Ancient craftsmanship meets modern creators

Despite having visited the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda in Yingxian county, Shanxi province, and Huayan Temple in Datong, Veldesen Yaputra was still astonished when he stood before the miniature models of Liao Dynasty (916-1125) architecture at the Datong Sculpture Museum.

Yaputra, from Indonesia, is a graduate student majoring in architecture at Tsinghua University. As an internet celebrity blogger, he was invited to participate in Discovering Shanxi's Ancient Chinese Architecture — A Visual Journey Through Cultural Heritage held from July 15 to 20.

More than 10 visual artists and overseas bloggers from nine countries explored Shanxi's rich architectural heritage, including a visit to an exhibition on the construction techniques behind the "eight great Liao structures", which opened on June 13 at the Datong Sculpture Museum.

It is the first time that the eight surviving wooden structures from the Liao Dynasty in China have been showcased together in the form of detailed models.

"These models faithfully reproduce the buildings' colors, carvings and intricate decorative details," he says. "When viewing the actual buildings, it's impossible to appreciate every element at once. But in miniature, the relationships between the structures — especially the complex dougong interlocking bracket system — become immediately clear.

"Visiting the original sites gives you a sense of how the architecture blends with the surrounding mountains and streets, while the miniature models offer a completely different perspective, allowing you to closely examine the construction techniques," he adds.

Liao Dynasty wooden structures inherited the robust style of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and incorporated the intricate elegance of the Song Dynasty (960-1127), holding a significant place in the history of ancient Chinese architecture.

Renowned architect Liang Sicheng once described these buildings as "millennial national treasures".

Today, only eight complete Liao Dynasty wooden structures remain in China — the Mahavira Hall of the Shanhua Temple, and the Bhagavad Sutra Hall of the Huayan Temple, both in Datong, and the Wooden Pagoda of the Fogong Temple in Yingxian county, all in Shanxi province; the Manjusri Hall of the Geyuan Temple in Laiyuan county, and the Mahavira Hall of the Kaishan Temple in Gaobeidian city in Hebei province; the Guanyin Pavilion and the gate of the Dule Temple in Tianjin's Jizhou district; and the Mahavira Hall of the Fengguo Temple in Yixian county, Liaoning province.

"With two national-level precious relic sites — the Mahavira Hall of the Shanhua Temple and the Bhagavad Sutra Hall of Huayan Temple, Datong naturally bears the responsibility of preserving this architectural heritage and passing on its construction techniques," Yin Xuenian, director of the city's cultural relics bureau, said at the exhibition's opening ceremony.

"In recent years, Datong has been actively promoting the restoration, research, and utilization of ancient buildings from the Liao and Jin (1115-1234) dynasties, continuously improving the protection system for cultural relics, exploring the craftsmanship and architectural philosophy embedded in Liao buildings, and breathing new life into these thousand-year-old masterpieces."