Zen'yō
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Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
of Buddhism
Buddhism in Japan
The history of Buddhism in Japan can be roughly divided into three periods, namely the Nara period , the Heian period and the post-Heian period . Each period saw the introduction of new doctrines and upheavals in existing schools...
which brought it to Japan, it emerged in the late 12th or early 13th century. Together with Wayō
Wayō
is the name given to a style developed in art and architecture in Japan during the Heian period, mainly by the esoteric sects Tendai and Shingon. Together with Zenshūyō and Daibutsuyō, it is one of the three most significant styles developed by Japanese Buddhism on the basis of Chinese models.The...
and Daibutsuyō
Daibutsuyō
is a Japanese religious architectural style which emerged in the late 12th or early 13th century. Together with Wayō and Zenshūyō, it is one of the three most significant styles developed by Japanese Buddhism on the basis of Chinese models....
, it is one of the three most significant styles developed by Japanese Buddhism on the basis of Chinese models. Until World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, this style was called but, like the Daibutsuyō
Daibutsuyō
is a Japanese religious architectural style which emerged in the late 12th or early 13th century. Together with Wayō and Zenshūyō, it is one of the three most significant styles developed by Japanese Buddhism on the basis of Chinese models....
style, it was re-christened by Ōta Hirotarō, a 20th century scholar. Its most typical features are a more or less linear layout of the garan
Shichidō garan
is a Japanese Buddhist term indicating the seven halls composing the ideal Buddhist temple compound. This compound word is composed by the word , literally meaning "seven halls", and , meaning "temple". The term is often shortened to just garan. To which seven halls the term refers to varies, and...
, paneled doors hanging from hinges, intercolumnar tokyō
Tokyō
The Dougong in Chinese is a system of and supporting the eaves of a Japanese building, usually part of a Buddhist temple or Shinto shrine. The use of tokyō is made necessary by the extent to which the eaves protrude, a functionally essential element of Japanese Buddhist architecture. The system...
, cusped windows
Katōmado
A , also written , is a style of pointed arch or bell-shaped window found in Japanese architecture.In English, this type of window is also simply called "cusped window"...
, tail rafters, ornaments called kibana, and decorative pent roofs.
Kōzan-ji
Kozan-ji
, or , is an Omuro Buddhist temple located in Ume-ga-hata Toganoo-chō, Ukyō Ward, Kyoto, Japan. The temple was founded by famous monk Myōe and is renowned for its numerous national treasures and important cultural properties, in particular the famous picture scroll called Chōjū-giga. The temple...
's butsuden in Shimonoseki, Zenpuku-in's shaka-dō
Dō (architecture)
is a Japanese word for building. It is very often used in Japanese Buddhism as a suffix in the name of some of the many buildings that can be part of a Japanese temple compound. The prefix can be the name of a deity associated with it is a Japanese word for building. It is very often used in...
in Kainan, Wakayama
Kainan, Wakayama
is a city located in Wakayama, Japan.As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 55,763. The total area is 101.18 km².The city was founded on May 1, 1934.On April 1, 2005 the town of Shimotsu, from Kaisō District, was merged into Kainan....
and Anraku-ji's pagoda
Tō
The , sometimes also called or is the Japanese version of the Chinese pagoda, itself an interpretation of the Indian stupa. Pagodas are quintessentially Buddhist and an important component of Japanese Buddhist temple compounds but, because until the Kami and Buddhas Separation Act of 1868 a...
in Ueda, Nagano, all dating to the Kamakura period
Kamakura period
The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....
, are considered the three most important Zenshūyō buildings. Kōzan-ji's butsuden (built in 1320) is the oldest extant building in the Zenshūyō style in Japan.
