Zhuozhang River Valley Ancient Visit | Tiantai Temple: The Former Fourth Tang Dynasty Wooden Structure

This building was once identified as the fourth Tang Dynasty wooden structure. During major repairs in 2014, due to newly discovered ink inscriptions, its construction date was revised to the fourth year of the Tiancheng era of the Later Tang in the Five Dynasties period (929 AD). It is now listed as a third batch National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The architecture is richly Tang in style, with clear regulations: it features a single-eave Xieshan roof, three bays wide and four purlins deep, with a nearly square floor plan; the column capitals are carved with volutes, the spaces between columns have horizontal beams but no general purlin beams, and the bracket sets at the column capitals are of the "doukou tiao" style. The roof ridge is gently folded and extended, with four wings spreading like wings in flight, and the eaves corners are decorated with glazed ridge beasts and horn gods; inside the hall there are no standing columns, and the four purlins directly connect to the front and rear eave columns, making the structure extremely concise.

However, the building also shows signs of later repairs: the four eave-supporting columns under the wing corners were added later, the beams and purlins inside the hall have traces of polychrome painting (discernible powdered gold dragon patterns), and the styles of the rear eave tiles vary, all resulting from repairs over the ages; additionally, in front of the hall stands a Tang Dynasty chishou (mythical dragon head) statue stele, whose inscriptions have been severely eroded.

Post by Brave boy&& | Oct 22, 2025