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Foguang Temple

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Template:Infobox Chinese Building Foguang Temple (Chinese: 佛光寺) is a temple located five kilometers away from Doucun, Wutai County, Shanxi Province of China. The major hall of the temple is the East Hall （东大殿）, built in 857 AD, during the Tang Dynasty (618–907). According to architectural records, it is the third earliest preserved timber structure in China. It was discovered by the 20th century architectural historian Liang Sicheng (1901–1972) in 1937, while the older hall at Nanchan Temple was discovered by the same team a year later. The temple also contains two other halls, one dating from 1137, and one dating from the Ming Dynasty. In addition, the second oldest pagoda in China (after the Songyue Pagoda), dating from the 6th century, is located in the temple grounds.[1]

History

The temple was established in the fifth century. In 845, Emperor Wuzong banned Buddhism in China. As part of the persecution, Foguang temple was burned to the ground. Twelve years later in 857, the East Hall was built on the former site of a three story pavilion.[2] A woman named Ning Gongyu provided most of the funds needed to construct the hall, and its construction was led by a monk named Yuancheng. In 1147 of the Jin Dynasty, the Manjusri Hall was constructed on the temple's north side.[3] In 1930, the Society for Research in Chinese Architecture began a search in China for ancient buildings. In the seventh year of the society's search in 1937, an architectural team led by Liang Sicheng discovered that Foguang Temple was a relic of the Tang Dynasty.[4]

Architecture

Unlike most other Chinese temples, the Foguang temple is oriented in an East-West position due to there being mountains located on the east, north and south.[3] The temple consists of three main halls. The southern hall is called The Hall of Sangahara and was built during the Chongshen period of the Ming Dynasty. The northern hall is called The Hall of Manjusri and was constructed in 1147 of the Jin Dynasty. The largest hall, The Great Eastern Hall was constructed in 857 during the Tang Dynasty.[5]

East Hall

Front of the East Hall

Dating from 857 of the Tang Dynasty, this hall is the third oldest extant wooden building in China after the main hall of the Nanchan Temple dated to 782, and the main hall of the Five Dragons Temple, dated to 831.[6] The hall is located on the far east side of the temple, atop a large stone platform. It is a single story structure that measures seven bays by four (34 by 17.7 meters) and is supported by an inner and outer set of columns. On top of each of the columns is a complicated set of brackets containing seven different bracket types that are one-third as high as the column itself.[7] Supporting the roof of the hall, each of the bracket sets are connected by crescent shaped crossbeams, which create an inner ring above the inner set of columns and an outer ring above the outer columns. The hall has a lattice ceiling that conceals much of the roof frame from view.[8] The hipped-roof of the East Hall and the extremely complex bracket sets are testament to the East Hall's importance as a structure during the Tang Dynasty.[7] According the 11th century architectural treatise, Yingzao Fashi, the East Hall closely corresponds to a seventh rank building in a system of eight ranks. The high rank of the East hall indicates that even in the Tang Dynasty it was an important building, and no other buildings from the period with such a high rank survive.[8][9]

Inside the hall are more than twenty sculptures and murals on each wall that date from the Tang Dynasty and later periods.[8] The center of the hall has a platform with three large statues of Sakyamuni, Amitabha and Maitreya. Next to the platform, there are statues of Manjusri riding a lion as well as Samantabhadra on an elephant. A statue representing the hall's benefactor, Ning Gongwu, is present in the south part of the hall. There is one large mural in the hall that shows events that took place in the Jataka, which chronicles Buddha's past life. Smaller murals in the temple show Manjusri and Samantabhadra gathering donors to help support the upkeep of the temple.[2]

Manjusri Hall, built in 1137
The Zushi Pagoda

Hall of Manjusri

On the north side of the temple courtyard is the Manjusri Hall.[1] It was constructed in 1137 of the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) along with another hall dedicated to Samantabhadra, which has now been lost.[10] It is roughly the same size as the East Hall, also measuring seven bays by four. It is located on an 83 cm high platform, has three front doors and one central back door, and features a single-eave hip gable roof. The interior of the hall only features four support pillars. In order to support the large roof, diagonal beams are used.[11] On each of the four walls are murals of arhats painted during the Ming dynasty.[1]

Hall of Sanghagara

Located on the south side of the main temple courtyard, this hall dates from the Chongzhen Period (1611-1644) of the Ming Dynasty, and was renovated during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty. It is quite small, containing only three bays, and is nearly a square. Inside is a statue of Sanghagara, the guardian of Buddha flanked by eighteen other guardians.[12]

Zushi Pagoda

There is a small funerary pagoda located next to the south of the East Hall called the Zushi Pgoda. While it is unclear as to the exact date of its construction, it was either built during the Northern Wei Dynasty or Northern Qi Dynasty and possibly contains the tomb of the founder of the Foguang Temple.[13][14] It is a white, hexagonal shaped pagoda built from bricks that is six meters tall. The first story of the pagoda has a hexagonal chamber that originally housed Buddhist statues, while the second story is purely decorative. The second story of the pagoda contains traces of Indian influence, especially in the decorative lotus petals on the corner columns. The steeple also has carved lotus flowers that support a precious bottle in the shape of a flower.[14]

The Present

Beginning in 2005, Global Heritage Fund (GHF), in partnership with Tsinghua University (Beijing), has been working to conserve the cultural heritage of Foguang Temple, through "measurement, mapping, documentation and threat assessment."[15] On June 26th, 2009, the temple was inscribed as part of the Mount Wutai UNESCO World Heritage Site.[2]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Qin (2004), 342.
  2. ^ a b c "Foguang Temple". UNESCO. Retrieved 2008-10-19. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help) Cite error: The named reference "unesco" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Steinhardt (2004), 233
  4. ^ Steinhardt (2004), 228
  5. ^ Qin (2004), 335.
  6. ^ Steinhardt (2004), 229-30
  7. ^ a b Steinhardt (2002), 116
  8. ^ a b c Steinhardt (2004), 234
  9. ^ Steinhardt (2004), 239
  10. ^ Steinhardt (1997), 231
  11. ^ Steinhardt (1997), 232
  12. ^ This information comes from a Plaque at the temple
  13. ^ Qin (2004), 341-342.
  14. ^ a b "Zushi Pagoda at Foguang Temple". china.org.cn. Retrieved 2007-06-21. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)
  15. ^ Global Heritage Fund (GHF) - Where We Work

References

  • Qin Xuhua, ed. Dudong Wutaishan. Taiyuan: Shanxi People's Press, 2004.
  • Steinhardt, Nancy Shatzman ed. Chinese Architecture. New Haven: Yale University, 2002.
  • Steinhardt, Nancy Shatzman. Liao Architecture. Honolulu: University of Hawaii, 1997.
  • Steinhardt, Nancy Shatzman. "The Tang Architectural Icon and the Politics of Chinese Architectural History," The Art Bulletin (Volume 86, Number 2, 2004): 228–254.
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