History
At the end of the 12th century, more or less while in Nara ChōgenChogen
was a after Manju and before Chōryaku. This period spanned the years from July 1028 through April 1037. The reigning emperors were and .-Change of era:* 1028 : The new era name Chōgen was created to mark and event or series of events...
was rebuilding Tōdai-ji
Todai-ji
, is a Buddhist temple complex located in the city of Nara, Japan. Its Great Buddha Hall , the largest wooden building in the world, houses the world's largest bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana, known in Japanese simply as Daibutsu . The temple also serves as the Japanese headquarters of the ...
, and in the process was creating the architectural style that would later be called Daibutsuyō
Daibutsuyō
is a Japanese religious architectural style which emerged in the late 12th or early 13th century. Together with Wayō and Zenshūyō, it is one of the three most significant styles developed by Japanese Buddhism on the basis of Chinese models....
, two monks were introducing Zen to Japan. First was Eisai
Eisai
Myōan Eisai was a Japanese Buddhist priest, credited with bringing the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism and green tea from China to Japan. He is often known simply as Eisai Zenji , literally "Zen master Eisai"....
, who brought the Rinzai school
Rinzai school
The Rinzai school is , one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism.Rinzai is the Japanese line of the Chinese Linji school, which was founded during the Tang Dynasty by Linji Yixuan...
teachings to Kamakura
Kamakura, Kanagawa
is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, about south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called .Although Kamakura proper is today rather small, it is often described in history books as a former de facto capital of Japan as the seat of the Shogunate and of the Regency during the...
. Having the support of shogun
Shogun
A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...
Minamoto no Yoriie
Minamoto no Yoriie
was the second shogun of Japan's Kamakura shogunate, and the first son of first shogun Yoritomo.- Life :Born from Tokimasa's daughter Hōjō Masako at Hiki Yoshikazu's residence in Kamakura, Yoriie had as wet nurses the wives of powerful men like Hiki himself and Kajiwara Kagetoki, and Hiki's...
, he was able to found temples in both Kamakura and Kyoto
Kyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
.
A little later, Dōgen
Dogen
Dōgen Zenji was a Japanese Zen Buddhist teacher born in Kyōto, and the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan after travelling to China and training under the Chinese Caodong lineage there...
introduced the Sōtō
Soto
Sōtō Zen , or is, with Rinzai and Ōbaku, one of the three most populous sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism.The Sōtō sect was first established as the Caodong sect during the Tang Dynasty in China by Dongshan Liangjie in the 9th century, which Dōgen Zenji then brought to Japan in the 13th century...
school to Japan. Unlike Eisai, he declined the support of Kamakura's regent
Shikken
The was the regent for the shogun in the Kamakura shogunate in Japan. The post was monopolized by the Hōjō clan, and this system only existed once in Japanese history, between 1203 and 1333...
Hōjō Tokiyori
Hojo Tokiyori
Hōjō Tokiyori was the fifth shikken of the Kamakura shogunate in Japan. He was born to Hōjō Tokiuji and a daughter of Adachi Kagemori....
and open his head temple, Eihei-ji, within the forests of today's Fukui prefecture
Fukui Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Fukui.- Prehistory :The Kitadani Dinosaur Quarry, on the Sugiyama River within the city limits of Katsuyama, has yielded the Fukuiraptor kitadaniensis and Fukuisaurus tetoriensis as well as an unnamed...
. The success of the Zen sects, which were embraced by the warrior caste, meant that they were able to introduce to the country also a new architectural style, like the Daibutsuyō derived from Song Dynasty architecture, but very different in spirit.
After arriving in Japan the style started to evolve in response to local conditions and tastes. Among its innovations is the roof, covered in wood shingles rather than tiles, as in China. Also, Zen temple buildings have a so-called "hidden roof
Hidden roof
The Also sometimes called . Koya is the technical term for the space between the roof and the ceiling. is a type of roof widely used in Japan both at Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. It is composed of a true roof above and a second roof beneath, permitting an outer roof of steep pitch to have...
