Xuankong Monastery  懸空寺

Site Information

Occupying a total area of 30 square meters and oriented facing eastward, Xuankong Monastery (also known as Xuankongsi 懸空寺 or the Hanging Monastery) is an icon of the Mount Heng (Hengshan 恆山) area. Its name is derived from its location on a cliff that stands between Mount Heng and Cuiping Peak (Cuipingfeng 翠屏峰). The earliest construction of Xuankongsi is said to date back to the Northern Wei (Bei Wei 北魏) dynasty, however the earliest large-scale construction is thought to have taken place in the Jin 金 dynasty. The site underwent significant renovations and additions during the Ming and Qing dynasties, whereby it assumed its current form. With forty bays of towers, pavilions, and worship halls organized into a rectangular courtyard complex, Xuankong Monastery can be divided into three sections: the monastery cloister (siyuan 寺院), the southern tower (nanlou 南樓), and the northern tower (beilou 北樓), all of which assume a different height from the ground level to conform to the overall geographical shape of the cliff. 1

The support structure of the Xuankong Monastery complex consists of dozens of wooden beams to form a foundation. Soaked in tung oil (tongyou 桐油) to prevent corrosion and insect damage, the beams were joined into mortise holes, whose depths are roughly half of the length of the beams, that were chiseled into the cliffside. The use of this timber joinery system not only supports the weight of the Xuankongsi complex, it is also believed to counteract the damage of natural disasters, such as earthquakes. 2

External Links

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Wikipedia (in Chinese)

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