By the Tang, Liao, Five Dynasties, and Ten Kingdoms periods, the structural organization of bracket sets (dougong) had essentially become standardized. In large buildings, the bracket sets placed between columns (puzuo, intermediate bracket sets) differed in their exterior projections from those on column tops (zhutou, column-top bracket sets), while small buildings dispensed with intermediate bracket sets altogether. The timber cross-sections were comparatively large, and the major bracket sets projected far out, giving an overall robust and forceful appearance. The exposed-through core pattern (touxin zao) was widely used, and the ascending cantilevers (ang) employed the split-bamboo profile (pizhu ang).

During the Song, Jin, and Yuan periods, the load-bearing function of bracket sets remained important, yet a tendency toward ornamentation began to emerge. Examples include fully heart-concentrated bracket sets (quan jixin), inclined members such as the tiaogan and the upward-ascending ang (shang'ang), as well as curved components like the erjiao dou, the qinmian ang, and the boot-wedge (xuexie). Small buildings also adopted intermediate bracket sets, which came to resemble the column-top bracket sets in their exterior projections.

In the Ming and Qing periods, the timber cross-sections of bracket sets shrank drastically and their load-bearing role weakened. In official Qing-dynasty architecture, bracket sets grew smaller and were arrayed more densely, reducing them to a decorative band beneath the eaves. The downward-ascending ang (xia'ang) was degraded into a fake ang (jia'ang), and the upward-ascending ang disappeared entirely.

The Xixi Erxian Temple was first built during the Qianyuan era of the Tang dynasty [(758–759](tel:758759)). During the Chongning era of the Northern Song [(1102–1106](tel:11021106)), because the Two Immortals were believed to have “manifested miracles” and rendered service to the imperial court, Emperor Huizong of Song bestowed on the temple the name “Zhenze Palace” and conferred on the two immortals the titles “Chonghui Zhenren” and “Chongshu Zhenren.” Devotion to them grew even stronger as a result.

In the second year of the Huangtong era of the Jin dynasty (1142), the temple underwent large-scale expansion, essentially establishing its present layout. The core surviving buildings in the temple—the Main Hall and the East and West Dressing Towers—are all structures from the Jin dynasty; the East Dressing Tower in particular retains the typical features of Jin-dynasty tower architecture. During the Zhenyou era of the Jin [(1213–1217](tel:12131217)), the temple was damaged in warfare and was later repaired between 1238 and 1247, from the tenth year of Emperor Taizong of Yuan (Ögedei) to the second year of Emperor Dingzong (Güyük).

This stage was discovered by teachers and students from the Institute of Opera Cultural Relics at Shanxi Normal University during a field survey of theatrical relics. In 1998 and 2001, a faculty-student team led by Feng Junjie, a teacher at the institute, made two trips to the temple for investigation. Based on the dating of the stage’s architectural features and key written records on its Sumeru pedestal, they determined that it is a Jin Dynasty structure.