《时代周刊》里最可望不可及的神仙庙宇

修建于公元前6世纪的巴比伦空中花园，以其精妙的建筑格局和立体造园方法闻名于世，远远看去，花园仿佛悬于半空之中，堪称古代世界七大奇迹之一。

与之遥遥相对的东方大地，山西省大同市浑源县境内，悬立着一座名副其实的空中建筑——悬空寺。

Built in the 6th century BC, the hanging gardens of Babylon is known to the world by its fine and stereo building structure. Seen from afar, it were suspending in mid-air which is regarded as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. On the east land far off to that, there stands a veritable air suspension building in the Hunyuan county in Datong of Shanxi Province——Xuankong Temple.

悬空寺，在2010年12月被美国《时代周刊》评为“全球十大最危险的建筑”之一，与阿联酋首都阿布扎比市的“首都之门”、希腊米特奥拉修道院、意大利比萨斜塔等国际知名建筑同列榜中，成为全球瞩目的中式建筑。

Xuankong Temple, was named as "one of the ten most dangerous buildings in the world" in December 2010 by the Times of America , which was listed with several international famous buildings like the “Capital Gate” in the united Arab emirates, the Meteora Monastery in Greece, the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy, to become the focused Chinese architecture all over the world.

悬空寺位于山西恒山金龙峡西侧翠屏峰的峭壁间，是恒山十八景中的“第一胜景”。一般的佛堂庙宇都建在平地上，但这座展现中华民族鲜活历史的建筑却已经在悬崖绝壁上挺立了1500年。悬空寺离地大约75米，远远望去，只见一排仙宇亭阁临空危挂，仿佛是雕刻在巨大石壁之间的微缩画廊，玲珑精致，设计神妙，其文化价值和审美价值都别具一格。

Xuankong Temple is located between steep cliffs in Shanxi Province, which ranks the first of the eighteen spots in Heng Mountain. The ordinary temples are mostly built on the ground, but this building has been standing on the cliff for 1500 years. It’s about 75 meters’ height from the ground. Seen from afar it was a miniature of a gallery caved on the hanging cliffs, which is extremely exquisite and full of unique cultural and aesthetic value.

“悬空寺，半天高，三根马尾空中吊。”说的就是这里。既是谓为悬空寺，“悬”肯定是最大的特色之一。全寺共计殿阁40间，建造者在峭壁上横竖凿洞，插入硬木，以硬木为基支撑起整座庙宇。千年前的祖辈所掌握的建筑水平和聪明才智可见一斑。

“Xuankong Temple, half sky, three horsetails hanging high” is a description of this place. The name “Xuankong” means suspending on the sky, which is the most obvious feature there. Among the 40 palaces of the temple, there are hammered holes, inserted hardwood, which support the whole temple. Thousands of years’ wise and skills are quiet spot-on of the older generations.

悬空寺的设计与选址十分考究。寺身悬设于峡谷内的一块盆地之间，庙宇上方有突出的石崖，就好像一把伞，保护着千年古寺免受雨水侵蚀。四周的大山，阻隔了阳光的暴晒。良好的地理环境，是悬空寺能保存至今的重要原因之一。每逢雨水节气，悬空寺就隐没在悬挂的通天水帘之后，若隐若现，给人一种可望而不可及的仙境之感，蔚为壮观。

The design and location of the tower are exquisite. The temple is suspending between the valley in a basin, above the temple there is the prominent cliff which is like an umbrella protecting it from the rain for thousands of years. Besides, there surround mountains protecting the temple from the sun exposure. All those good geographical conditions are the important reasons for the temple to live till today. When the raining season comes, the Xuankong Temple will hide behind the watering curtains, which takes people into a spectacular dreaming fairyland.

那古人为什么要在这悬崖峭壁上，修建一座寺院呢？

Then why did the ancient build a temple on this suspending cliff?

这与当地人们的信佛习俗有关。据悬空寺管理处的工作人员常学文说，从前这个地方经常发洪水，当时的人们一不留神就容易卷入泥沟中被冲走。为了祈求平安，老百姓们就在这里建了一座寺庙，祈祷佛祖保佑众人，平平安安的走过去。

The reason lie in the religion of Buddha. It is said that there used to be floods now and then, and people were easy to be involved in these accidents. So they built a temple there for praying, wishing people there could be safe and sound on the road.

由于悬空建筑的特殊性，这里对游客人数有着严格的限制，每次只允许80人以内进入参观。即便如此，悬空寺的保护工作仍然任重道远。常学文和其他致力于文化保护的人一样，把自己的一生投入在了这座中国最奇险壮观的建筑瑰宝上。而他们的脸上，始终洋溢着骄傲和满足。

Due to the particularity of the impending building, there is a strict limit on the number of tourists that only 80 people are allowed to visit for one time. Even so, the protection of the temple is still a long way to go. Chang Xuewen like all the other dedicators has been devoting his life to protecting this architectural treasure. And there are always pride and satisfaction on their faces.

文：文小样