Japanese Buddhist architecture
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Buddhism in Japan |
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Japanese Buddhist architecture is the architecture of
Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines share their basic characteristics and often differ only in details that the non-specialist may not notice.
Buddhist architecture in Japan during the country's whole history has absorbed much of the best available natural and human resources. Particularly between the 8th and the 16th centuries, it led the development of new structural and ornamental features. For these reasons, its history is vital to the understanding of not only Buddhist architecture itself, but also of Japanese art in general.[5]
General features
Buddhist architecture in Japan is not native, but was imported from China and other Asian cultures over the centuries with such constancy that the building styles of all
Partly due also to the variety of climates in Japan and the millennium encompassed between the first cultural import and the last, the result is extremely heterogeneous, but several practically universal features can nonetheless be found. First of all is the choice of materials, always wood in various forms (planks, straw, tree bark, etc.) for almost all structures. Unlike both Western and some Chinese architecture, the use of stone is avoided except for certain specific uses, for example temple
The general structure is almost always the same: columns and lintels support a large and gently curved roof, while the walls are paper-thin, often movable and in any case non-carrying. Arches and barrel roofs are completely absent. Gable and eave curves are gentler than in China and columnar entasis (convexity at the center) limited.[6]
The roof is the most visually impressive component, often constituting half the size of the whole edifice.
Inner space divisions are fluid, and room size can be modified through the use of screens or movable paper walls. The large, single space offered by the main hall can therefore be altered according to the need.[6] The separation between inside and outside is itself in some measure not absolute as entire walls can be removed, opening the temple to visitors. Verandas appear to be part of the building to an outsider, but part of the external world to those in the temple. Structures are therefore made to a certain extent part of their environment. The use of construction modules keeps proportions between different parts of the edifice constant, preserving its overall harmony.[6][nb 4]
Even in cases as that of Nikkō Tōshō-gū, where every available space is heavily decorated, ornamentation tends to follow, and therefore emphasize rather than hide, basic structures.[6]
Being shared by both sacred and profane architecture, these architectonic features made it easy converting a lay building into a temple. This happened for example at Hōryū-ji, where a noblewoman's mansion was transformed into a religious building.
History
Beginnings – Asuka and Nara periods
Buddhism is not a Japanese native religion, and its architecture from the continent via Korea together with the first Buddhists in the 6th century. Officially adopted in the wake of the
The Chinese five elements school of thought believed that many natural phenomena naturally fell under five categories.[13] Six groups of five categories were established as a rule to the building of edifices.[14]
Five elements | Wood | Fire | Earth | Metal | Water |
Position | East | South | Middle | West | North |
Weather | Windy | Hot | Humid | Dry | Cold |
Colour | Green | Red | Yellow | White | Black |
Evolution of living things | Birth | Growth | Change | Weakening | Hiding |
Symbolic significance | Prosperity | Riches and honor | Power | Desolation | Death |
A palace for a new prince would for example be placed east to symbolize birth, and yellow tiles would be used for the imperial palace to symbolize power.[13]
The five elements theory is also the basis of the gorintō, an extremely common stone stupa whose invention is attributed to Kūkai. Its five sections (a cube, a sphere, a pyramid, a crescent and a lotus-shaped cusp) stand each for one of the five elements.
