Buddhist temples in Japan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Along with Shinto shrines, Buddhist temples are the most numerous, famous, and important religious buildings in Japan. The Japanese word for a Buddhist temple is tera (寺), and the same kanji also has the pronunciation ji, so temple names often end with -ji or -dera. There are a number of other variations such as -in. Famous temples in Japan including Enryaku-ji, Kiyomizu-dera, and Kotoku-in illustrate the naming patterns.
Contents |
[edit] Layout and geomantic positioning
Buddhist temple complexes consist of a number of structures arranged according to certain concepts or guidelines.
Hōryū-ji in Nara, which claims to include the world's oldest wooden buildings, serves as a perfect example of the standard layout of a Buddhist temple/monastery complex. There are three essential buildings in any temple complex: a pagoda (塔 tō, typically three or five stories), a Great Hall (金堂 kondō, or 本殿 honden), and a monastic study hall (講堂 kōdō).
The arrangement of the major buildings (garan haichi (伽藍配置)) changed over time. An early pattern had a gate, tower, kondō and kodō in a straight line from south to north. Corridors extended east and west from the flanks of the gate, then turned north, and finally joined north of the kodo, forming a cloister around the pagoda and the major halls. This pattern, typified by Shitennō-ji in Osaka, came from China via Baekje; the Chinese style of Buddhist temples, though altered somewhat by China via Korean peninsula, ultimately was based on that of Chinese palaces, and this is evident in many of the basic design features which remain today in the temples of all three countries.
A Buddhist temple complex in Japan generally follows the pattern of a series of sacred spaces encircling a courtyard, and entered via a set of gates. These gates will typically have a pair of large guardian statues, called Niō.
In addition, many of the more important or powerful temples are built in locations which are favorable according to the precepts of Chinese geomancy. For example, Enryaku-ji, which sits atop Mount Hiei to the north-east of Kyoto, is said to defend the city from evil spirits by being placed in that direction. The arrangements of mountains and other geographic features in particular directions around the temple play important roles as well. This custom continued for a long time. Eight centuries after the founding of Enryaku-ji, the Tokugawa shogunate established Kan'ei-ji in a similar direction for the protection of their Edo Castle. Its mountain-name, Mount Tōei (東叡山 Tōei-zan), takes a character from Mount Hiei (比叡山 Hiei-zan), and can be interpreted as meaning "the Mount Hiei of the East."
Kamakura's's Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū is now just a Shinto shrine but, before the Shinto and Buddhism Separation Order (神仏判然令) of 1868, its name was Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū-ji (鶴岡八幡宮寺) and it was also a Buddhist temple, one of the oldest of the city[1]. The temple and the city were built with Feng Shui in mind[2]. The present location was carefully chosen as the most propitious after consulting a diviner because it had a mountain to the north (the Hokuzan (北山)), a river to the east (the Namerikawa) and a great road to the west (the Kotō Kaidō (古東街道)), and was open to the south (on Sagami Bay)[2]. Each direction was protected by a god: Genbu guarded the north, Seiryū the east, Byakko the west and Suzaku the south[2]. The willows near the ponds and the catalpas next to the Museum of Modern Art represent respectively Seiryū and Byakko[2].
In addition to geomantic considerations, Buddhist temples, like any other religious structures, need to be organized in order to best serve their various purposes. The most primary space in any Buddhist temple complex is the sacred space, where images of Buddhas and bodhisattvas are kept, and where important rituals are performed. This area is always separated off from the areas accessible to the lay worshippers, though the distance between the two and the manner of their separation is quite varied. In many temples, there is little more than a wooden railing dividing the sacred space with that of the laypeople, but in many others, there is a significant distance, perhaps a gravelled courtyard, between the two.
Another structure or space of great importance accommodates the physical day-to-day needs of the clergy. Spaces for eating, sleeping and studying are essential, particularly in those temples that serve as monasteries.
[edit] Architecture
 |
This section requires expansion. |
The architecture of Buddhist temples, like that of any structure, has changed and developed over the centuries. However, while the particular details may vary, the general themes and styles have strong similarities and common origins.
Most, if not all, Buddhist temple buildings exhibit the same basic design elements as other traditional Japanese buildings. Tall thick wooden columns serve as the load-bearing and stabilizing element of the structure. Each column sits atop a single large stone, anchoring the building. The walls, floors, and complex bracketed roof structure are then built around these columns. There is great diversity in the style and appearance of roofs, but most follow the basic concept of a tiled sloping roof. The roofs of many older temples, designed more directly on mainland forms, have upturned flaring corners. Meanwhile, newer temples that are based more on native Japanese styles will have smoother, flatter roof corners.
The Hōryū-ji already mentioned was one of the first, if not the first, Buddhist temple built in Japan. Its primary structures represent the style then current in 6th century Sui dynasty China. The Kondō (Golden Hall) is a double-roofed structure, supported by thick, strong pillars, and giving a feeling of boldness and weight.
[edit] History
|
This section requires expansion. |
The term garan (伽藍)[3], commonly used in Japanese to refer to a temple's compound, is an abbreviated form of the expression sōgya ranma (僧伽欄摩), itself a transliteration of the Sanskrit saMghaaraama (सँघाराम), literally meaning "garden for monks"[4]. A Japanese garan was originally just a park where monks gathered together with their teacher, but the term later came to mean "Buddist temple". When the temple's compound consisted of various buildings, it was called a shichidō garan (七堂伽藍 seven hall temple)[4]. The word appears for the first time in documents of the sixth century but, because of the hostility of supporters of local kami beliefs towards Buddhism, no monastery of the era survives, so we don't know what they were like[4]. Thanks to the Nihon Shoki, we do know that an architect, six Buddhists and an image maker from the Korean kingdom of Paekche came to Japan in 577 specifically to teach the Japanese the arrangement of monasteries and temples[4]. The Korean provenience of this new knowledge is also attested by the fact that the layout of Ōsaka's Shitennō-ji is a copy of that of Chongyimsa temple in Puyo, capital of Paekche from 538 to 663[4].
[edit] See also
- List of Buddhist temples
- Buddhist architecture
- Glossary of Japanese Buddhism
- Buddhist art
- Terakoya
- Senjafuda
- Japanese architecture
- List of National Treasures of Japan (temples)
[edit] Notes
- ^ Kamakura Shōkō Kaigijo (2008: 56-57)
- ^ a b c d Ōnuki (2008:80)
- ^ Also called sōen (僧園) shūen (衆園) and shōja (精舎)
- ^ a b c d e JAANUS, garan
[edit] References
- Japanese Art Net User System Dictionary of Japanese Architectural and Art Historical Terminology (JAANUS)
- Kamakura Shōkō Kaigijo (2008) (in Japanese). Kamakura Kankō Bunka Kentei Kōshiki Tekisutobukku. Kamakura: Kamakura Shunshūsha. ISBN 978-4-7740-0386-3.
- Ōnuki, Akihiko (2008) (in Japanese). Kamakura. Rekishi to Fushigi wo Aruku. Tokyo: Jitsugyō no Nihonsha. ISBN 978-4-408-59306-7.
- Sansom, George (1962). "Japan: A Short Cultural History." New York: Appleton-Century Crofts, Inc.
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Buddhist temples in Japan |
