➤ Photography Jiang Sheng

金山嶺上院

Upper Cloister in Aranya, Golden Mountain

阿那亞∙金山嶺上院

清晨入古寺，初日照高林。

曲徑通幽處，禪房花木深。

山光悅鳥性，潭影空人心。

萬籟此都寂，但餘鐘磬音。

——（唐）常建《題破山寺後禪院》

The Upper-Cloister in Aranya, Golden Mountain (Jinshanling)

At the break of dawn I wandered in the ruins of an ancient temple, On lofty trees of the woods the morning sun cast its rays. Following a path amongst bamboos I came to a secluded place, Hidden deep amidst lush flowery vegetation, it used to be a chamber for meditation. Birds by nature took delight in mountain scenes, In the pond, a mind cleansed by the waters a lucid reflection made. Everything gave way to silence right there and then, Save for the tolling of bells that resonates.– CHANG Jian, An Inscription for the Rear Meditation Chamber of a Mountain Temple in Ruins

➤ Photography Su Shengliang

金山嶺上院並不是古寺，但視野所及之內的古長城卻是曠古奇跡。上院的出現為這一片山谷建立了新的時間點。一個輕盈、輕觸地面的禪堂，纖細輕薄的結構拉開了新建物與古長城之間的時間距離，也再次因為人類的建造活動定位了這一片山谷的時間性。上院本身也試圖從上層入口庭院至下部開敞禪堂通過氛圍以及空間的開合建立一種內部的時間性。新的建造既要與古長城進行時空對話，也要能契合這山谷的地形地貌和荒野氣質。

The Upper-Cloister in Golden Mountain is not an ancient temple, but the ancient Great Wall as far as the eye can see is an unprecedented miracle. The establishment of the upper-cloister has set a new point-in-time for the valley. A light meditation hall (Aranya) touches the ground on tiptoe, as its slim and light structure sets the distance in time between the new construction and the ancient Great Wall, and the valley has also been relocated in time due to the human construction. From the upper entrance courtyard to the lower open meditation hall, the upper cloister itself also strives to establish an internal time through atmosphere and the opening and closing of space. The new construction not only communicates with the ancient Great Wall in time and space, but also fits into the topography and wilderness of the valley.

最後選址的這段山谷，既有過煤礦開發，也有過梯田耕作。現場的雜草下還能看到村民自建梯田台地的擋土牆位置，已然變成一個地形景觀的存在。新的上院建築除了下部台地上的開敞的禪堂，上部建築依山就勢，將1.6公尺退級的台階式景觀地形轉譯為建築的空間形式與尺度，它既是地形，也是建築。

The valley where the final site was selected had been developed for both coal mining and terrace farming. Under the weeds, one can still see the arrangement of the terrace retaining walls built by the villagers, which has become a topographical landscape in itself. In addition to the open meditation hall on the lower platform, the new upper cloister is built against the mountain slope, and translates the 1.6-meter stepped landscape terrain into the spatial form and scale of the building. It is both terrain and architecture.
 

➤ Photography Su Shengliang

➤ Photography Su Shengliang

入口庭院則圍繞一個空院石庭佈置，一側是安置佛像的佛堂。空院以向內垂墜的薄鋼板與附著在混凝土圍合牆上的細鋼柱傳遞了傳統廊院的空間氛圍，空院向上的開口刻畫出了一個朝向天空的框景，從院內望去有遠山、烽火台，有斷崖峭壁和天際緩緩游弋的雲彩，而朝向西側山谷的水平開口則正好框出古長城和一尊自然石像。佛堂名為「遍知堂」，取以周遍了知之智慧來斷除煩惱之意。佛堂內有自然山石裸露於空間中。

The entrance is arranged around an open stone courtyard, with a Buddhist hall to house Buddha statues on one side. The open courtyard conveys the spatial atmosphere of the traditional corridor courtyard with the thin steel plates hanging inward and the thin steel columns attached to the concrete enclosure wall. The upward opening of the open courtyard frames a view towards the sky. Looking from the courtyard there are distant mountains, beacon towers, cliffs, and clouds cruising slowly in the sky. On the other hand, the horizontal opening facing the valley on the west side precisely frames the ancient Great Wall and a natural stone statue. The name of the Buddhist hall is “Omniscience Hall”, which means to free oneself from troubles with the wisdom of universal knowledge. Natural mountain rocks are exposed in the Buddhist hall.

