Dongyue Temple in Wanrong, Shanxi (Yuan Dynasty)

Wanrong Dongyue Temple is located in Jiedian Town, Wanrong County, Shanxi Province, China. It was listed as the third batch of national key cultural relics protection units in 1988. Wanrong Dongyue Temple was first built in the Tang Dynasty and rebuilt from the 28th year of Yuan Dynasty to the first year of Dading (1291-1297). It was renovated many times during the Jingtai, Tianshun, Wanli and Qing dynasties of the Ming Dynasty. The main existing buildings include Feiyun Tower, Wumen, Xiandian, Xiangting, Dongyue Emperor Hall, Yama Hall, etc. The whole building complex faces north and south, covers an area of ​​10,600 square meters, and is arranged in front of the central axis according to the layout regulations of early Chinese temples. The overall layout of Dongyue Temple is spacious and orderly. Among them, Feiyun Tower is the most magnificent and majestic in the whole temple, reflecting the superb level of ancient Chinese architectural skills. Feiyun Tower is 23.19 meters high. The plan is square, with three floors, four eaves, and a cross-shaped hip roof. There are porches on the second and third floors, and a porch on each side, forming a cross in plan. The Feiyun Tower has an ingenious structure, with four golden pillars standing at the four corners of the inner groove, reaching from the bottom floor to the top floor. Between the four pillars, multiple layers of beams such as lintel beams, span beams, floor beams, and interlaced beams are connected to form a huge square cylindrical frame, which serves as the backbone of the entire pavilion. The brackets under the eaves are densely packed, with nearly three hundred sets in total. Depending on their positions, the structures are different, with five, six, and seven steps. The heads include grasshopper heads, hemp leaf-shaped single clouds, dragon head styles, etc., and the arms include elephant trunk arms, zither-face arms, etc., which are like clustered clouds and combined with the upturned wing corners, greatly enhancing the artistic shape of the building. Feiyun Tower is unique in construction technology, structural mechanics and modeling art, and occupies a unique position in Chinese wooden architecture.