" structure, consisting in two roofs, the true one and a second underneath it. The second, false roof hides the first, making it possible to obtain sloping roofs and shallow eaves. The invention of the hidden roof in the 10th century allowed the inclination of the roof's underside to be completely different from that of the exterior, thus making Japanese temples feel very different from their Chinese counterparts.
Characteristics
The Zen sect was very successful, and therefore often imitated. Many of its innovations were therefore widely adopted by other Buddhist schools. Zenshūyō's characteristics are decorative pent roofs (mokoshiMokoshi
In Japanese architecture a , literally "skirt story" or "cuff story", is a decorative pent roof surrounding a building below the true roof. Since it does not correspond to any internal division, the mokoshi gives the impression of there being more floors than there really are...
) and pronouncedly curved main roofs, cusped windows (katōmado
Katōmado
A , also written , is a style of pointed arch or bell-shaped window found in Japanese architecture.In English, this type of window is also simply called "cusped window"...
), earthen floors and paneled doors., p=737 Wood structures are relatively light, design light and orderly. All buildings are erected on stone podia and have either stone or earthen floors.
Other important characteristics are:
- More or less fixed garan composition and layout
Zen's discipline is strict and its rules many and complex. As a consequence, the Zen garan has a typical elongated and bilaterally symmetrical layout where each building's shape, position, scale and use are predetermined. To the contrary, older schools like Tendai and Shingon use more irregular building dispositions which take into account terrain characteristics.
- Use of penetrating tie beams
During the Heian period temples were built using only non-penetrating tie beams made to fit around columns and pillars, then nailed. The daibutsuyō style and the zenshūyō style replaced them with penetrating tie-beams , which actually pierced the column, and were therefore much more effective against earthquakes. The nageshi was however retained as a purely decorative element.
- TokyōTokyōThe Dougong in Chinese is a system of and supporting the eaves of a Japanese building, usually part of a Buddhist temple or Shinto shrine. The use of tokyō is made necessary by the extent to which the eaves protrude, a functionally essential element of Japanese Buddhist architecture. The system...
between posts
While other styles put roof-supporting brackets only above columns, Zen temples have them also between columns (see photo above).
- Tōrihijiki
Each bracket step has its own , a long horizontal beam parallel to the wall and inserted into the bracket step. (See photo in the gallery.) It strengthens the structure while at the same time supporting the roof rafters.
- Odaruki
A tokyō's third step is usually supported by a so-called , a cantilever
Cantilever
A cantilever is a beam anchored at only one end. The beam carries the load to the support where it is resisted by moment and shear stress. Cantilever construction allows for overhanging structures without external bracing. Cantilevers can also be constructed with trusses or slabs.This is in...
set between the second and the third step (see illustration in the gallery). The name refers to its typical shape, similar to a tail protruding from the bracket.
- Kibana
Another Zenshūyō feature is the or , a nose-like decoration with a spiraling motif carved on a rafter after the last protruding bracket. (See photo in the gallery.)
- Fan-shaped roof rafters
Roof rafters radiate outwards from a single central point.
- Paneled doors
Doors called are made of separate panels and do not slide, but are fixed to the tie beams by heavy hinges called . Above the door's panels runs a transom (architectural)
Transom (architectural)
In architecture, a transom is the term given to a transverse beam or bar in a frame, or to the crosspiece separating a door or the like from a window or fanlight above it. Transom is also the customary U.S. word used for a transom light, the window over this crosspiece...
which admits light through curved openings.
- Sōmon and sanmon
The entrance to a Zen temple is straddled by two symbolic gates
Mon (architecture)
is a generic Japanese term for gate often used, either alone or as a suffix, in referring to the many gates used by Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines and traditional-style buildings and castles.-Significance:...
, the sōmon
Sōmon
The is the gate at the entrance of a Buddhist temple in Japan.. It often precedes the bigger and more important sanmon....
and the more important sanmon
Sanmon
A , also called is the most important gate of a Japanese Zen Buddhist temple, and is part of the Zen shichidō garan, the group of buildings that forms the heart of a Zen Buddhist temple. It can be however often found in temples of other denominations too...
