Day 39: Song Shan

Sitting at the base of Song Shan is the Shaolin Monastery, the home of Zen Buddhism and the Shaolin kungfu fighting style. Dating back 1,500 years, the Shaolin Temple is the main temple of the Shaolin school of Buddhism to this day.

The pagoda forest, a series of gravestones hierarchically designed with the tallest being the most important figures who have contributed more to the monastery.

Ascending up Song Shan, the mountain is one of the sacred Taoist mountains of China, and contains important Taoist temples such as the Zhongyue Temple; however the mountain also features a significant Buddhist presence.

Screen Shot 2016-08-21 at 20.38.57 copyScreen Shot 2016-08-21 at 20.39.46 copyScreen Shot 2016-08-21 at 20.40.19 copyScreen Shot 2016-08-21 at 20.40.39 copyScreen Shot 2016-08-21 at 20.41.20 copyScreen Shot 2016-08-21 at 20.42.25 copyScreen Shot 2016-08-21 at 20.42.35 copyScreen Shot 2016-08-21 at 20.42.11 copyScreen Shot 2016-08-21 at 20.43.43 copyScreen Shot 2016-08-21 at 20.43.05 copyScreen Shot 2016-08-21 at 20.42.51 copy

Published by alongtherivers

We are four architecture students at the Architectural Association (Anthony Shung Yiu Ko, Jonathan Cheng, Lorenzo Luzzi, Zipu 'Zhudi' Zhu) in London travelling China along the Yangtze and Yellow River, funded by the KPF Travelling Fellowship 2016. Our proposed itinerary takes us from mega-cities to rural farmlands, heavily industrial towns to scenic landscapes, examining how the role of the river has changed after the country's rapid urbanisation in people's daily lives as well as the concept of monumentality along contemporary and historical manifestations of power.

Leave a comment