sanjuu-no-tou 　三重塔

KEY WORD :　architecture / buildings & sculptures

Three-storied pagodas, most of which are made of wood, but a small percentage are made of stone. See *sekitou 石塔. Wooden pagodas have interiors but stone pagodas do not . The first stories of those built from the end of the 12c. had the central pillar set above the ceiling of the first floor. Because now that the central pillar *shinbashira 心柱 terminated above the ceiling of the ground floor. There was space for statues and wall paintings. By the latter part of the 12c. wooden platforms replaced the stone ones. Now the pagoda was surrounded by a wooden veranda *engawa 縁側 supported by timber struts *tsuka 束, the same type as the floor of the pagoda. Underneath is an earthen mound covered with thick white plaster *shikkui 漆喰, with struts placed on it, too. This mound is called *kamebara 亀腹, lit. turtle belly. The earliest extant three-storied pagoda of this type is located it Ichijouji 一乗寺 (1171) in Hyougo prefecture. The earliest extant three-storied pagoda is that at Hokkiji 法起寺 (706), Nara. It is located near Houryuuji 法隆寺 and belongs to the same lineage having cloud-patterned bracket complexes *kumoto 雲斗 like the five-storied pagoda *Gojuu-no-tou 五重塔 and image hall, *Kondou 金堂 at Houryuuji. One more three-storied pagoda with a cloud-pattern lineage is at Hourinji 法輪寺 in the same vicinity. Unfortunately it was struck by lightening and burned in 1944, but has been rebuilt with the cloud-patterned bracket complexes. All these pagodas have a central pillar shinbashira. The pagodas at Houryuuji, five-storied and Hourinji had central pillars set deeply into the ground, but at Hokkiji, the central pillar was set into a base stone on ground level. The first three-storied pagoda to have the central pillar terminate above the ceiling of the ground floor is the one at Ichijouji Heian period.. With the ground floor cleared of the space occupied by the central pillar, the area could be utilized as a small Buddhist image hall. Some have paintings on the walls, too. The three-storied pagoda at Daihouji 大法寺 (1333), Nagano prefecture is the first three-storied pagoda to have two *raigoubashira 来迎柱, that is two pillars right and left connected by a wall *raigoukabe 来迎壁, behind the Buddhist altar on the ground floor. Three-storied pagodas were always in the wayou style *wayou 和様, until the introduction of the Zen style *zenshuuyou 禅宗様, and the daibutsu style *daibutsuyou 大仏様 at the end of the 12c and throughout the 13c. The elements of the Zen or daibutsu style began to be mixed with the purely wayou style. The curve of the eaves is slight in the wayou style, but became deeper and more pronounced during the Kamakura period (1185-1333) and Nanbokuchou period (1333-1392). The curve of the roof became pronounced during the Muromachi period 1392-1568, especially in pagodas of the Zen style. During the Edo period (1615-1868), the curve was concentrated at the corners with a flatter line across the center parts. All pagodas have pyramidal roofs *hougyou-zukuri 宝形造. Therefore the eave curves are the same on all four sides. Examples include the three-storied pagoda, at Koujouji, 向上寺 (1432), in Hiroshima prefecture. It is basically wayou style but has Zen style details. Another example is the three-storied octagonal pagoda Hakkaku Sanjuu-no-tou 八角三重塔 at Anrakuji 安楽寺, Nagano prefecture, which has an enclosed pent roof that surrounds the first story. It is typical of the Zen style.

REFERENCES:

*tou 塔, *tahoutou 多宝塔

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