001 Architecture Gaocheng Observatory Later texts traced ancient Yangcheng’s tradition of measuring solar shadows back to the Duke of Zhou in the Western Zhou. A stone gnomon was erected here in the Tang, and the Yuan added a forty-chi-high observatory in the form of a monumental gnomon. Liu Dunzhen’s 1930s survey for the Society for Research in Chinese Architecture preserved measured drawings and photographs taken before the site was shelled; the restoration plan entrusted to the Society was never carried out because war intervened. Japanese artillery destroyed the eastern chamber atop the terrace during the 1944 Central Henan Campaign. After the 1975 restoration, two shell holes were retained in the east wall. Western Zhou Gaocheng Town, Dengfeng, Henan Province Gaocheng Observatory · Dengfeng Observatory · Gaocheng Observatory in Dengfeng →
002 Architecture Fengguo Temple At the turn of the Liao and Jin, the flames of war spread through the northeast, and the Liao monasteries of the region were reduced to ash in a single blaze — only Fengguo Temple in Yizhou stood alone and intact. The stele of the seventh year of Dade traces the reason: Wang Xun, Grand Master of Splendid Happiness with Golden Seal and Purple Ribbon, ordered his men to keep constant watch, and the abbot Master Yang exhausted his resources on repairs, so the seven Buddhas within the hall and the nine-bay Great Hall passed through that war whole. Liao dynasty Yi County, Jinzhou, Liaoning Province Liao Architecture · Buddhist Temple · Great Hall →