religious architecture of china

1 CULTURE & ARCHITECTURE

2 Chin e s e Re l ig i ous Arch i t e c tu r e

• Buddhist architecture in much of China follows

the imperial style, but with green roof tiles. A

Buddhist temple normally has a front hall that

houses a statue of a Bodhisattva, followed by

a great hall that houses statues of the

Buddha, with accommodation for the monks

and nuns at either side.

• Taoist architecture is a little less grand. The

main deity is usually represented in the main

hall which is at the front, in contrast to

Buddhist layout where the main hall will be to

the rear. Also, the entrance is usually at or to

the side which is believed to confuse entry by

demons (a Feng Shui guideline). Taoist roofs

are generally blue.

• Chinese religious architecture

consist mainly of temples of

Buddhism, Lamaism, Islamism, and

Taoism.

• They differ according to the different

religious doctrines and

requirements of usages.

• Portraits of Buddha, murals,

engraved tablets, calligraphy,

Buddhist utensils, furnishings, and

Buddhist scriptures are displayed in

these buildings.


• The Buddhists have the pagoda and the stupa; stele as tombs and sites for inscriptions

are common in all traditions; the ‘spirit ways’ of Royal tombs and the pailou gates

erected by officials in city streets are all to one extent or another kinds of religious

architecture.

• Pagodas in particular are the one tradition in which buildings of wood crossed over into

a monumental stone architecture of uniquely religious form— minarets, spires, Hindu

shikara, domes, pyramids — that have often been the most extraordinary achievement

of the Indo-European architectures.

• The formally unique and distinctively religious, and the imperial sacrificial venue is best

exemplified by Beijing’s Tiantan/Temple of Heaven. With its intensely symbolic

geometric layout – squares and circles are everywhere — its remarkable marble

platforms and walkways, designed for a very specific and significant series of rituals,

and its beautiful — arguably the most beautiful in China – circular Hall of Prayer for

Good Harvests, this is of all things a a structure that exemplifies the principles outlined

above but also translates them into a building form that could have no other function

than a religious/ritual one.


• Temples in China are invariably located in the most beneficient spot in the landscape:

often facing south, with a hill behind them and a wide valley, ideally containing water,

ahead.

• The landscape can be heavily reworked to make this possible: the upper hall of the

Foguang Si in Shanxi is quarried into the hillside; behind the ‘little Potala’ at Chengde

is a hill; Or they are associated with specific spots — rocks or springs or other points

deemed to be of significance — regardless of association with a settlement.

• Chinese architecture, then, is to an extraordinary degree about place, and to understand

it one has to engage with the rules of feng shui as they apply to a specific

building and its sie and function (whether it be an imperial temple or a peasant’s

house-god altar).

• The buildings themselves, then, are also arranged, and rather like landscapes, in that

their arrangement is as much about spaces enclosed as about the structures themselves.


• Halls running along the main axis, arranged hierarchically; less important functions

are positioned to the sides; the sequence of courtyards that result, and the routes

that interconnect them, is the primary experience of these places.

• The complex interiors and inventive spatial effects of the Western tradition are thus

completely unknown: one encounters rectangular spaces of varying size, containing

impressive, cool halls that can be left undivided as a setting for sculpture or fittings

or partitioned to make rooms.

• Entrances, openings and enclosures are absolutely fundamental; these are often the

focus of decoration, display, and on occasion inventiveness.


• The Temple of Heaven, literally the

Altar of Heaven (TIAN - TAN) is a

complex of Taoist buildings situated in

the southeastern part of central Beijing.

• One of the largest temple complexes in

china & a paradigm of architectural

balance & symbolism.

• The complex was visited by the

Emperors of the Ming and Qing

dynasties for annual ceremonies of

prayer to Heaven for good harvest.

• It is regarded as a Taoist temple,

although Chinese Heaven worship,

especially by the reigning monarch of

the day, pre-dates Taoism

• The Temple grounds cover 2.73 km² of

parkland and comprises three main groups

of constructions, all built according to strict

philosophical requirements:

• THE HALL OF PRAYER FOR GOOD

HARVESTS

• THE IMPERIAL VAULT OF

HEAVEN

• THE CIRCULAR MOUND ALTAR


Qinian Dian-Hall of

Prayer for good

Harvests

Altar to Heaven

Echo Wall


Qinian Dian-Hall of

Prayer for good

Harvests

Altar to Heaven


The Circular

roof symbolizes

the SKY

Name Plaques-

written in the

calligraphy of

an Emperor

Blue represents the

color of Heaven

Red is an

Imperial color

Dragon &

Phoenix motifs Symbolic offerings

Tablets – in

memory of

ancestors

Caisson

ceiling

Dragon Well

Pillars

Golden Finial


• The HALL OF PRAYER FOR GOOD

HARVESTS is a magnificent triple-gabled

circular building, 36 meters in diameter

and 38 meters tall, built on three levels

of marble stone base, where the

Emperor prayed for good harvests.

