Hall of Tianqing Temple

Hall of Tianqing Temple

The Hall of Tianqing Temple is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Hall of Tianqing Temple

The Hall of Tianqing Temple is located in Cuilu Village, Wu'an City, and was built in the third year of the Tianshun era of the Ming Dynasty (1459). The only remaining hall is the main structure of the temple, featuring a width of five bays and a depth of three bays. It has a single-eave hip-and-gable roof covered with grey tiles and trimmed with green glazed tiles. All the columns are made of stone, with small octagonal cross-sections, and the bases under the columns are respectively round, square, and octagonal Sumeru pedestal-style. The inner columns employ the techniques of column shifting and column reduction. The eaves are adorned with seven-tiered bracket sets with three downward-projecting ang, whose ang heads are shaped like ruyi (scepters), while the rear ends of the decorative brackets extend through hanging columns to be supported under the lower golden purlin. The beam-frame structure uses double-layered large tie beams, which support the five-purlin beams. There are double-step corridors extending both front and back. The arrangement of purlins, beams, and penetrating members also breaks from convention, being complex yet orderly. It is commonly known as the “Disordered Beam Hall.” This rare beam-frame structural form in Ming Dynasty architecture serves as an excellent example for the study of Ming-era buildings. It is currently a Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit of Hebei Province.

In May 2013, the Hall of Tianqing Temple was announced as part of the seventh batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of Key Cultural Relics Protection Units of Hebei Province

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units