Bai, the great poet, wrote the word "magnificent" to express his feelings. The Ming Dynasty traveler Xu Xiake praised Hanging Temple as "a magnificent sight under heaven" in his work, "Xu Xiake's Travelogue." After inspecting the temple, Zheng Xiaoxie, vice director of the Historical and Cultural City Protection Committee and a renowned cultural relic expert, inscribed the words: "Hanging Temple is profound, unique, strange, and perilous; one can never tire of looking at it." In 2010, Time magazine named Hanging Temple one of the world's ten most perilous buildings.

Hanging Temple is not only unique in its architectural style, but also a rare example of a temple integrating Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. The founders of the three religions share this temple; their philosophies are intermingled, shining with the brilliance of ancient harmonious ideals, reflecting the unique "harmony" culture of Hengshan Mountain.

Inside the temple are more than eighty bronze, iron, clay, and stone statues of Buddhas and gods. Among them, the three-Buddha statues of the Three Buddhas Hall, the Ming Dynasty iron statue of Maitreya in the Maitreya Hall, the three official statues in the San Guan Hall, and the stone carvings in the plank road grottoes are of considerable artistic value.