The authors bring together the manul 3D-scanned and digital data derived from two surveys of the Grand Eastern Hall of Foguang Si(Buddha Light Temple)at Wutaishan conducted in 2004 by the Shanxi Provincial Ancient Architecture Conservation Institution and in 2005-2006 by Qinghua University,respectively.The authors also take into consideration the original measurements of the hall made by an earlier generation of scholars.The auther tries to translate the modern metrical values into the original architectural values,as follows:the original hall,measured with an ancient rule that was 298 mm long in today’s measurements, revealed that one bay of the five central bays of the hall was one zhang and seven chi in span, and that columns appropriate to support that span were erected.The width of the dougong bracketing materials was seven cun.The angle from the longer section of the bracketing could basically be described as 47units(1/10 of dougong width),while the lift angle was 21 degrees, thus increasing its range eleven times,thereby reducing the span to one zhang,four chi and eight tun.The height from the central middle purlin to the top of the column represents the actual height of lift.From the above analysis and conclusions,the authors emphasize the importance of precise and comprehensive measurement in providing a scientific basis for studying ancient architectural design.
