Confucian Temple

Pingyao, Shanxi

The temple's Main Hall (Da Cheng Dian, or Great Achievement Hall; the name, as usual, is affixed above the door) dates to 1163 AD, in the Jin dynasty. The hall is 5 bays square, with a hip-gable roof and prominent eve brackets (dougong); closeup. Enormous logs of incense are burnt by worshipers - many of whom seem, appropriately, to be students - in front of the hall.