Comparison On Chinese Temples Architecture

The past Buddhists architecture generally falls into two different components; the living area and the monastery. The monastery had two roles. First is that it placing the worshippers an opportunity to make their offerings to Bodhisattvas and to Buddha. Offerings were made at the Medicine Buddha Hall, the Maitreya Bodhisattva, the main Hall and the Patriach Hall. These halls make up the monastery section. The monastery had the function of providing the monastic and the lay followers a place to practice and gather. The main regions for these activities within the monastery included the Chanting Hall, Mediation Hall and Yun Shui Hall. The living area is also another main feature of architecture that included guest hall, kitchen, the dining hall, nursing home, reception area and the nursing home.

The architecture of the modern Buddhist Temples does not reflect the facilities in the old Buddhists architecture. The technological advances have led to different approaches of propagating dharma, through inclusion of additional features and other facilities for different purposes. The layout and design of the modern Buddhists architecture have modernized through the incorporation of efficient space utility. This paper will present the architectural style of two modern Buddhists temples in Los Angeles; the LA Hompa Hongwanji temple and Hsi Lai temple. the paper will show historical background of these temples and present the differences and similarities of their architectural aspects with the Forbidden city (Perceval, 2001).

LA Hompa Hongwanji temple

Buddhism developed in the County of Los Angeles during the early 20^th century. The religion was introduced by Japanese immigrants who established the first. It is currently the oldest temple in Los Angeles known as the Hagashi Hongwagji (Phoenix, 2004). The Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist temple was constructed by an architect known as Edgar Cline in 1924. The temple is now located in 11N, Central avenue of little Tokyo. The Japanese settlers in West Los Angeles were dedicated and avowed Jodo Shinshu Buddhists. The young generation were raised to put their commitment to religious heritage of the people, and passed on to their children by teaching them about the Buddha Dharma in strong Sangha perspective. The Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple of Los Angeles in 1926 was divided in to different branches. One of the branches of this temple known as Hawaii held various Sangha meeting at the individual homes of the followers. Through these meetings, the Dharma School was formed committed to the provision of Buddhists Education program.The Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple acts as the South and North American regional headquarters of the Koyasan Shingon Buddhism sect. The LA Hompa Hongwanji temple was founded by a Toyama Prefecture native called Reverend Shuitai Aoyama. His mission in American was to establish an international link of Shingon Buddhism according to the wishes of Koyasan head quarters.

In the effort to establish this temple, he was faced by personal challenges at the time of his arrival. However, with the support of Nisei and Issei temple member he founded the temple in 1912. The Hompa Hongwanji temple is characterized by an opulent Shiroshoin and a large audience Hall of Nishi Honganji. The temple has a unique Hindu architecture. The temple has a complex and well groomed garden filled with palm trees. It was a home to Noh Dram a traditional performance. The structure is inherently Hindu architecture designed with stone exterior that combine Islamic, Hindu and Buddhist styles to form a complex design. The Tsukiji Honganji temple is a branch of the Tokyo temple known as the Nishi Honganji Temple. Hogan in the name means the long-cherished wish in English. Kanji in the name means the proclaimed land. The temple acts as a symbol of the Japanese source of Buddhism.

The interior of the temple is large compared to other Jodo Shinshu temples of the Japanese in other regions such as those in Mountain View, San Francisco and San Jose.

Hsi Lai Temple

The Hsi Lai Temple was first constructed in 1988, the director being Hsin Pei. The temple comprises of traditional teachings mainly from the 8 Chinese Buddhism schools. The teaching is mainly influenced by the ancient Chinese culture and from the Buddhism religion. This shows that the religious influence of the two temples, the Hsi Lai Temple and the LA Hompa Hongwanji temple are different; the Hompa Hongwanji being from the Indian culture. However, their architectural designs are similar and can be compared to that of the Forbidden City. The LA Hompa Hongwanji temple, the Forbidden City and the His Lai Temple have distinctive architectural designs seen in their overall construction (Lai Introduction, 2012). The commonly shared features are the ulterior walls color, sculptures symbolizing animals such as the lions and dragons. The roof tiles are pointed.

