Dēngfēng

At the foot of Mount Song, Dengfeng is surrounded by temples, academies and monuments associated with the ancient idea that this was the centre of Heaven and Earth. Among them is Shaolin Temple, founded in 495 in the woods below Mount Shaoshi. Celebrated as a home of Chan Buddhism, the monastery also became renowned for the martial arts practiced by its monks. Southeast of Dengfeng stands an observatory built under the Yuan by the astronomer Guo Shoujing and his colleagues. Its brick and stone platform and graduated stone instrument served to measure the sun's shadow. Observations made here contributed to the calculations of the Shoushi calendar, a lasting achievement of Yuan astronomy.