Kaiyuan Temple Beamless Hall

CHINA, Jiangsu, Suzhou

The Kaiyuan Temple Beamless Hall was built in 1618 during the Ming dynasty. It is also called the Infinity Hall because it houses a statue of Amitabha Buddha. It was listed as a Provincial Cultural Heritage Site in 1982.
The seven-bay wide, two-story hall is 19 m high and faces south. The hip-and-gable and intermediate roofs are covered with yellow glazed tiles with green edges. Bracket sets at the corners support an octagonal vaulted ceiling which features brickwork from the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). All four walls feature inscriptions of the Brahmajala Sutra and Avatamsaka Sutra by Zhangzao, a famous engraver of the Ming dynasty.
During the Ming dynasty, nine brick vault structures were built and this one was the last. Compared with other beamless halls that still exist today, this example is not considered particularly large; however, the details incorporated into its construction are quite outstanding. For example, the Sumeru bases of the pilasters and the lotus-shaped pendills at the top of the pilasters are all in painstaking detail; and the braces, architraves, and bracket sets are all exquisitely defined. For this reason, the Beamless Hall at Kaiyuan Temple is considered one of the most imposing structures of Jiangnan (region south of the Yangtze River).