These are the three main architectural aspects that make them similar. The walls of these buildings are painted red. They have columns that act as an indication of their similar historical periods. The roof tops of the structures have brackets meant to support the roofs. The brackets are the most distinctive architectural aspect of the traditional Chinese architecture (Hsi Lai Temple, 2012). The brackets are made of wooden placards that are joined to the building roof by use of pillars at the roof frame. Most religious buildings of the Japanese and Chinese people have used the bracketing technique in their construction of religious buildings. This similar aspect is also seen in the construction of the Forbidden City.

In all these three buildings, there are some differences in the color of the roofs. The roof of Hompa Hongwanji is white in color. The difference acts as an indication of imperial versus non imperial.

The roof top of the His Lai Temple is red in color.

The Forbidden City

The Forbidden City was the imperial palace china. It is located at the capital city of China, Beijing. The Forbidden City is known for being a home to more than twenty four soldiers and emperors and was also inhabited by several concubines. The Forbidden City is well known for being the imperial palace for kings and monarchs for more than 500 years(Huang, 1981). The Forbidden City stands as a symbol of the Chinese tradition especially in its architectural style. This style has been transferred to the construction of various buildings among the Japanese and Chinese people. The architectural layout of the Forbidden City is symmetrically with a central axis. The designs of the main Hall indicate a supreme Harmony influenced from the Confucian Culture. Other buildings that have copied this similar architectural design are those meant for Chinese Officials, engineers and emperors. The leaders paid close attention to the interior decor of the building, known as the feng-shui. Some of the aspects can be seen in the inner decorations, the position of the doors and the door step placement. These aspects can be seen in the two modern temples especially in the positioning of the front doors in being at the forefront of the main entrance. These modern temples have imitated the ancient design in various ways. These temples show their need to preserve the Chinese Culture and to spread the culture in various regions of the world.

The construction of the modern temples also aims at enhancing the harmony and balance in the Forbidden City construction. For example the entrances and gates are based on the Chinese principles of the Eight Diagrams to reflect on the needed to emphasize on harmony and peace. The three architectural buildings also share the concept on the utility of space both within the building and outside the building. The building constructions are further supported by wooden columns just like that one of the Forbidden City. The columns are all painted red as a symbol of festivities and happiness. The color also acts as the belief of luck and fortune according to the Chinese culture. Interior decorating is also seen in the use of colors and paintings of phoenixes and dragons. These animals are known to reflect the virtue of royalty. These paintings can be seen in the three temples. The painting used also to protect the wood from absorbing moisture or attacked by termites.The temples s has large outer court that is used by the religious leaders to hold meetings. This is the same aspect borrowed from the Forbidden City. The monarch officials used the Outer Court to hold meetings on political issues and offer reports of the various regions within the nation.

The outer court can also serve as a place for holding ceremonies such as new year’s celebrations and imperial weddings. This is the same function of the outer courts in modern day temples.The inner court of the Forbidden City was mainly meant as a section of residence to the emperor and his family. This is not the case with the modern temples. The inner section of the temples is used as places of religious worship. The construction of the Buddhists temples are mainly matched buy cultural significance. This is an aspect that the modern day temples have adopted from the Forbidden City (Zhuoyun 1984). However, unlike the Forbidden city, which restricted commoners from visiting the construction, the modern day temples welcome everyone no matter their economic status or positions in the society.

Conclusion

This essay has examined the various architectural styles of two modern Buddhists temples found in Los Angeles. These temples are the Hompa Hongwanji temple, and the His Lai Temple. The specific historical background of the temples is presented as well as their architectural styles. I have further compared these modern temples with the old Forbidden City and showed the extent to which the two modern temples have adopted a wide range of architectural styles from the forbidden. The Major difference noted, however, is with the social and political functions of the modern temples with the Forbidden City. This difference is also noted in the religious function of the modern temples with the Forbidden city.

References

Huang, R (1981). 1587, a Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty in Decline. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Yu, Z (1984). Palaces of the Forbidden City. New York: Viking.

Lai Introduction (2012) Hsi Lai Introduction. . Retrieved from

http://www.hsilai.org/en/intro_subpages/intro_hsi_lai_temple.html

Hsi Lai Temple, Los Angeles (2012) Hsi Lai Temple. Retrieved from

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/usa/los-angeles-hsi-lai-temple.

On November 22^nd 2012

Phoenix, C (2004.) Southern California land: Mid-century Culture in Kodachrome. Santa Monica, CA: Angel City, Print.

Perceval. Y (1927)A Chinese Treatise on Architecture. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 473. Print.

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