• The building is completely wooden, with

no nails.

• The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests

has four inner, twelve middle and twelve

outer pillars, representing the four

seasons, twelve months and twelve

traditional Chinese hours respectively.

• Combined together, the twelve middle

and twelve outer pillars represent the

traditional solar term.

HALL OF PRAYER FOR GOOD HARVESTS

Circular

mounds


• Initially constructed in 1420 in

a square design, it was

reconstructed in 1545 during

Emperor JiaJing's reign as a

round building with a three-

tier roof.

• At that time the roof was

constructed with blue, yellow

and green glazed tiles

symbolising Heaven, Earth

and the mortal world.

• During Qing Emperor

QianLong's reign it was

reconstructed again in 1751.

This time the roof was tiled

only in azure colored tiles.


• Inside the Hall are 28 tall pillars, each made from a

single tree trunk. The four posts around the inner

circle represent the four seasons.

• The 12 posts around the middle circle represent the 12

months.

• The 12 posts of the outer circle represent 12 ShiChen.

In ancient China, one ShiChen equalled two hours so

that a complete day was divided into 12 ShiChens.

• The12 gilded pillars and the 12 outer eave pillars

together represent the 24 solar terms of the year.

• The designer used the numbers of the pillars to

represent the time division of the Chinese calendar

about hour, day, month and season, and used the

round shape of the structure to represent the endless

time and its repetition in endless circles. It is indeed a

building of time.


• This design was commissioned by Qing dynasty emperor QianLong (reign: 1736-1795)

in 1751.

• All the buildings within the Temple have dark blue roof tiles, representing the Heaven.

• The cleverly constructed building relies only on carpentry, with no nails employed.


Caisson

ceiling

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The interior of the hall is

magnificently decorated and

contains a large south facing

ceremonial throne.

Wooden

supports


Duo-gong-wooden brackets

Detail from the Hall of Prayer for

Good Harvests – the imperial colors

blue, red and yellow were used in

every detail.


Huge dragon depicting carved stones along the central stairway up to

the hall. The emperor would be carried in a sedan over these carvings.


Panorama from the opposite view of the Imperial Vault of Heaven

Panorama of the three main halls

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• The Imperial Vault of Heaven is a single-gabled circular building, built on a single level

of marble stone base.

• The Imperial Vault of Heaven sits in the center. It is a round building with a roof that

resembles the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, though smaller and with only one gable

of eaves and a single tier marble base.

• The hall is 19.2 meters high and with a diameter of 15.6 meters.

• The east and west annexes were used to hold divine tablets of various gods worshipped

at the Altar to Heaven.

• It is located south of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests and resembles it, but is

smaller.

• It is surrounded by a smooth circular wall, the Echo Wall, that can transmit sounds over

large distances.

• The Imperial Vault is connected to the Hall of Prayer by the Vermilion Steps Bridge, a 360

meter long raised walkway that slowly ascends from the Vault to the Hall of Prayer.

IMPERIAL VAULT OF HEAVEN


The entrance to the Imperial Vault of Heaven as seen from inside


The Imperial Vault of Heaven

Marble base-single

tier

Blue tiled Gable roof


• At the southern end is the Altar to Heaven (also known as the 'Circular Mound'), an

empty three-tiered plinth that rises 5 meters from a square yard.

• The Circular Mound Altar is the altar proper, located south of the Imperial Vault of

Heaven - it is made of white marble.

• The altar was used to worship heaven at the winter solstice.

• It is an empty circular platform on three levels of marble stones, each decorated by

lavishly carved dragons.

• The numbers of various elements of the Altar, including its balusters and steps, are

either the sacred number nine or its nodules.

• The center of the altar is a round slate called the Heart of Heaven or the Supreme

Yang, where the Emperor prayed for favorable weather.

• The sound of the prayer will be reflected by the guardrail, creating significant

resonance, which was supposed to help the prayer communicate with the Heaven.

• The Altar was built in 1530 by the Jiajing Emperor and rebuilt in 1740.

