Also written 蓮花門. Lit. Lotus Flower Gate. A gate
located in the west wall opposite main east gate, Toudaimon 東大門 of Kyouougokokuji
教王護国寺 (also called Touji 東寺) Kyoto. An eight-legged gate, Hakkyakumon 八脚門, 3×2
bays, with an entrance at center bay. The roof is gabled, *irizuma
yane 切妻屋根, tiled, *hongawarabuki
本瓦葺, and dated 1191. All pillars are circular. A thick rectangular block of stone,
karaishiki 唐居敷, forms the base for two main pillars on each side of the
center bay. A hole, *jikuzuriana
軸吊穴, is made in each block for inserting the lower pivot hinge, * jikuzuri
軸吊, for the lower part of the gate doors. In order that the doors close tightly
at the bottom, a high kick board, *kehanashi
蹴放, is positioned across the threshold. Three-on-one bracket complexes *mitsudo
tokyou 三斗斗きょう are placed on a long beam, *kabuki
冠木, that extends out through both gable pediments and beyond. No wall encloses
the pediments. Double rainbow beams, *kouryou
虹梁, with plain, wooden old-style frog-leg struts, *kaerumata
蟇股, are placed well within the structure. They support the bracket complexes,
* tokyou 斗きょう that carry
the ridge beam, *munagi 棟木.
The eaves are double, *futanoki
二軒 and the rafters are closely spaced, *shigedaruki
繁垂木. White plaster coats the roof boards between the rafters. The ceiling, *keshou
yane 化粧屋根 is open-beamed. The roof was originally covered with cypress
bark *hiwadabuki 桧皮葺,
but is now tiled, hongawarabuki.
When *Kuukai
空海 (774-835), founder of the Shingon sect, Shingonshuu 真言宗 of esoteric Buddhism,
left Touji for Kouyasan 高野山, tradition has it that he departed from this gate,
and the Fudou Myouou 不動明王 image in the west precinct saw him off. Later, miraculously,
a lotus flower grew where the Fudou Myouou stood, giving the gate its name. |
