| The arrangement
of buildings within the precinct of a Buddhist temple constructed between
the late 7c to 12c. The position of buildings and the buildings themselves
varied according to era, religious sect and the surface configuration of
the land. The earliest temples were established in Nara. Excavations of
the Asukadera 飛鳥寺 site and the Wakakusa 若草 site adjacent to present Houryuuji
revealed two of the earliest arrangements of temple buildings. The Asukadera
style asukadera shiki 飛鳥寺式, had three image halls *kondou
金堂, one in the west *saikondou
西金堂, one in the east *toukondou
東金堂, and a third, the central chuukondou 中金堂, larger
than the other two, was placed on the same axis as the south gate nanmon
南門, and middle gate *chuumon
中門. The pagoda *tou 塔,
was placed forward from the chuukondou on the same axis, and situated
exactly in the middle of the east and west pagodas. The three kondou
and pagoda were surrounded by a corridor *kairou
回廊. The only access was through what were thought to be a belfry *shourou
鐘楼, and a sutra storage area *kyouzou
経蔵, that were outside the corridor. The Shitennouji 四天王寺 style is exemplified
by the latest rebuilding of the temple, Shitennouji in Osaka. It has one
pagoda that is placed on the same axis as the south and middle gates. Beyond
the pagoda and on the same axis are the image hall and lecture hall. The
latter is set within the rear corridor. Outside the sacred enclosure are
a belfry and sutra storage buildings and far to the rear, are the dormitories
and refectory *jikidou
食堂. The excavation of the Houryuuji Wakakusa garan 法隆寺若草伽藍, proved to have
the same configuration as Shitennouji. The Houryuuji style has one pagoda
on the left and image hall on the right. Originally, the corridor beginning
on each side of the center gate completely enclosed them. The lecture hall,
belfry, and sutra repository were at the back outside the corridor. Dormitories
were on either side. At a later date, the corridor was extended to include
the lecture hall, the belfry and sutra repository. The Kawaharadera 川原寺
site revealed that there was a west image hall with a pagoda facing it from
the east, and a central image hall connected with another enclosure containing
the belfry, sutra repository and lecture hall. Kanzeonji 観世音寺 had the same
plan as Yakushiji 薬師寺 in Nara, a plan that was typical in the 8c. A corridor
extending from each side of the middle gate terminated at each side of the
lecture hall. There was one image hall and two pagodas, east and west. In
line with the gates, hondou and kairou was the refectory jikidou.
The Koufukuji 興福寺 style follows a north-south axis plan. A corridor provides
a protected passage from the middle gate to the image hall. The lecture
hall, although on the same axis, is outside the enclosure. There are two
image halls separated from the main axis. A refectory is located to the
east, and Hokuendou 北円堂 (north octagonal hall) in its own enclosed compound
on the west side. At Toudaiji 東大寺, the pagodas are arranged outside the
main complex to the east and west, and are enclosed in corridors. During
the Heian period with the introduction of new Buddhist sects
(Tendai 天台 and Shingon 真言 sects), temples were often built in mountainous
areas resulting in an asymmetrical arrangement of buildings. Also because
these sects are basically esoteric, new buildings for different purposes
such as the *jougyoudou
常行堂, *tahoutou 多宝塔,
and kanjoudou 灌頂堂 were also built. Examples: Enryakuji 延暦寺, Jougyoudou and Hokkedou 法華堂 (1594), Shiga prefecture.; Negoroji 根来寺Tahoutou 多宝塔 (*Daitou 大塔). Also during the Heian period two other sects of Buddhism, the Pure Land
sects (Joudo 浄土 and Joudoshin 浄土真 sects) arose, and both had a special
devotion to *Amida 阿弥陀 (Sk. Amitabha) who rules over the Western Paradise saihou 西方. During the 10-11c when the power of the
Fujiwara 藤原 clan was at its peak many large Pure Land temples
were built under its aegis. Every effort went into making these temples
replicas of the the Amida's Western Paradise. Fujiwara Michinaga 藤原道長 (966-1027) created
a grand, palacial temple, Houjouij 法成寺, in Kyoto. It is no longer extant
but the assumed plan of the temple has been drawn by Fukuyama Toshio 福山敏男.
The focal point was the *amidadou
阿弥陀堂 and faced a pond giving the temple a close relationship to the shinden
style *shinden-zukuri
寝殿造. The Byoudouin 平等院 *Hououdou 鳳凰堂 is a mid-11c example. Temples with multiple
Amida statues were popular, some housing as many as nine statues. The only
example extant image hall is the Hondou 本堂 at Joururiji 浄瑠璃寺 (1107) in Kyoto.
(Also called Kutaiji 九体寺, lit. the Temple of Nine Images). It faces a pond
and on the opposite side is a 3-storied pagoda, Sanjuu-no-tou 三重塔 (12c).
New sects of Buddhism introduced in the 13c., especially, the Zen sect, used a different plan in the arrangement of buildings and added
new buildings needed for their particular religious worship. The large temples
were again built on level ground on a north-south axis influenced by the
Chinese seven hall arrangement shinchidou garan 七堂伽藍. The seven
buildings included: the Buddha hall *butsudou
仏堂, hall for meditation *hattou
法堂, kitchen *soudou
僧堂, kubou 庫房 or *kuri
庫裡, entrance gate *sanmon
三門, sometimes interpreted as a spiritual entrance as well as physical entrance
(see *sangedatsumon
三解脱門), latrine seijou 西浄 and bath house yokushitsu 浴室. These
seven were the basic buildings but large Zen temples often added many traditional
buildings such as a pagoda, tou, belfry, shourou, drum tower
*korou 鼓楼, the head
preists quarters, *houjou
方丈, and dormitories, shindou 寝堂. After the Ounin 応仁 War (1467-77) in Kyoto, during which many buildings were burned down, many Rinzai
臨済 sect temples like Kenchouji 建長寺 preserved only the arrangement
of the sanmon, Buddha hall and hattou on a north-south axis.
The Soutou 曹洞 sect emphasized strict training and retained
the plan of a kitchen, meditation hall and priests' quarters on an east-west
axis. The Oubaku 黄檗 sect style as seen at Manpukuji 萬福寺,
a third type of Zen, was introduced in the 17c. and reflected the Ming dynasty
temple arrangement, with a tennouden 天王殿 placed between
the sanmon and the butsudou. The saidou 斎堂 and zendou
禅堂 were constructed on an east-west axis. |
