How did ancient people build temples on mountain peaks without modern technology?
Nowadays, people's living conditions are more affluent than before, and people go to various tourist attractions to see different landscapes. The more people live in big cities, the more they like to climb mountains, which can both exercise and breathe fresh air. When they reach the top of the mountain, they can also see beautiful scenery.
Besides seeing the scenery of mountains and rivers at the top, you can also see various temples. The higher the mountain peak, the older the temples hidden on it. These buildings have weathered through hundreds or even thousands of years, but they are still intact, which makes people admire the quality of ancient architecture.
However,In ancient times, there were no modern tools, how did they transport materials to the top of thousands of meters high mountains?
Image from the internet: Ancient temples at the peak
When I was young, I once saw a short passage in a book: The author and his friend went to Mount Emei to climb. Along the way, they constantly encountered porters carrying goods up the mountain. Some were carrying building materials, and some were carrying various living supplies.
When the author and the people carrying goods rested together, the author gave them the water he carried to drink, and asked them if they felt so tired carrying such heavy things.
From the conversation, we learned that the porters could earn a sum of money for carrying one load of goods up the mountain, although it wasn't much, it was still income. The author imagined,Those buildings on Mount Emei, perhaps every brick and every tile, even every grain of sand, were the result of these porters' efforts.
If there were no mountains to climb, no one could imagine that all the ancient buildings on the top of the mountain were built by manpower. In ancient times, there were no various high-tech,
The 'divine assistance' they referred to was their unwavering spirit.These ancient temples and buildings that still stand today have witnessed the wisdom and perseverance of ancient people. Each ancient temple witnessed the development of history. Whenever people see them, they inevitably think about who has such ability to build such magnificent buildings on the cliffside.
Even if there were large tools, it would still face great difficulties to build on the steep mountain top. On the rugged mountain road, all building materials could only rely on manpower to transport. The ancients were particularly persistent, as long as they could start construction at the top of the mountain, no matter how steep it was, they wanted to find a way to get there.
Image from the internet: Ancient temples
6. Choose building materials
The ancients had few building materials, except for stone, wood and bamboo, rarely using other materials. Many of the temples built on the top of the mountain were made of wood, but don't underestimate these wooden buildings. The quality of these buildings is often stronger than the steel and concrete buildings we see today.Modern high-rise buildings are tall and fashionable, but their lifespan is only a few decades. But these seemingly inconspicuous ancient buildings can still stand for hundreds or even thousands of years.
Image from the internet: Wood-built temple
5. Use local materials
The ancients' tools were not as advanced as modern ones, but the ancients' brains were not inferior to modern people. To build a temple on the top of the mountain, the ancients would first use local materials. If they needed tiles, they might dig a tile kiln directly on the mountain or nearby to make tiles.
If they couldn't find suitable materials on the mountain, they could only transport materials from the foot of the mountain or even further away.
Image: Digging a tile kiln
6. Use relay
After the materials were transported to the foot of the mountain, they used the relay method to transport the materials to the top of the mountain. It is said that the Great Wall was built using this method. They would stand in a line from the foot of the mountain to the top, then pass the relay like passing a baton, which greatly reduced the movement of workers.
When we look back, we can hardly believe that such great buildings were built in ancient times. These buildings have witnessed the course of history and allow us to see the wisdom and perseverance of the ancients.Article author: Big Hui
The entire text was created by the Big Hui Say History Studio team!
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