ALTAR TO HEAVEN

24 Chin e s e Re l ig i ous Arch i t e c tu r e Aerial view of th.e circular mound


SYMBOLISM

• Earth was represented by a square

and Heaven by a circle; several

features of the temple complex

symbolize the connection of Heaven

and Earth, of circle and square.

• The whole temple complex is

surrounded by two cordon of walls;

the outer wall has a taller, semi-

circular northern end, representing

Heaven, and a shorter, rectangular

southern end, representing the Earth.

• Both the Hall of Prayer for Good

Harvests and the Circular Mound Altar

are round, each standing on a square

yard, again representing Heaven and

Earth.

• The number NINE represents the Emperor and

is evident in the design of the Circular Mound

Altar: a single round marmor plate is

surrounded by a ring of nine plates, then a

ring of 18 plates, and so on for a total of nine

surrounding rings, the outermost having 9×9

plates.

• Mathematics and seasonal or celestial

calculations play a major role in the design of

the Qiniandian, with its roof of three

concentric circles being supported by four

massive wood columns that symbolize the four

seasons.

• Other aspects of the building's design equate

to the twelve months of the year and twelve

hours in a day.


The Altar to Heaven


Within the walled square yard is a circular wall. Both inner and outer

walls contain four sets of three gates that resemble monumental archways.

These are known as the 'Ling-Xing Gates' and are made of white marble.

A triple set of 'Ling-Xing Gates’


the inner circular wall inside the square outer wall.


The Heavenly Center Stone on top of the

Altar to Heaven.


• The first ring of consists of 9 stones, the 'magical' highest value digit. Then 18, 27 etc.

• The number of stones in the various concentric tiers are all multiples of nine - a

prevailing numerological theme at the Temple of Heaven.

• The number nine, being the highest value digit, symbolically represented the EMPEROR.

• Around the center stone is a ring of nine stones slabs. The next ring has 18 slabs; the

next 27.

• There are nine rings in all, with 9 x 9 =81 slabs in the outermost ring. The numbers of

the railing boards and balustrades are also the multiple of nine, all symbolic figures of

the astronomical phenomena.

• The central stone is called the Heavenly Center Stone. It is said that the voice of a

person standing there sounds especially resonant and sonorous.


• The Echo Wall encloses the Imperial

Vault. It has a height of 3.7 meters

and a circumference of 193 meters.

• It is named for its acoustical

properties - a whisper spoken at one

end can be heard clearly from the

other.

• Further, the Triple Echo Stones in the

courtyard return various numbers of

echos depending on which stone one

stands on while facing the Imperial

Vault.

• They are good demonstrations of the

excellent skills of ancient architects

in embroidering acoustics

phenomena into their designing.

• The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is

approached along a 360 meter raised

walkway : 'Vermillion Steps Bridge'

(DanBiQiao).

• In doing so, one ascends almost

imperceptibly, denoting progression from

Earth to Heaven.

• The path is 1 meter high at the start and 4

meters high at the end. At one point there in

a tunnel under it.

• The walkway is almost 30 meters wide and

has three distinct paths marked out. The

central path was reserved for the gods.

• The path on the east was reserved for the

emperor while the path on the west was

used by the empress and court officials.


'Vermillion Steps Bridge' (DanBiQiao).


Dragon Carving on the steps leading

up to the Hall of Prayer for Good

Harvests

Dragon Carving on

the roof tiles and

ridges of roofs


The Seven-Star Stone Group, east of the Hall

of Prayer for Good Harvest, represents the

seven peaks of Taishan Mountain.

Marble gargoyles surrounding the Imperial

Vault of Heaven


• This nine-story octagonal structure was constructed without the use of nails and falls

under the Indian-influenced stupa classification of pagoda.

• The stupa that is the crown of the pagoda had two rows of brick lotus petals and one

of iron petals support various Buddhist characteristics - an alms bowl, a prayer

wheel, and so forth.

• Chains formerly hung from the tips with small bells hanging from each corner of the

roof .

• The Muta stands out within the context of Liao wooden building.

• When the Buddha Shakyamuni died, a stupa was placed over his remains.

• The function of the stupa in its East Asian form likens the pagoda to a relic mound.

• A devout Buddhist ruler of the Liao continued in the stupa tradition, creating the

pagoda as an architectural homage to the death of the Buddha while simultaneously

erecting a shrine to the Liao ruler's father.

• The images within the pagoda are even considered to be funerary in nature.

