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Why the
Hanging Monastery
is special
The pavilions of this monastery breathtakingly
cling to a sheer cliff, as if they are hanging. There is no other travel site quite like it.
Two insights on the
Hanging Monastery
 The pavilion on the right in the photo is the equivalent of
15 stories above the ground.
The monks expanded the
size of the pavilions by digging caves in the cliff behind them.
Hanging Monastery
tidbits
The monastery dates back over 1400 years to the Northern
Wei Dynasty. However, most of what you see today are reconstructions made during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing
(1644-1911) Dynasties.
The caves behind the pavilions
contain religious statues. One cave room has the statues of Buddha, Confucius and Laotsu comfortably sitting
side by side. This is noteworthy because simultaneously advocating Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism was rare
in ancient China.
The pavilions are constructed almost entirely of wood
(except for the decorative multi-hued roof tiles).
Narrow, thin railed
skyways connect the pavilions.
The pavilions
"hang" partially because long timber poles support them from underneath (see photo). However, the
greatest structural support comes from unseen rock ledges upon which parts of the pavilions sit - and from the
cantilevered wooden beams deeply imbedded into the cliff.
The Chinese name of the Hanging Monastery
is Xuankong.
The monastery is also known as the
Hengshan Hanging Monastery. It gets its
"Hengshan" descriptive because it is located at the foot of Mount Heng (Hengshan), one of the five holy
Taoist mountains of China.
Location
The Hanging Monastery is in Shanxi province - and is about 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Datong city, which is
about 300 kilometers (180 miles) west of Beijing.
Pronunciation guide
Xuankong: shwu'an-khon'g
Hengshan: huh'ng-shah'n
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