Geyuan Temple () is a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

temple located in

Laiyuan Laiyuan County () is a county in western Hebei province, China, bordering Shanxi province to the west. It is under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Baoding, and, , it had a population of 270,000 residing in an area of . Administ ...

Hebei Province Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and 0 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. The temple consists of three main buildings and other auxiliary structures. The main hall of the temple, the Wenshu Hall dates from 966 CE.Steinhardt (1997), 59.

History

Very little is known about the temple's history. Most of what is known have been from studying the stele at the temple and a local historical account written in 1875 called the ''Laiyuanxian Zhi''. Geyuan Temple was first founded in the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...

, destroyed, and then rebuilt during the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

. The octagonal pillar at the temple, the oldest of the current structures at the Wenshu Hall, dates to 966 of the

Liao dynasty The Liao dynasty (; Khitan: ''Mos Jælud''; ), also known as the Khitan Empire (Khitan: ''Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur''), officially the Great Liao (), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed between 916 and 1125, ruled by the Yelü ...

.Steinhardt (1997), 83. The temple's construction was funded by a patron called Li Yuanchao, who helped found the

Later Tang Tang, known in historiography as the Later Tang, was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China and the second of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in Chinese history. The first three of the Later Tang's four ...

.Steinhardt (1997), 85. Another stele from 1568 also confirms the founding date to be during the Liao dynasty. Repairs were made from 1324 to 1327, during the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

, in 1507, and then during the Jiajing period (1522–1567).Steinhardt (1997), 84. Though many ancient temples were surveyed during the 1930s by historians and architects like

Liang Sicheng Liang Sicheng (; 20 April 1901 – 9 January 1972) was a Chinese architect and architectural historian, known as the father of modern Chinese architecture. His father, Liang Qichao, was one of the most prominent Chinese scholars of the early ...

, Geyuan Temple's age and architectural significance were not recognized until 1960, when a study dated the building to be from the Liao dynasty. The late discovery date is explained by Laiyuan's extreme isolation in the mountains of Western

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and ...

province.

Layout

Geyuan Temple contains three main buildings, the Wenshu Hall, a multistory pavilion used to store sutras and a Tianwang Hall. Unlike the normal Chinese temple layout, in which structures are built along a central axis from south to north, Geyuan temples’ buildings face west.

Wenshu Hall

Wenshu Hall () was first built in 966 and is the oldest Liao building that is still extant, built 59 years after the dynasty's founding. It is a square structure that is three bays wide and measures 15 by 15.67 meters. Each bay on the front façade contains four door panels, and the hall is built upon a large ''yuetai''. The hall has no ceiling, but has beams that span six rafters and two additional interior pillars for support. Like other buildings dating from the 10th century, all the beams in the hall are completely straight. 5 and 7 rank bracketing is used to support the roof. The doors to the hall retain original 10th-century

latticework __NOTOC__ Latticework is an openwork framework consisting of a criss-crossed pattern of strips of building material, typically wood or metal. The design is created by crossing the strips to form a grid or weave. Latticework may be functional &nda ...

.Guo, (2002), 193.

References

Notes

Sources

*Guo Daibeng. "The Liao, Song, Xixia and Jin Dynasties." in Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt, ed., Chinese Architecture (New Haven: Yale University, 2002), 131–198. *Steinhardt, Nancy Shatzman. ''Liao Architecture''. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1997. {{Buddhist temples in China Buddhist temples in Hebei 10th-century Buddhist temples Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Hebei