The Archaeology Channel - WelcomeTAC have a new video posted on their site, as described here by Richard Pettigrew....
The 1,200-year old Foguang Temple in Shanxi Province, China, is one the most important remaining wooden architectural jewels of Chinese civilization. Built during the Tang Dynasty, the temple is a tribute to the peak of Buddhist art and architecture from the 9th century AD. Without regular maintenance and conservation by successive Chinese dynasties, the structure has fallen into dangerous state of disrepair. Global Heritage Fund (GHF) of Palo Alto, California, will provide funding and expertise for the investigation, planning and scientific conservation of the site.
The Chinese name of the temple translates to 'Shining Light of the Buddha', and we also learn that not a single nail was used in its construction, the wooden joints made using tongue and groove and mortise and tenon. It has survived so well partly because of the dry climate and also because all the destructive wars that have been waged were far away from this site. Funding is urgently needed for conservation - the last major conservation of the site took place 300 years ago, and unsurprisingly the temple is showing its age.
Structural and cosmetic repairs are needed, with a plan for local craftsmen being employed to help with the work, funded partly by Beijing in concert with input from the Global Heritage Fund, in an attempt to preserve what is described as the wooden counterpart to the Parthenon.
image from here
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