Because of fire, earthquakes, typhoons and wars, few of those ancient temples still exist. Hōryū-ji, rebuilt after a fire in 670, is the only one still possessing 7th-century structures, the oldest extant wooden buildings in the world.[11]
Unlike early kami worship shrines, early Buddhist temples were highly ornamental and strictly symmetrical
Another early effort to reconcile kami worship and Buddhism was made in the 8th century during the
At the end of the same century, in what is considered the second stage of the amalgamation, the kami
Heian period
During the Heian period Buddhism became even more infused with Japanese elements: It met and assimilated local beliefs concerning ghosts and spirits (the so-called onrei and mitama), developing traits close to magic and sorcery which allowed it to penetrate a wide spectrum of social classes.[2] Its merging with indigenous religious belief was then accelerated by the systematization of the syncretism of Buddhism and local religious beliefs (see the article on the honji suijaku theory, which claimed that Japanese kami were simply Buddhist gods under a different name).[2] It was in this kind of environment that Fujiwara no Michinaga and retired Emperor Shirakawa competed in erecting new temples, in the process giving birth to the Jōdo-kyō[nb 5] architecture and the new wayō architectural style.[2]
The early
Kamakura and Muromachi periods
The
The Daibutsu style (
The first, introduced by the priest
The Zen style was originally called
These three styles we have seen (wayō, daibutsuyō and zen'yō) were often combined during the
Azuchi-Momoyama and Edo periods
After the turbulence of the Sengoku period and the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1603, old temples like Hieizan, Tō-ji and Tōdai-ji lost their power and the schools of Buddhism were surpassed in influence by the Nichiren-shū and Jōdo-shū.[2] The Edo period was an era of unprecedented building fervor in religious architecture. The number of faithful coming for prayer or pilgrimage had increased, so designs changed to take into account their necessities, and efforts were made to catch their ears and eyes.[2] Old sects limited themselves to revive old styles and ideas, while the new relied on huge spaces and complex designs. Both, in spite of their differences, have in common a reliance on splendor and excess.[2] Early pre-modern temples were saved from monotony by elaborate structural details, the use of undulating karahafu gables and the use of buildings of monumental size.[38] While structural design tended to become gradually more rational and efficient, the surface of religious edifices did the opposite, growing more elaborate and complex. After the middle Edo period, passed its zenith, religious architecture ended up just repeating told ideas, losing its innovative spirit and entering its final decline. Representative examples for the
Meiji period
In 1868 the government enacted its policy of separation of Buddhas and kami called
Common temple features
- Butsudenor Butsu-dō (仏殿・仏堂) – lit. "Hall of Buddha".
- A Zen temple's main hall. Seems to have two stories, but has in fact only one and measures either 3x3 or 5x5 bays.
- Any building enshrining the statue of Buddha or of a bodhisattva and dedicated to prayer.[44]
- chinjusha (鎮守社/鎮主社) – a small shrine built at a Buddhist temple and dedicated to its tutelary kami.[44]
- chōzuya (手水舎) – see temizuya.
- chūmon (中門) – in a temple, the gate after the naindaimon connected to a kairō.[44] See also mon.
- dō (堂) – Lit. hall. Suffix for the name of the buildings part of a temple. The prefix can be the name of a deity associated with it (e.g. Yakushi-dō, or Yakushi hall) or express the building's function within the temple's compound (e.g. hon-dō, or main hall). See also Butsu-dō, hō-dō, hon-dō, jiki-dō, kaisan-dō, kō-dō, kon-dō, kyō-dō, mandara-dō, miei-dō, mi-dō, sō-dō, Yakushi-dō and zen-dō.
- garan – see shichi-dō garan.
- hattō (法堂) – lit. "Dharma hall". A building dedicated to lectures by the chief priest on Buddhism's scriptures (the hō).[44]
- hōjō (方丈) – the living quarters of the head priest of a Zen temple.[45]
- Hokke-dō (法華堂) – lit. "Lotus Sūtra hall". In Tendai Buddhism, a hall whose layout allows walking around a statue for meditation.[45] The purpose of walking is to concentrate on the Hokekyō and seek the ultimate truth.[45]
- jiki-dō (食堂) – dining hall in ancient temples.[46] See also sai-dō.
- honbō (本坊) – residence of the jushoku, or head priest, of a temple.[45]
- kairō (回廊・廻廊) – a long and roofed portico-like passage connecting two buildings.[45]
- kaisan-dō (開山堂) – founder's hall, usually at a Zen temple. Building enshrining a statue, portrait or memorial tablet of the founder of either the temple or the sect it belongs to. Jōdo sect temples often call it miei-dō.[45]
- karamon (唐門) – generic term for a gate with an arched roof.[45] See also mon.
- karesansui(枯山水) – lit. dry landscape. A Japanese rock garden, often present in Zen temples, and sometimes found in temples of other sects too.
- katōmado (華頭窓) – a bell shaped window originally developed at Zen temples in China, but widely used by other Buddhist sects as well as in lay buildings.
