 Apart from <unk> the development of urban areas , temples and religious buildings featured a number of unique aesthetic and structural features . The Temple of the Saintly Mother ( <unk> ) and the Hall of <unk> of the Jin Temple ( <unk> ) , located in a southeastern suburb of Taiyuan City , Shanxi province , are extant examples of early Song architecture . The Temple of the Saintly Mother is the main building of the Jin Temple , first built in the period between 1023 and <unk> and renovated in 1102 . It has a double @-@ <unk> roof with nine ridges , and two dragon @-@ heads with wide @-@ open jaws biting the ends of the main ridge . The roof is supported by massive dougong brackets corresponding to drawings in Yingzao Fashi . The eaves of the Temple of the Saintly Mother curve upward slightly at each end , a characteristic of Song architecture . The columns of the façade , decorated with <unk> that coil around the shafts , become progressively taller with increasing distance to either side of the central pair . The building has a porch around it , the sole example of such a structure ; another unique feature of the site is a cross @-@ shaped bridge that leads to the Goddess Temple . 
