Foguang Temple

The main hall of Foguang Temple is the largest existing Tang Dynasty wooden structure in China and the second oldest wooden structure, second only to the Nanchan Temple in Wutai County. It was called the "First National Treasure of China" by Mr. Liang Sicheng because its discovery disproved the assertion of Japanese scholars that there were no wooden structures from the Tang Dynasty or earlier in China. The East Main Hall features typical Tang Dynasty architectural style, described by Mr. Liang Sicheng as having "majestic dougong and deep eaves." The hall is uniquely supported by forked hands under the ridge purlin, making it the only existing ancient building using this method. The East Main Hall, along with the Tang Dynasty statues, murals, and inscriptions inside, are collectively known as the "Four Wonders," praised by Liang Sicheng as the "greatest treasure of ancient Chinese architecture." The Manjusri Hall of Foguang Temple is the only remaining building with a suspended hilltop roof among the ancient buildings from the Tang, Song, Liao, and Jin dynasties. The seven statues on the Buddha altar inside the Manjusri Hall exhibit typical Jin Dynasty style and are the earliest existing statues of the Seven Manjusris. Foguang Temple was built during the reign of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty. By the Sui and Tang Dynasties, it had become a famous temple in Wutai. The name "Foguang Temple" frequently appears in various historical records. In the fifth year of Huichang (845 AD), Emperor Wuzong of Tang launched a campaign to eradicate Buddhism, known in the Buddhist community as the Huichang Persecution of Buddhism. Except for a few pagodas, the entire temple was destroyed. It was later rebuilt in the eleventh year of Dazhong in the Tang Dynasty (857 AD). In June of the 26th year of the Republic of China (1937), contemporary Chinese architect Liang Sicheng and his wife Lin Huiyin personally visited Wutai County in Shanxi Province to investigate and survey Foguang Temple. On July 5 of the same year, Liang Sicheng, Lin Huiyin, Mo Zongjiang, and Ji Yutang, four members of the China Construction Society, discovered ink inscriptions on the main beam, confirming that the East Main Hall of Foguang Temple was a Tang Dynasty building, constructed in the eleventh year of Dazhong in the Tang Dynasty (857 AD).