- konrō (軒廊) – covered corridor between two buildings
- korō or kurō (鼓楼) – tower housing a drum that marks the passing of time. It used to face the shōrō and lie next to the kō-dō, but now the drum is usually kept in the rōmon.[44]
- kuin* (庫院) – kitchen/office of a Zen garan. A building hosting the galleys, the kitchen, and the offices of a temple.[44] Usually situated in front and to the side of the butsuden, facing the sō-dō. Also called kuri.
- kuri (庫裏) – see kuin
- kyō-dō (経堂) – see kyōzō.
- sūtras and books about the temple's history.[45]Also called kyō–dō.
- miei-dō (御影堂) – lit. "image hall". Building housing an image of the temple's founder, equivalent to a Zen sect's kaisan-dō.[45]
- mi-dō (御堂) – a generic honorific term for a building which enshrines a sacred statue.[45]
- Miroku Nyorai (弥勒如来) – Japanese name of Maitreya.
- mon (門) – a temple's gate, which can be named after its position (nandaimon: lit. "great southern gate"), its structure (nijūmon: "two storied gate"), a deity (Niōmon: lit. "Nio gate"), or its use (onarimon: lit. "imperial visit gate", a gate reserved to the Emperor). The same gate can therefore be described using more than one term. For example, a Niōmon can at the same time be a nijūmon.
- nandaimon (南大門) – the main southern gate of a temple, in particular that at See also mon.
- nijūmon (二重門) – a two-storied gate with a roof surrounding the first floor.[45] See also mon.
- Niōmon (仁王門 or 二王門) – a two-storied or high gate guarded by two wooden guardians called Niō.[45]See also mon.
- noborirō (登廊) – a covered stairway at Nara's Hasedera.
- pagoda – see stupa and tō.
- sai-dō (斎堂) – the refectory at a Zen temple or monastery.[44] See also jiki-dō.
- sandō (参道)- the approach leading from a torii to a shrine. The term is also used sometimes at Buddhist temples too.
- sanmon (三門 or 山門) – the gate in front of the butsuden.[45] The name is short for Sangedatsumon (三解脱門), lit. Gate of the three liberations.[45] Its three openings (kūmon (空門), musōmon (無相門) and muganmon (無願門)) symbolize the three gates to enlightenment.[45] Entering, one can free himself from three passions (貪 ton, or greed, 瞋 shin, or hatred, and 癡 chi, or "foolishness"). See also mon. Its size depends on the temple's rank. (See photos.)
- sanrō (山廊) – small buildings at the ends of a two-storied Zen gate containing the stairs to the second story.
- sekitō (石塔) – a stone pagoda (stupa).tō
- shichidō garan (七堂伽藍) – a double compound term literally meaning "seven halls" (七堂) and "(temple) buildings" (伽藍). What is counted in the group of seven buildings, or shichidō, can vary greatly from temple to temple and from school to school. In practice, shichidō garan can also mean simply a large complex.
- shoin (書院) – originally a study and a place for lectures on the sutra within a temple, later the term came to mean just a study.[44]
- shōrō (鐘楼) – a temple's belfry, a building from which a bell is hung.
- sōbō (僧坊) – The monks' living quarters in a non-Zen garan
- sō-dō (僧堂) – Lit. "monk hall". A building dedicated to the practice of Zazen.[44] It used to be dedicated to many kinds of activities, from eating to sleeping, centered on zazen.
- sōmon (総門) – the gate at the entrance of a temple.[44] It precedes the bigger and more important sanmon. See also mon.
- sōrin (相輪) – a spire reaching up from the center of the roof of some temple halls, tiered like a pagoda.
- sotoba or sotōba (卒塔婆) – transliteration of the Sanskrit stupa.
- A pagoda. Tower with an odd number of tiers (three, five, seven nine, or thirteen). See also stupa and tō.
- Strips of wood left behind tombs during annual ceremonies (tsuizen) symbolizing a stupa.[44] The upper part is segmented like a pagoda and carries Sanskrit inscriptions, sutras, and the kaimyō (posthumous name) of the deceased. In present-day Japanese, sotoba usually has this meaning.
