Jin Shrines, Fengshengsi Transition Hall 晉祠奉聖寺過殿

Building Information

The Transition Hall (guodian 过殿) was moved from the Erlang Temple in Fenyang, where it was the middle hall. The middle hall was originally built in the seventeenth year of the Yuan Zhiyuan reign period (1280), as indicated by an inscription that remains under the roof ridge of the building. The hall is designed with an overhanging gable roof (xuanshan 懸山), a traditional architectural feature where two sloping sides of the roof meet at a ridge, forming a triangular shape. Here, the gable extends out over the wall, sheltering the wall surface from precipitation. The hall is three bays wide with a depth extending four rafters in length. The entire structure stands at 9.2 meters high. The front eaves extend outward, forming a veranda supported by sturdy columns. The heads of these columns have a distinct curvature (juansha 卷殺). Supporting the roof is a sophisticated bracket system, constructed in four tiers, located beneath the front veranda. The central bay intercolumnar bracket set (bujian puzuo 補間鋪作) contains angled bracket arms precisely set at a 45-degree angle, providing additional emphasis to the middle section of the building. Inside the hall, the wooden beams that make up the framework of the building are left exposed, revealing the structural components of the architecture. The leveling beams and rafters have been only minimally cut or shaped in a rough draft-style (caojia 草架), an approach characterized by its simplicity. Most of the building consists of naturally curved timbers, which have been incorporated into the design without much modification. This method of using wood in its natural state is typical of the architectural style found in the Yuan dynasty, particularly in the Shanxi region, where such techniques were commonly employed in local construction practices. 1