Most Perilous Temple, Suspended on a 1600-Meter Cliff
Every temple and Taoist temple has its unique characteristics. Today, let's introduce one that's renowned for its perilous location – the Golden Pavilion Temple in Tanyang Mountain, located in Shaanxi Province, An County, southwest 35 kilometers from the city, 15 kilometers east of the Dongping exit of the Sichuan-Shaanxi Highway. The main peak reaches an altitude of 1665.8 meters.
The mountain boasts more than ten ancient, quaint, and intricate halls and pavilions, dating back to the Ming Dynasty's 25th year of the Wanli reign. Tanyang Mountain resembles a golden pagoda, piercing the sky, earning it the reputation of 'Golden Pavilion piercing the azure sky, pine sea amidst clouds'. Tanyang Mountain is not only beautiful in scenery, but also a renowned Taoist mountain throughout China. As early as the Ming Dynasty's Deheng years, a group of Taoist temples were built on Tanyang Mountain, with a history of several hundred years.
Among these Taoist temple groups, the Golden Pavilion Temple is the most famous. The Golden Pavilion Temple is built on the summit of Tanyang Mountain, with sheer cliffs of ten thousand feet on three sides. From a distance, it's incredibly impressive. Therefore, the Golden Pavilion Temple is also known as 'A pillar of Qin and Chu, the most sublime Taoist temple'. The Golden Pavilion Temple is a small, delicate temple, only 6 square meters in size, but its location is exceptionally precarious.
The craftsmen built this temple using four stone pillars inserted into the rock peaks as the foundation. Then, they laid stone slabs on top of the pillars and painstakingly built the temple up, piece by piece. The entire temple has no adhesive, but is constructed by stone craftsmen stacking it one upon another. Furthermore, one corner of the temple is suspended in the air on the mountain top, making the temple appear as if it could fall off at any moment. At the top of the temple, there's a bronze pillar cast with bronze, which, from a distance, shines brightly.