- A pagoda. Tower with an odd number of tiers (three, five, seven nine, or thirteen). See also stupa and
- tatchū (塔頭 or 塔中)
- tahōtō (多宝塔) – a two-storied pagoda with a ground floor having a dome-shaped ceiling and a square pent roof, a round second floor and square roofs.[45]
- temizuya (手水舎) – a fountain near the entrance of a shrine and a temple where worshipers can cleanse their hands and mouths before worship.[45]
- tesaki (手先) – Term used to count the roof-supporting brackets (tokyō (斗きょう)) projecting from a temple's wall, usually composed of two steps (futatesaki (二手先))) or three (mitesaki 三津手先).[45]
- tokyō (斗きょう) – see tesaki.
- torii (鳥居)- the iconic Shinto gate at the entrance of a sacred area, usually, but not always, a shrine. Shrines of various size can be found next to, or inside temples.
- tōrō (灯籠) – a lantern at a shrine or Buddhist temple. Some of its forms are influenced by the gorintō.
- tō(塔)
- A pagoda, and an evolution of the stupa. After reaching China, the stupa evolved into a tower with an odd number of tiers (three, five, seven, nine, thirteen), excepted the tahōtō, which has two.[45]
- The word is used together as a suffix of a numeral indicating the number of a pagoda's tiers (three tiers= san-jū-no-tō, five tiers= go-jū-no-tō, seven tiers = nana-jū-no-tō, etc.).
- tōsu or tōshi (東司) – a Zen monastery's toilet.[45]
- Yakushi-dō (薬師堂) – a building that enshrines a statue of Yakushi Nyorai.[45]*
- yokushitsu* (浴室) – a monastery's bathroom.[45]
Gallery
-
Kōzan-ji in Shimonoseki's Butsuden
-
Motoyama-ji's chinjū-dō
-
Kōmyō-ji's chinjusha
-
Chūmon at Hōryū-ji
-
Myōshin-ji's hattō
-
Tōdai-ji's Hokke-dō
-
Jingo-ji's honbō
-
Tofuku-ji's hon-dō
-
Engyō-ji's jiki-dō
-
Yakushi-ji's kairō
-
Tōfuku-ji's kaisan-dō
-
Hōgon-ji's karamon
-
Shitennō-ji's karesansui
-
a katōmado
-
Tōfuku-ji's sanmon is 5 ken wide.
-
Kō-dō at Tōshōdai-ji
-
Miei-dō at Tō-ji
-
Nandaimon at Hōryū-ji
-
The noborirō at Nara's Hase-dera
-
A niōmon
-
(East) Pagoda at Yakushi-ji in Nara
-
Kiyomizu-dera's sandō
-
A high rank, five-bay sanmon at Chion-in. Note the sanrō.
-
A middle rank, three-bay sanmon at Myōtsū-ji
-
A low rank sanmon at Sozen-ji in Osaka
-
The sanrō of Tōfuku-ji's sanmon. (See also the sanmon's photo above.)
-
Zenrin-ji's sōmon
-
Negoro-ji's large sōrin (metal spire) on top of a daitō (large tahōtō)
-
Saifuku-ji's shoin
-
Tōdai-ji's shōrō (an early type)
-
Saidai-ji's shōrō (a later type)
-
Kongō Sanmai-in's tahōtō (nijū-no-tō)
-
Ichijō-ji's three-tiered pagoda (sanjū-no-tō)
-
Zentsu-ji's five-tiered pagoda (gojū-no-tō)
-
Mii-dera's temizuya
-
Brackets (tokyō, futatesaki in this case) under the eaves of a sanmon's roof.
-
A torii on a temple's (Oyake-ji) sandō
-
Enryaku-ji's shaka-dō
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Tōufuku-ji's tōsu
-
Jōdo-ji's yakushi-dō
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Myōshin-ji's yokushitsu (the temple's baths)
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Tōfuku-ji's zen-dō
See also
- Buddhist temples in Japan
- Glossary of Japanese Buddhism
- Haibutsu kishaku
- Japanese architecture
- List of National Treasures of Japan (temples)
Notes
- ^ The six sects were called Sanron-, Jōjitsu-, Hossō-, Kusha-, Ritsu-, and Kegon-shū.
- ^ For an image of a framed pit saw, see here
- ^ The term "Shinto shrine" is used in opposition to "Buddhist temple" to mirror in English the distinction made in Japanese between Shinto and Buddhist religious structures. In Japanese the first are called jinja (神社), the second tera (寺).