• Early pagodas under Liao patronage such as Foguang Si would contain relics inside

and provided a focus of devotion to the Buddha and others transmitting faith.


• The (Yingxian wooden pagoda) Sakyamuni

Pagoda of Fogong Temple of Ying

County, Shanxi province, China, is a wooden

Chinese pagoda built in 1056, during the Liao

Dynasty.

• The pagoda was built by Emperor Daozong of

Liao (Hongji).

• The pagoda, has survived several large

earthquakes throughout the centuries; it was

given the generic nickname of the "Muta"

(literally "Timber Pagoda").

• It is the oldest existent fully wooden pagoda

still standing in China.

• The pagoda stands on a 4 M (13 FT) tall

stone platform, has a 10 M (33 FT) tall

steeple, and reaches a total height of

67.31 M (220.83 FT) .


• The structure stands 67.31 meters tall with

an inner shaft made entirely of wood that

rises 51.35 meters.

• The structure employs the use of wood

and brick ; the base is brick whereas the

stories are made of wood.

• The layout of the pagoda has an octagonal

plan

• The pagoda was built on the 4M high and

two-layer stone platform base.

• The first layer has double eaves and is

surrounded with a cloister.

• The part before the second layer is all

installed with enclosures and has a dozen

kinds of corbel brackets under each eave

looking like clouds gathering together.


• The structure of the Wooden Pagoda

is very ingenious with two slots of

columns inside and outside.

• On the first storey of the pagoda

stands a statue of Sakaymuni Buddha

of 11 meters high, solemn and

respectful, and 6 walls of the storey

are painted with six portraits of

Buddhas and 12 flying Apsarases in

vivid and elegant posture.

• There is a quadrangular Buddha on

the third storey and the Buddha faces

four directions.

• A sitting statue of Sakayamuni

Buddha is located in the center of the

fifth storey with 8 giant Bodhisattvas

sitting in eight directions.

11m high

sakayamuni

Buddha


Remarkably, this

completely

wooden structure

has remained

intact for almost

1000 years,

weathering

environmental

disasters as well

as social

upheavals.


Buddhist statues found within the pagoda, with the Sakyamuni Buddha at

the center

//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/TheStatuaryInsideTheWoodenTowerOfYing.jpg


• Similar to earlier built Indian stupas, the Yingxian Pagoda is located in the centre of a

religious complex and is composed of three main parts, a raised base, a central body

composed of an odd number of levels and on the top, a pinnacle or steeple.

• Unlike other ancient pagodas that were built with brick or stone reinforcement, this

Pagoda was constructed entirely out of wood and without the use of any nails.

• The strength and resilience of the structure is attributed to the type of wood used, the

rare Xing’an larch from Northern China.

• Also notable is the fact that construction followed the Yingzao Fashi official code of

building that was principled by Li Jie in 1103 A.D. which outlines the strict construction

methods enforced at the time.


• When the wooden pagoda was under

repair in 1974, many carved Sutra,

written Sutra and color silk pictures

and other precious antiques were

found in abdomens of the broken

statues.

• A number of cultural relics were

found in the pagoda, including

paintings depicting Chinese

medicinal herbs, Buddhist scriptures

and carvings.

• These relics are all believed to

belong to the Liao Dynasty and are

regarded as significant discoveries

for furthering knowledge and study

on religion and culture of this period

of history.

• The pagoda sits on a large octagonal stone

platform and from its exterior, the structure

appears to be divided into five levels with

encircling balconies and an extended

steeple reaching from the top.

• However on the inside, there are a total of

nine floors to the structure.

• At the main entrance of the pagoda there is

a tall statue of Sakyamuni Buddha and on

the walls are murals of warrior deities,

various heavenly kings, and Buddhist

disciples.

• An enormous wooden staircase leads up to

the second storey of the pagoda where a

balcony extends around the entire structure

offering a panoramic view of the growing

city of Shanxi.


The tower adopts the structure of

secluded chambers in design,

presenting a distinctive national

characteristic inherited from the

Han and Tang Dynasties while

leveraging the traditional

architectural techniques to the

fullest extent.

It's scientific and precise design

and consummate in structure,

reached the highest level of the

architecture in ancient China.


• Each story of the Muta is an

independent, self-contained structure

so that each story is its own 3D

Buddhist mandala including sculpture

and wall paintings.

• The four middle floors have a balcony

and a lean-to roof.

• The top level has a very elaborate

system of bracketing.

• There are fifty-four different bracket-

types used within the pagoda.

Wooden Brackets

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