Three perfoated caissons

Apart from the Grand Hall, other temple buildings were mainly built in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Three halls from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and two pagodas from the Tang (618-907) were renovated in 1983 and 1984 respectively.

Baoguo Temple is a collection of wooden buildings dating back to the Tang, Song (960-1279), Ming and Republic of China (1912-1949) periods.

In March 1961, Baoguo Temple was listed as one of the key cultural relics under State protection.

  Characteristics

Baoguo Temple's incredible architecture has gained wide recognition. It mainly consists of the Mountain Gate, Hall of Heavenly King and Grand Hall. 

The Grand Hall is invaluable to the history of Chinese temple construction in terms of history, arts and science. 

The hall's main characteristics are as follows: Its depth (13.38 meters) is greater than its width (11.83 meters) to form a vertical rectangle; the temple is a rarity in the construction of Buddhist temples of the same period; and the entire hall structure, which supports the 50-ton roof, has layers upon layers of ingeniously interlocking wooden brackets where not a single nail was used. There are three hollowed-out, sunken panels in the ceiling that conceal the roof beam; the hall is therefore called "Beamless Hall."

The techniques employed to build the hall resemble the building methods of the Song Dynasty with an evident influence from the Tang, which provides ample, precious, real-case examples for the study of Song architecture.

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