.
- MokoshiMokoshiIn Japanese architecture a , literally "skirt story" or "cuff story", is a decorative pent roof surrounding a building below the true roof. Since it does not correspond to any internal division, the mokoshi gives the impression of there being more floors than there really are...
Typical of the style is also the main hall (butsuden), which has just one story but seems to have two because of the presence of a roofed corridor called mokoshi
Mokoshi
In Japanese architecture a , literally "skirt story" or "cuff story", is a decorative pent roof surrounding a building below the true roof. Since it does not correspond to any internal division, the mokoshi gives the impression of there being more floors than there really are...
. Having the width of one bay
Ken (architecture)
A is a measurement in Japanese architecture. It has two principal uses:* As a proportion for intervals between the pillars of traditional-style buildings. The word is translated in this case in English as "bay". Traditional buildings usually measure an odd number of bays, for example 3×3 or 5×5...
, it makes the three-bay, one-story building look like a two-storey, five-bay building.
- Cusped windows
Zen temples have typical bell-shaped windows called . Originally the two sides were vertical, but they acquired a slant later on. Their use is now widespread, and they can be found even at Shinto shrines and castles
Japanese castle
' were fortresses composed primarily of wood and stone. They evolved from the wooden stockades of earlier centuries, and came into their best-known form in the 16th century...
.
- No pagoda
Because of the decline in the use of pagodas, like other schools the Zen garan usually does not have a pagoda
Tō
The , sometimes also called or is the Japanese version of the Chinese pagoda, itself an interpretation of the Indian stupa. Pagodas are quintessentially Buddhist and an important component of Japanese Buddhist temple compounds but, because until the Kami and Buddhas Separation Act of 1868 a...
and, when it does, it is relegated to a peripheral position.
Examples of Zenshūyō
File:Zenpukuin shakado01s3200.jpg|Zenpuku-in's shaka-dō
Dō (architecture)
is a Japanese word for building. It is very often used in Japanese Buddhism as a suffix in the name of some of the many buildings that can be part of a Japanese temple compound. The prefix can be the name of a deity associated with it is a Japanese word for building. It is very often used in...
, built in 1327
File:Anrakuji Hakkakusanjyuunotou BessyoOnsen.jpg|Anraku-ji's pagoda
Tō
The , sometimes also called or is the Japanese version of the Chinese pagoda, itself an interpretation of the Indian stupa. Pagodas are quintessentially Buddhist and an important component of Japanese Buddhist temple compounds but, because until the Kami and Buddhas Separation Act of 1868 a...
, built in the 14th century
File:Engakuji-Shariden-M9239.jpg|Engaku-ji
Engaku-ji
right|thumb|A stone carvingNot to be confused with Enryaku-ji in Kyoto., or Engaku-ji , is one of the most important Zen Buddhist temple complexes in Japan and is ranked second among Kamakura's Five Mountains. It is situated in the city of Kamakura, in Kanagawa prefecture to the south of Tokyo...
's shariden
See also
- Japanese Buddhist architecture - Heian period
- DaibutsuyōDaibutsuyōis a Japanese religious architectural style which emerged in the late 12th or early 13th century. Together with Wayō and Zenshūyō, it is one of the three most significant styles developed by Japanese Buddhism on the basis of Chinese models....
- SetchūyōSetchūyōis an architectural style born in Japan during the Muromachi period from the fusion of elements from three different antecedent styles, namely the wayō, the daibutsuyō and zen'yō. It is exemplified by the main hall at Kakurin-ji. The combination of wayō and daibutsuyō in particular became so...
- WayōWayōis the name given to a style developed in art and architecture in Japan during the Heian period, mainly by the esoteric sects Tendai and Shingon. Together with Zenshūyō and Daibutsuyō, it is one of the three most significant styles developed by Japanese Buddhism on the basis of Chinese models.The...