- ken.
- ^ Jōdokyō, or Pure Land Buddhism, was a form of Buddhism which strongly influenced the Shingon and Tendai sects, later becoming an independent sect.
- ^ The statues represented the nine stages of Nirvana.[34]
References
- ^ Fletcher & Cruickshank 1996, p=716
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Fujita & Koga 2008, pp. 50–51
- ^ Scheid, Religiōse ...
- ^ Shinbutsu shūgōarticle
- ^ Nishi & Hozumi 1996, p=12
- ^ a b c d e f g (Hozumi (1996:9-11)
- ^ Sansom 1958, p.49
- ^ a b c JAANUS, Garan
- ^ a b Young & Young 2007, p=38
- ^ Nishi & Hozumi 1996, p=13
- ^ a b c Fletcher & Cruickshank 1996, p=731
- ^ For concrete examples, see Buddhist temples in Japan#Layout and geomantic positioning
- ^ a b c d Fletcher & Cruickshank 1996, p=653
- ^ Table data: Fletcher and Cruikshank, 1996:653
- ^ a b c d e Young & Young 2007, p=44
- ^ Young, Young & Yew 2004, p=52
- ^ Young, Young & Yew 2004, p=44
- ^ Young & Young 2007, p=39
- ^ a b Young & Young 2007, p=46
- ^ a b Nishi & Hozumi 1996, p=16
- ^ a b c Fletcher & Cruickshank 1996, p=732
- ^ Young & Young 2007, p=49
- ^ a b c d Mark Teeuwen in Breen and Teeuwen (2000:95–96)
- ^ a b Satō Makoto
- ^ a b c d e Scheid, Angleichung ...
- ^ Young, Young & Yew 2004, p=47
- ^ a b Nishi & Hozumi 1996, p=17
- ^ a b Kleiner & Mamiya 2009, p. 97
- ^ Young, Young & Yew 2004, p=48
- ^ Nishi & Hozumi 1996, p=19
- ^ Young & Young 2007, p=56
- ^ Kleiner & Mamiya 2009, p. 98
- ^ Nishi & Hozumi 1996, p=18
- ^ a b Young, Young & Yew 2004, p=49
- ^ a b c Fletcher & Cruickshank 1996, p=737
- ^ Nishi & Hozumi 1996, p=20
- ^ JAANUS, Daibutsuyou
- ^ a b c d e Fletcher & Cruickshank 1996, p=738
- ^ Encyclopedia of Shinto – Haibutsu Kishaku accessed on March 15, 2008
- )
- ^ Scheid, Bernhard. "Grundbegriffe:Shinto". Religion in Japan. University of Vienna. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
- OCLC 43487317.
- ^ Josephson, Jason Ānanda (2006). "When Buddhism Became a "Religion": Religion and Superstition in the Writings of Inoue Enryō" (PDF). Japanese Journal of Religious Studies. 33 (1): 143–68. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Kōjien Japanese dictionary
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae JAANUS
- ^ Japanese Encyclopedia Britannica
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- Iwanami Kōjien (広辞苑) Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version
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- Kleiner, Fred S.; Mamiya, Christin J. (2009). Gardner's Art Through the Ages: Non-Western Perspectives (13th, revised ed.). Cengage Learning. ISBN 978-0-495-57367-8. Retrieved 2010-01-11.
- Kuroda, Ryūji (2005-06-02). "History and Typology of Shrine Architecture". Encyclopedia of Shinto (β1.3 ed.). Tokyo: Kokugakuin University. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
- Nishi, Kazuo; Hozumi, Kazuo (1996) [1983]. What is Japanese architecture? (illustrated ed.). Kodansha International. ISBN 4-7700-1992-0. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
- Sansom, George (1958). A History of Japan to 1334. A History of Japan, Sir George Bailey Sansom, Stanford studies in the civilizations of eastern Asia. Vol. 1 (illustrated ed.). Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-0523-2. Retrieved 2010-01-12.
- Scheid, Bernhard (2010-06-29). "Honji suijaku: Die Angleichung von Buddhas und Kami" (in German). University of Vienna. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
- Scheid, Bernhard. "Religiöse Bauwerke in Japan" (in German). University of Vienna. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
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