The great buildings of ancient China were mostly given a frame of wood: columns stood up, beams were laid across them and the roof set above, with wood joined to wood by mortise and tenon. This class holds two surviving representatives.
In 857 (Dazhong 11 of the Tang) the East Hall of Foguang Temple on Mount Wutai was completed. Its great bracket sets and low, broad roof show the maturity of Tang timber-frame work.
In 1056 (Qingning 2 of the Liao) the Sakyamuni Pagoda of Fogong Temple at Yingxian was completed. It has five visible storeys with four hidden storeys within, one laid upon another, and it pushed the tall timber pagoda to its limit.
One is a broad, low hall and the other a pagoda piled upward; their shapes differ, but both are timber fastened together by mortise and tenon.
Twin Timber Landmarks is the class in the chapter on Architecture on two timber buildings. It covers the East Hall of Foguang Temple on Mount Wutai in the Tang, whose great bracket sets and low, broad roof show the maturity of timber-frame halls; and the Sakyamuni Pagoda of Fogong Temple at Yingxian in the Liao, a tall timber pagoda built with five visible and four hidden storeys. Both are held together by mortise-and-tenon joints.
