The Hanging Temple or Hanging Monastery is a temple built into a cliff (75 m or 246 ft above the ground) near Mount Heng

Mount Heng (Shanxi)

Heng Shan or Heng Mountain in Shanxi Province is one of the Five Sacred Mountains of Taoism. At 2,017 m, it is one of the five tallest peaks in China Proper. Heng Shan in Shanxi Province is sometimes known as the Northern Heng Shan, and the one in Hunan Province as Southern Heng Shan...

 in Hunyuan County

Hunyuan County

Hunyuan County is a county of Shanxi, China. It is under the administration of Datong prefecture-level city.-References:*...

, Shanxi

Shanxi

' is a province in Northern China. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋" , after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....

 province, China. The closest city is Datong

Datong

Datong is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi Province of North China, located a few hundred kilometres west by rail from Beijing with an elevation of...

, 65 kilometers to the northwest. Along with the Yungang Grottoes

Yungang Grottoes

The Yungang Grottoes are ancient Chinese Buddhist temple grottoes near the city of Datong in the province of Shanxi. They are excellent examples of rock-cut architecture and one of the three most famous ancient Buddhist sculptural sites of China...

, the Hanging Temple is one of the main tourist attractions and historical sites in the Datong area. Built more than 1,500 years ago, this temple is notable not only for its location on a sheer precipice

Cliff

In geography and geology, a cliff is a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure. Cliffs are formed as erosion landforms due to the processes of erosion and weathering that produce them. Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments and along rivers. Cliffs are usually...

 but also because it includes Buddhist

Buddhist architecture

Buddhist religious architecture developed in South Asia in the 3rd century BC.Three types of structures are associated with the religious architecture of early Buddhism: monasteries , stupas, and temples ....

, Taoist

Taoism

Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...

, and Confucian

Confucianism

Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...

 elements. The structure is kept in place with wooden crossbeams fitted into holes chiseled into the cliffs. The main supportive structure was hidden.

History

According to the history of Hengshan Mountain, construction of the temple started at the end of the Northern Wei Dynasty by only one man, a monk named Liao Ran (了然). Over a history of more than 1,600 years many repairs and extension led to its present day scale.

Other hanging temples

山西宁武芦芽山悬空寺, Ningwu County

Ningwu County

Ningwu County is a district of Shanxi, China. It is under the administration of Xinzhou city.-References:*...

山西广灵小悬空寺（圣泉寺）, Guangling County

Guangling County

Guangling County is in the northeast of Shanxi province, China. It is under the administration of Datong city. Guangling is a basin surrounded by Taihang Mountains. The temperature ranges from -34℃ to 38.2℃, average 7℃. Guangling has nine township level divisions. Famous tourist attractions...

山西神池辘轳窑沟悬空寺, Shenchi County

Shenchi County

Shenchi County is a county of Shanxi, China. It is under the administration of Xinzhou city.-References:*...

河北苍岩山悬空寺, Mount Cangyan

河南淇县朝阳悬空寺, Qi County, Hebi

Qi County, Hebi

Qi County is a county of Henan, China. It is under the administration of the Hebi city....

青海西宁悬空寺, Xining

Xining

Xining is the capital of Qinghai province, People's Republic of China, and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. It has 2,208,708 inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 1,198,304 live in the built up area made of 4 urban districts.-History:...

陕西榆林悬空寺石窟, Yulin, Shaanxi

Yulin, Shaanxi

Yulin is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanxi province of the People's Republic of China. It has an area of 43,578 km² and a population of 3,380,000.-Geography and climate:...

浙江建德大慈岩悬空寺, Jiande

云南西山悬空寺, Xishan District, Kunming

Xishan District, Kunming

Xishan District is a district under the jurisdiction of Kunming Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China.-Administrative divisions:...

三仏寺, Tōhaku District, Tottori

Tohaku District, Tottori

is a district located in Tottori, Japan.As of 2003, the district has an estimated population of 65,944 and a density of 109.54 persons per km². The total area is 602.02 km².-Towns and villages:*Hokuei*Kotoura*Misasa*Yurihama-Mergers:...

大福寺, Tateyama, Chiba

Tateyama, Chiba

is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. As of September 2010, the city had an estimated population of 49,315 and the population density of 447 persons per km². The total area was 110.21 km²...

.

External links

• Hanging Temple, Class II Protected Sites in China, from ChinaCulture.org. Retrieved d.d. January 1, 2010.