In the autumn of 1638, the explorer Xu Xiake sought shelter at the foot of Tielong Mountain in Yunnan. Inside the newly built West Temple, now known as the Luxi Wanshou Monastery, he spent a stormy Mid-Autumn night reading the local annals by candlelight. Outside, the wind whistled through the double-eaved hip-and-gable roof, while inside, the scent of toon wood doors and fresh pine resin filled the air. Nearby rested the coffin of You Daxun, a fallen official placed there by his grieving son during the regional wars.

Today, only the Sanfo Hall remains of this once-grand complex, standing on a site of over three thousand square meters. It is a physical archive of human labor and survival. To support the heavy clay cloth tiles, Ming Dynasty builders erected massive interior golden pillars, each measuring six meters high and nearly half a meter in diameter. These pillars carry a complex seven-purline beam frame, where carved camel-back blocks and wooden melon posts distribute the roof's immense weight.

The human touch is visible in every joint. Under the eaves, ancient dougong brackets stack upward like wooden clouds. On the lower tier, single-qiao, single-ang five-cai brackets extend into the corridor, their beam ends carved into delicate hemp-leaf shapes. High above, the second-tier seven-cai brackets feature rare, hidden carvings of flying apsaras with wind-blown robes. The back and side walls, built from rammed earth and sun-dried mud bricks, offer a rough, tactile contrast to the smooth, cool blue-stone steps leading to the entrance.

For centuries, this hall served as a communal anchor. Local families held wedding banquets under these very beams, and today, worshippers still tie red silk ribbons to the nearby trees. Recognized in 2019 as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level, the hall recently received a grant for structural repairs. This funding ensures that the ancient timber frame, which has absorbed centuries of seismic shocks and mountain storms, continues to stand as a bridge between the Ming Dynasty and the modern visitor.