College of Environmental Design
Department of Architecture, UC Berkeley
Architecture Slide Library
Architecture 170 - Fall 1996 - Dell Upton - October 24
I. BEGINNINGS. "The rise of civilization" in East Asia equated with the coming of Buddhism. Pre-Buddhist architecture in Korea and Japan: [1] Royal tombs (kofun or yama/hills, mountains in Japanese). Tomb of Pak Hyok-ko-se, c. 4 CE, Kyongju, Korea (first king of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms into which Korea is divided ca. 0-668 CE); Tomb of Emperor Nintoku [r. ca. 395-427 CE], near Osaka, Japan, 5C. Note: keyhole shaped tumulus, moats, haniwa. [2] Early Japanese houses: Thatch-roofed pit-dwellings (tateana) and stilt houses. [3] Early Japanese shrines. Shinto, a form of shamanism, based on non-anthropomorphic conceptions of gods/kami. The Shinto shrine and the sun goddess Amaterasu. Izumo Taisha, founded 1C or 3C CE. Note: square shape, gable entry, central pillar, chigi and katsuogi, rebuildings (most recent 1744). Ise, founded late 3C, late 5C. Note: inner and outer shrines, main hall (Shoden), treasure houses, torii, orientation, rebuildings every 20 years. (Ise, Jingu, Naiku: Exterior thatching; Exterior, east side; Exterior, covered entrance; Great Shrine, plan and elevation; Perspective drawing).
II. TRANSFORMATIONS.
[1] Urbanism. The influence of Tang Chinese capital Chang'an on Silla capital of Kyongju and on early Japanese capitals. Pre-Buddhist Japanese emperors rule from miyako/honorable house or residence, moving their courts with each new coronation and on important occasions during their reigns. Idea of fixed capital imported mid-6C CE by emperor Kotoku. Capital building on the Yamato plain. First major Japanese capital is Heijo-kyo/Nara, 710, in Yamato plain, founded by empress Gemmyo. Succeeded by Heian-kyo/Kyoto, 794. Both based on Chang'an, modified by local practice. The jori rural land system, based on tsubo, becomes the urban jobo land system: 16-tsubo-squares (bo) bounded by wide roads (oji). (Kyoto, plan; Nara, plan)
[2] The Buddhist monastery-temple. Introduction of Buddhism to Korea in 427 CE, and from Paekche (SW Korea) to Japan, ca. 538 CE. Buddhist temple formula in China, then passed to Korea, but no early examples survive in those places. Early temple plans (exs.: Pulguk-sa, Kyongju, Korea, 539-71; Shitteno-ji, Osaka, Japan, ca. 560). Horyu-ji, Ikaruga district, vic. Nara, founded 607, rebuilt after 670, as principal example. Note: Middle Gate/chumon, peristyle/kairo, kondo, lecture hall/kodo, Gojyu-no-to/pagoda, site plan, auxiliary buildings including Yumenodo, 739. (Nara, Horyu-ji: Site plan; Plan, west precinct; Overview, west precinct; Main hall, elevation; Kondo, exterior; 5-story pagoda, exterior; "Golden Hall").
The Buddhist image hall: a Chinese domestic pavilion turned to religious uses (ex.: Fo-kuang-ssu, Mt. Wu-tai, Shanxi Province, China, 850-60). Horyu-ji's kondo and the need for greater space. The alteration of the Chinese column-grid structural system with its dougong to Japanese purposes: the double-shell roof, structural playfulness including cloud brackets.
III. JAPANESE TRADITIONS. The loosening of Chinese formulas and fusion of Buddhism and Shinto under the influence of Japanese culture,Mahayana Buddhism: Sanjusangendo (Hall of 33 Bays)/Rengeo-in, Kyoto, Japan, 1266, and the 1001 bodhisattvas.