Kaishan Temple

CHINA, Hebei, Baoding

Kaishan means Revealing Kindness. According to a gazetteer, the temple was built during the Tang dynasty (618–907). It was listed as a National Cultural Heritage Site in 1996.
Covering an area of 9,500 sq m, the temple buildings include the Heavenly King Hall, Maitreya Hall and the Great Hero Hall. Both the Heavenly King Hall and Maitreya Hall have a three-by-two bay structure and flush gable roofs covered in clay tiles. The five-by-three bay Great Hero Hall was built during the Liao dynasty (907–1125). It has a single-eave hip roof and a height of 13.2 m. The roof is rather flat. The bracket sets are large to support the extended eaves, which overhang by 1.8 m. This was a feature prevalent during earlier periods. In order to house a large number of statues, a number of columns were removed, leaving only four interior columns and an exposed roof frame. There are original murals from the Liao dynasty inside the hall.