Tang-style Nanchan Temple

After the domestic game "Black Myth: Wukong" became popular, there was a saying in the academic community: "If you want to understand ancient Chinese architecture, start with Nanchan Temple." In April 1937, when Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin were investigating ancient buildings in Shanxi, they discovered Wufoguang Temple but missed Nanchan Temple. Nanchan Temple is quietly located in a rural corner of Wutai County. It is the oldest existing wooden structure in my country. It is rare that it has been spared from wars and human destruction throughout the ages. Although the exact date of its construction is unknown, the ink inscription under the flat beam on the west side of the main hall reveals that it underwent a grand reconstruction in the third year of Jianzhong in the Tang Dynasty (782 AD), which undoubtedly means that Nanchan Temple was founded earlier, but not earlier than the early Tang Dynasty. Nanchan Temple is not large in area. The Great Buddha Hall, which is 11 meters wide and deep, is built on a high platform, highlighting the main position of the hall. The main hall has a single-eaved hip roof, a grey tubular tile base and nine ridges. The gargoyles on the ridges are simple and majestic. The huge brackets and upturned eaves draw a powerful solitary line and outline a distant melody. The 17 Tang Dynasty sculptures in the hall combine movement and stillness, with natural and dynamic postures, lifelike expressions, harmonious and smooth movements, and are exactly the same as the Tang Dynasty statues in the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang. Although these statues are religious images of Buddha, Bodhisattva, Heavenly King, etc. in Buddhism, their identities are clear and there is order between master and servant. There are noble ladies, palace girls, generals, and foreign people. Their clothing and headdresses are closely related to the social life at that time, allowing people to see the shadow of reality. As an artistic carrier, colored sculpture is the material embodiment of ancient cultural information. It is not only a valuable artistic heritage, but also a vivid record of the social outlook and social life of ancient China. It is engraved with the memory of national culture and embodies the soul of national spirit. Unfortunately, in the 1990s, Nanchan Temple was robbed and the criminals stole the Shuo statue in Figure 5. It has not been found to this day, which is a pity.

Post by Lily Montgomery15 | Apr 7, 2025