Baiyun Si

Wutai Shan

The double-eaved Three Worthies Hall is the last in sequence. It is more elaborately decorated, but less important, than the Mahavira Hall seen on the previous page: it has only five bays to the main hall's seven, and its roof is less imposing than the sweeping hipped roof of the main hall. There seems to be a trade-off between elaborate decoration and grandeur in these two kinds of halls.

The sequence of halls that we have observed here - entrance hall, courtyard, main hall, courtyard, secondary hall - is the standard layout or unit of organization for Chinese temple and palace compounds. It is especially clear in this temple, which is practically a textbook demonstration.