修建于公元前6世紀(jì)的巴比倫空中花園，以其精妙的建筑格局和立體造園方法聞名于世，遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)看去，花園仿佛懸于半空之中，堪稱古代世界七大奇跡之一。
與之遙遙相對的東方大地，山西省大同市渾源縣境內(nèi)，懸立著一座名副其實(shí)的空中建筑——懸空寺。
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.
懸空寺，在2010年12月被美國《時(shí)代周刊》評為“全球十大最危險(xiǎn)的建筑”之一，與阿聯(lián)酋首都阿布扎比市的“首都之門”、希臘米特奧拉修道院、意大利比薩斜塔等國際知名建筑同列榜中，成為全球矚目的中式建筑。
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.
懸空寺位于山西恒山金龍峽西側(cè)翠屏峰的峭壁間，是恒山十八景中的“第一勝景”。一般的佛堂廟宇都建在平地上，但這座展現(xiàn)中華民族鮮活歷史的建筑卻已經(jīng)在懸崖絕壁上挺立了1500年。懸空寺離地大約75米，遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)望去，只見一排仙宇亭閣臨空危掛，仿佛是雕刻在巨大石壁之間的微縮畫廊，玲瓏精致，設(shè)計(jì)神妙，其文化價(jià)值和審美價(jià)值都別具一格。
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.
“懸空寺，半天高，三根馬尾空中吊?！闭f的就是這里。既是謂為懸空寺，“懸”肯定是最大的特色之一。全寺共計(jì)殿閣40間，建造者在峭壁上橫豎鑿洞，插入硬木，以硬木為基支撐起整座廟宇。千年前的祖輩所掌握的建筑水平和聰明才智可見一斑。
“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.
懸空寺的設(shè)計(jì)與選址十分考究。寺身懸設(shè)于峽谷內(nèi)的一塊盆地之間，廟宇上方有突出的石崖，就好像一把傘，保護(hù)著千年古寺免受雨水侵蝕。四周的大山，阻隔了陽光的暴曬。良好的地理環(huán)境，是懸空寺能保存至今的重要原因之一。每逢雨水節(jié)氣，懸空寺就隱沒在懸掛的通天水簾之后，若隱若現(xiàn)，給人一種可望而不可及的仙境之感，蔚為壯觀。
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.
那古人為什么要在這懸崖峭壁上，修建一座寺院呢？
Then why did the ancient build a temple on this suspending cliff?
這與當(dāng)?shù)厝藗兊男欧鹆?xí)俗有關(guān)。據(jù)懸空寺管理處的工作人員常學(xué)文說，從前這個(gè)地方經(jīng)常發(fā)洪水，當(dāng)時(shí)的人們一不留神就容易卷入泥溝中被沖走。為了祈求平安，老百姓們就在這里建了一座寺廟，祈禱佛祖保佑眾人，平平安安的走過去。
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.
由于懸空建筑的特殊性，這里對游客人數(shù)有著嚴(yán)格的限制，每次只允許80人以內(nèi)進(jìn)入?yún)⒂^。即便如此，懸空寺的保護(hù)工作仍然任重道遠(yuǎn)。常學(xué)文和其他致力于文化保護(hù)的人一樣，把自己的一生投入在了這座中國最奇險(xiǎn)壯觀的建筑瑰寶上。而他們的臉上，始終洋溢著驕傲和滿足。
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：文小樣
