**4. Discussion**

*4.1. Explanations of Changes in the Spatial Structure*

From the statistics, we found that the centrality of the spatial structure of the temple was relatively stable, whereas the topological structure has been changing greatly since the 1990s, during which the center of accessibility has been gradually transferred toward the East District. In addition, decreasing MD value presents the development of tourism planning and construction of the temple. Otherwise, Mahavira Hall always remains its spatial–topological priority among the global spaces, which indicates that the religious functionalities of the temple have presented a 'guidance' effect on spatial–topological transformations [34]. The religious-functional architecture in the existing spaces of the temple during the three periods have shown their distinguished significant influences on the spatial form, while Pingshan Hall and the West Garden present low spatial influential effects but a higher level of integration.

Moreover, the traditional spatial layout of the existing scenic sites of the temple is appropriately well-preserved, for sustainable strategies for building heritage conservation have been applied, i.e., protecting the ancient temple building and expanding the newbuilt scenic areas simultaneously. The spatio–temporal changes in the spatial system are typical temporal processes that offer quantitative records of the dynamic developments of the temple [35]. These records are of help for those individual visitors to perceive the historical memory of the space, which is believed to be effective for the reactivation of cultural heritage.
