Foguang Temple

Architecture
Wood structure

• Foguang Temple, nestled in Foguang Village of Doucun Town, Wutai County in Xinzhou City, Shanxi Province, is home to the East Great Hall. Erected in the Dazhong period's eleventh year during the Tang Dynasty, this hall stands as China's third-oldest surviving wooden structure.
• In the construction process of the East Great Hall, the upper parts of the four main pillars—supporting the outer eaves—were fitted with eave column heads. Similarly, the inner columns were capped with inner groove column heads, while the mountain-facing sides received specialized column heads and corner brackets. These bracket sets, typically oriented upward, integrate horizontally with inner groove bracket sets to create a cohesive structure or join two corner bracket sets with the mountain-facing column heads, forming a structural framework.
• The East Great Hall showcases a collection of over 40 distinct mortise and tenon joints in its wooden architecture. This includes a variety of joints such as tube foot tenons, dovetails, hoop head tenons, through tenons, half tenons, cross-cut half tenons, cross-card waist tenons, trimmed tenons, penetrating dowel tenons, dragon and phoenix tenons, larger-over-smaller tenons, T-shaped tenons, tapered tenons, oblique angle hidden inserts, double clamp tenons, double shoulder tenons, scapula tenons, insert shoulder tenons, open mortise tenons, closed mortise tenons, straight tenons, staircase tenons, and oblique angle straight tenons, to name a few.

Reference and image source: Chi Lin Nunnery Official Website