Created 8-Oct-07
Modified 8-Oct-07
A short series of photographs of the really majestic Huashanmiao 華山廟 (Grand Temple dedicated to Mt. Hua), 3 km east of Huayin township 華陰市, at the foot of Mt. Hua. With almost 120,000 square meters and many eminent halls it is the largest of the five Grand Temples dedicated to the Five Sacred Peaks. The layout of this compound goes back to the 5th century at this location, and has seen many additions and expansions all the way through the Qing dynasty, most if not all of them sponsored by the court in Beijing. The main construction activity can be set into the Ming.
The temple and much of the surrounding area was still occupied by the Chinese military at the time of my visit. Curiously, the guards at the main gate allowed me and my companion to enter, even with a camera. After having walked through about a quarter of the compound we were detained by PLA officers and driven back to our hotel for interrogation and self-criticism. Due to these circumstances I was only able to cover a small portion of this massive complex; it was surprising that although the camera and the film were confiscated, they were later returned to me without blemish, which allowed me to keep a short visual record of the site as I had experienced it.
Visited May 17, 1985.
Kodak color slide film, scanned on an Epson 4990 scanner to 600DPI TIFF; converted to lossless JPGs, then processed in b/w with contrast/brightness and sharpening adjustments.
Thomas H. Hahn
Ithaca, NY
© Thomas H. Hahn Docu-Images
