Cultural experts say Shanxi is home to the largest number of ancient buildings in China. Xuankong Temple at Hengshan Mountiin in Hunyuan County is no doubt one of the most wonderful examples of such a saying.
Made of wood, tiles and stones during the mid - Northern Wei Dynasty, the temple is made up of two three - story pavilions and a yard linked by staircases and steps. The staircases and steps are lined along the surface of a sheer cliff rising 50 meters above a stream at the foot of the mountain.
Seen from below, Xuankong Temple, which literally means " temple hanging in the sky ", appears terribly dangerous. It is supported only by a few thin stanchions (支柱) standing on protruding (伸出) rocks. For that reason, it was selected by Time magazine as one of the 10 most dangerods buildings in the world in 2010.
Sun Shupeng, an engineer, however, disagreed with the idea that Xuankong Temple is, in fact, a dangerous structure . " The temple has been standing firmly on the Hengshan cliff for more than 1, 500 years and is still kept intact and solid, " he said . " A study of the temple is an exploration of an ancient Chinese engineering miracle . "
Sun said the stanchions were only added recently as a psychological comfort to visitors. About twenty thick square beams（梁）support most of the building ' s weight. A number of large, deep holes were dug into the cliff ' s surface, and two - thirds of the length of the beams together with wedges (楔子) were driven into each one .
In addition to its strong building, local people have found that the section of cliff above the temple acts like an umbrella to protect the temple from rain and sunlight. In summer, when the daytime is the longest, the temple only receivcs about two hours of direct sunlight a day during the moming .
The narrow valley it faces also changes the direction of airflow. The wind usually blows toward the cliff facing the temple, but rarely reaches the temple .
①The temple is at the top of the mountain . ② There is a river at the foot of the mountain. ③The temple is made of wood, tiles and stones. ④The temple is made up of two yards and a pavilion.
