When I was six years old, my parents
took me to the Shanxi (a province in the north China region) for a vacation.
Mount Wutai is a famous attraction of Shanxi province. There are lots of
temples in Mount Wutai, and these temples are dedicated to the Buddhist deity.
Temples make the Mount Wutai became a very famous Buddhist Mountain. When
passing by, one must visit these temples.
My
parents bring me to a temple named Foguangsi (Foguang Temple). For a six-year-old
child, only interesting things can help him focus. But the history of temple
has brought a deepest shock to me. Every old wood pillar has the scars of
history, and those scars, for young me, were just like a painting. The scars
had a lot of history. I can remember the big sculptures as I walked into the
temple. It was colorless but grand. Whether one believes in Buddhism, one will
have the urge to worship. The temple is boring to a boy, but it is important to
an architect, especially a Chinese one.
Foguang
Temple is the biggest existing, and second oldest wooden building in China.
With the 1000 years after it had been built, some dynasty has repaired it once
or twice, it still in existence and in relatively in good condition. (http://baike.baidu.com/subview/37088/5921735.htm) Rain and insects easily destroy the
wood, but one earthquake can destroy the temple completely, making the
structure of this building important. As
an architect, I wonder what made the temple last 1000 years.
Foguang
Temple has an epic historic meaning to China. It broke a Japanese scholar’s
assertion: There is no Tang (618-907)
and earlier wooden structure building existing in China. (Itō, C., & Chen, Q. 1998) China has a long history of using wood
to build buildings, and there have also been lots of wars within this history.
And I think our Chinese have a “bad” habit; when they conquer a city, they like
to ruin the important and valuable buildings and then build them themselves.
Honestly, it’s a good way to start and maintain their rule. Because they ruined
the old valuable buildings, they can destroy the faith of the former adherents
and establish their own symbol of power. With being destroyed year after year,
Foguang Temple is evidence of this old country’s wisdom, strength and cruelty.
There
are some Buddhist sculptures and murals still in the temple. Mount Wutai is
treated as the number one Buddhist Mountain in China. (Common sense) The
sculpture and murals are the art part of the Buddhist history and culture. And
they also reflect the culture of the Tang Dynasty. Researching these will help
us know the background of this temple. The sculptures and murals have high
value.
When
we talk about the wooden building, we cannot ignore the beauty of its main
structural elements—Dougong. The Chinese start using Dougong around 700 BC.
(Fu, Glahn, Thorp & Juliano, 1984) After time goes on, Dougong also changes
a lot with the style and the looks. During the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279), there
was a book written named Ying Zao Fa Shi,
1100, which includes almost all the instructions on how to make a building and
how to make Dougong. Ying Zao Fa Shi
plays a very important role in China’s old building development history. Every
dynasty after Song just changed a little or added some of their own things into
it. The Chinese used it until the last dynasty of China, Qing (1644-1912). (Fu
et al., 1984) Foguang Temple is built during the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty
was a dynasty before the Song Dynasty. So the structure of Foguang Temple is
the example of Ying Zao Fa Shi. The
Chinese have this book now, but Foguang Temple is the only one large and old
enough that lead to the later wooden buildings.
With
researching it further; we can see more culture and more custom of ancient
China. We can see how the building developed during the dynasty change. We can
also learn from the history, and it is important to preserve the old building.
Foguang Temple is the pearl of ancient Chinese buildings.
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