Shanxi Datong Huayan Temple (2-1)

Strongly recommend visiting Huayan Temple early in the morning!!!!!! Because Huayan Temple is a typical west-facing, east-facing building, as the sun sets, the palace gradually darkens, which greatly affects the visiting experience. Huayan Temple was originally built during the Liao Dynasty and rebuilt during the Jin Dynasty, so Huayan Temple is also a great Liao-Jin art museum. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Central Plains were in turmoil, and the Khitan people took the opportunity to rise, Yelü Abaoji unified the tribes and established the Liao Dynasty. The Khitan, as a nomadic people originating from the eastern Mongolian grasslands, worshipped the sun and the east, believing the east was where the sun rises, the source of life, gods, and light... Therefore, many important buildings face west to east. Another reason is that in winter, Siberia and the Mongolian Plateau have short daylight hours and surface temperatures dozens of degrees below zero... The cold air near the ground is dense and heavy... forming a cold high-pressure center. The land cools faster than the ocean, and compared to the land, the warm ocean is a low-pressure area. Air flows from high-pressure areas down the plateau slope to low-pressure areas, forming a northerly wind. Combined with the Earth's rotation, air movement in the Northern Hemisphere is deflected to the right, creating strong northwest winds across the flat and open Mongolian grasslands. In summer, the land heats up faster than the ocean, the Eurasian continent heats intensely, forming a thermal low-pressure center near the ground. At this time, the ocean is relatively cooler than the land, air descends, forming a high-pressure center. Winds blow from the cool, moist ocean high-pressure area to the hot, dry continental low-pressure area, so in summer, the Eurasian continent experiences southeast winds. Therefore, the yurts on the Mongolian grasslands face southeast to resist the harsh northwest winter winds and welcome the warm southeast winds. Datong's Hanging Temple is also oriented east-west, but for different reasons. I have a special introduction about the Hanging Temple, so I won't elaborate here. Buddhism was the state religion during the Liao Dynasty, and the ruled area included many Han people. Buddhism advocates tolerance and peace, and having Buddhism as the state religion helped ease social conflicts, mitigate ethnic tensions, and consolidate control over Han territories. Many founding emperors came from humble origins or culturally "barbarian" backgrounds. They urgently needed divine legitimacy to embellish their origins, deeply binding imperial power with divine authority, making obedience to the emperor equivalent to obedience to the gods. Whether it was Buddhist karma or Taoist teachings of bearing responsibility, both taught the people to do good and accept their situation, otherwise, they would easily fall into a vicious cycle of might makes right. The Khitan, to assert their legitimate status rather than as foreign invaders, emulated the Tang Dynasty, building temples on a large scale, emphasizing the divine right of kings. Datong, as the military, political, and economic center of the Liao's southwest, had a grand temple built by imperial decree, both to demonstrate royal authority and strengthen control over the southwest, thus Huayan Temple was constructed. After the Northern Song was established, it always wanted to reclaim the strategic Yan-Yun Sixteen Prefectures to improve its North China defense line. Because the Song Dynasty valued civil over military affairs, Emperor Taizong's two northern campaigns both failed. Later, Liao Emperor Shengzong and Empress Dowager Xiao personally led the Liao army south to threaten Chanzhou. Emperor Zhenzong of Song personally led the army, and the Song forces even shot the Liao commander. Liao realized it was difficult to win quickly, so they signed the Chanzhou Treaty with Song, receiving large annual tributes (200,000 bolts of silk and 100,000 taels of silver each year from Song to Liao), which also provided ample material foundation for building Huayan Temple.