Hanlu Temple · Notes
Why Chinese temples line up on an axis
Walk into a Chinese temple and you are already on a line. Almost everything is placed relative to it.
One line
The axis runs north–south, with the gate at the south end. On it sit the gate, the Hall of Heavenly Kings, the main hall, and often a final hall or a stupa at the back.
The main hall is the largest building and the reference for everything else: dimensions, roof height, the width of the courtyards.
Left and right
Buildings that are not on the axis go to the sides, and the sides are ranked: east is generally senior to west. Bell tower east, drum tower west; library east, meditation hall west.
The rule is not absolute, and regional practice differs, but the asymmetry is deliberate — a symmetrical compound would have no hierarchy.
How Hanlu Temple is laid out
Hanlu Temple follows the same logic at a smaller scale: gate, Guandi Shrine, the release pond and its bridge, then the Mahavira Hall at the centre, with Mazu Hall behind it and the Medicine King on the highest platform to the north.
The remaining twenty-odd buildings are generated from a data table, one line each: coordinates, orientation, width, depth, wall height, number of eaves, roof type. Change the table and the compound rearranges.
These are common explanations, not rules; local practice differs, and the temple in front of you has the final say. Hanlu Temple promises nothing and gives no medical, financial or legal advice.