上院內的大小幾個內庭園由枡野俊明創作，他既是景觀設計師也是一名僧人。入口石庭由五塊形態各異的自然山石構成，寓意佛教文化中的「色、受、想、行、識」五蘊，五蘊和合而生萬物。石庭地面為淺色鑿毛細石混凝土，傍晚時分，石庭光線猶亮，如月色大海，五塊石頭的山峰分立三組或立或臥，有大海無邊無盡之意，此庭取名「無盡意」。

The several inner gardens of various scales within the upper cloister were created by Shunmyō Masuno, who is both a landscape architect and a monk. The stone courtyard at the entrance is composed of five natural rocks of different shapes, implying the five aggregates of clinging in Buddhist culture, namely “form, sensation, perception, activity, and consciousness”, and the combination of the five aggregates creates all things. The ground of the stone courtyard is made of light-colored chiseled concrete. In the evening, the stone courtyard is still bright, just as the sea under moonlight. The five stone peaks are divided into three groups, standing or lying, which coincide with notion that the sea is boundless and endless. This courtyard is named “Endless Meaning”. 

➤ Photography Jiang Sheng

➤ Photography Jiang Sheng

➤ Photography Su Shengliang

➤ Photography Su Shengliang

山下的鋼結構和碳纖維屋頂的禪堂是對中國漢字「捨」在象形意義上的重構。「捨」字由「亼+屮+囗」三部分組成，「亼」是屋頂，「屮」是梁柱，「囗」是基座，內外兩圈纖細的鋼柱支撐著曲面的屋頂，方形基座的高低變化在尺度上適應著山地的地形，外圈的鋼柱隨之產生了長短的變化。人在通透的禪堂中，山坳的側壁成為真正的圍合物，只有面向山谷的方向足夠開放。不遠處明代的長城是一顆時間的化石，所有的安排都是為了這一刻的安靜。禪堂及其周邊的幽深空間取名「阿蘭若」正是阿那亞（Aranya）的本意「人間寂靜處，找回本我之地」的空間寫照。禪堂前一方水池倒映山色天空，令一切更為靜謐。每當夕陽西下或雲霧升騰，坐看雲起，心靈得以安頓。

The meditation hall made of steel structure and carbon fiber roof at the foot of the mountain is a pictographic reconstruction of the Chinese character “舍”. The character “舍” is composed of three parts: “亼+屮+口”.  “亼” is the roof,  “屮” is the beam and column, and “口” is the base. Two rings of slender steel columns inside and outside support the curved roof. The changing height of the square base adapts to the mountain terrain in terms of scale, and the steel columns on the outer ring adjust in length accordingly. When people are in the transparent meditation hall, the mountain pass becomes a real enclosure, and only the direction facing the valley is open enough. Not far away, the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty is a fossil of time. All the arrangements are for this moment of tranquility. The meditation hall and its surrounding deep space named  “Aranya” is exactly the spatial portrayal of the term’s original intention of “a quiet place in the world, a place to find the self”. The pool in front of the meditation hall reflects the mountains and the sky, adding to the tranquility of everything. Whenever the sun sets or the fog ascends, sitting down with rising clouds in sight will bring peace to the mind.

➤ Photography Jiang Sheng

➤ Photography Jiang Sheng

於是，石庭（無盡意）、佛堂（遍知堂）、冥想室、閱覽室、書寫室、禪堂（阿蘭若），由上至下一連串的空間形成序列，附著於地形，內外開合，節奏井然。禪堂下苑山谷遍種果樹百草，有曲折石徑通往古長城。待下苑鐘亭水井與原有煤礦遺跡景觀整理完畢，金山嶺上院乃成。

Therefore, a series of spaces form a sequence from top to bottom, including the stone courtyard (Endless Meaning), Buddhist hall (Omniscience Hall), meditation room, reading room, writing room, and meditation hall (Aranya). All are attached to the terrain, open and close inside and outside, forming an orderly rhythm. The valley below is full of fruit trees and herbs, with winding stone paths leading to the ancient Great Wall. After the Xiayuan Zhongting water well and the original coal mine landscape are sorted out, the Upper Cloister will be completed.

➤ Photography Jiang Sheng