Xiantong Temple

The oldest and largest of the working Wutaishan monasteries

The Xiantong Temple is the oldest of the active monasteries of Mt. Wutai — its origins are traditionally placed in the first century, which would make it among the earliest Buddhist sites in China, although the present buildings are mostly Ming and Qing. It is also the largest, with seven main halls running in a strict axial sequence up the gentle slope above Taihuai village. Within the complex you will find the Daxiongbao Dian (the main hall, with three large gilded Buddhas), the Wuliang Dian, and the bronze pavilion of 1607.

A visit takes an hour and a half if you are paying attention. The temple is busy in the morning with merit-makers and with monks moving between the side halls; the back courtyards are quieter. Look for the Ming-era stone tablets in the entrance pavilion, the elaborate ridge-tile ornaments, and the large bronze drum in the bell tower. Combine your visit with the adjacent Tayuan Temple — they share the same hillside and the same long history.

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The most famous of Xiantong's halls is the Wuliang Dian — the Hall of No Beams — a Ming-period brick structure built entirely without timber framing. It was an unusual undertaking on a mountain otherwise defined by wood architecture, and the result is a vaulted hall whose interior feels closer to a small church than to a Chinese temple. The bronze pavilion in the rear courtyard, cast in segments in the 1607, is one of the largest copper-alloy buildings of the Ming dynasty.

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