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Lisa Takeuchi and JaeWook Lee |
Kyoto Temples as a Representation of
Buddhism
Lisa
Takeuchi
ISALC: ESL 382: Computer Applications
|
Click photo to see a larger one. |
Lisa Takeuchi and JaeWook Lee |
Kyoto Temples as a Representation of
Buddhism
Lisa
Takeuchi
Kyoto is famous for many things as the cultural center and ancient capital of Japan, such as many temples, shrines, and art. I will show you Japanese cultural treasures, especially temples, and Buddhist statues. There are three types of temples, which put emphasis on Buddhist statues, Zen gardens, and buildings.
Do you know about Buddhism? It is the fourth
largest religion in the world like Christianity, Islam and Hinduism.
It originates from North India where Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama was
born. When he was twenty-nine years old, he left his wife, children
and political involvements in order to seek truth. After his long
training, during which he ate only a sesame seed each day, he
attained spiritual enlightenment. He had many disciples and
accumulated a large public following by the time of his death in his
early 80’s in 483 B.C. People who believe in this religion do
not believe in a transcendent type of God or Gods, but they do
believe in the need for a personal savior, the power of prayer, and
eternal life in a heaven after death called Gokuraku-jyodo. Also
Buddhists believe in reincarnation.
Sanjusangendo
Even though its official name is Rengeo-in Temple,
this temple is known by the name Sanjusangendo
(1). The temple was originally built in 1164 at the request of the
Emperor, Goshirakawa, as an annex to the Hojuju Palace. Extending
one-hundred twenty-five meters from north to south, with thirty-three
intervals between the pillars, this is the
longest wooden structure in the world (2).
The outside of the hall holds the treasures of Sanjusangendo.
Extremely long, it has stood for over seven hundred years.
“Sanjusangendo” means a hall with thirty-three bays. The
number thirty-three is sacred in Buddhism, for it is believed that
Buddha saves mankind by disguising himself in thirty-three different
Bosatsu, which is a Buddhist statue called Bodhisattva. There are one
thousand and one Buddhist statues, which were made by many
professional sculptors, in this temple. Also there are a
Thunder
God (3), Wind
God (4), Vasu
(5), and so on. The central image is a seated figure of
the
Kannon (6) with eleven faces and one
thousands arms, twenty-four arms stand for one thousands arms. I
think that you cannot feel its magnificence and grandeur without
seeing the original one.
Ryoan-ji Temple
Ryoan-ji Temple belongs to the Myoshin-ji Group of
Rinzai Zen Sect of Buddhism. In the year 1450, Governor-General
Katsumoto Hosokawa founded the temple and installed the fifth chief
of Myoshin-ji Temple, Gien Gensho, as the first priest of Ryoan-ji
Temple. This temple is known as
Zen garden (7), simple garden; it has
fifteen rocks and white gravel in the arena that is thirty meters
from east to west and ten meters from south to north. The
perspective, created by surrounding walls, makes the garden seem
larger than they are. Actually, wherever we sit on the plaza we can
only see fourteen rocks. If you see the garden using the "eyes in
your heart", it is said that you can see the fifteenth rock, which is
hidden by the other rocks. If you go there, you should go alone, and
be
in meditation in front of the Zen garden
(8). During meditation, you can feel the deep silence and
contentment.
Ginkaku-ji Temple
This temple is known as the masterpiece of
Higasiyama-culture (1450-1598), and its official name is
Jisyo-ji
Temple (9). In the year 1482, Yoshimasa
Ashikaga founded the temple. It is said that it originally had twelve
buildings, but there are only three now: the
Kannon-den (10)where the goddess of mercy
is, Hondo, which is the main hall, and Togudo(11).
Usually, the temple is compared with Kinkaku-ji
Temple (12) that was built by the third
Muromachi shogun Yoshimitsu Ashikaga, and called Kitayama-dono
(Kitayama Palace). Although it is said that if Yoshimasa Ashikaga had
had a lot of money, he could have built a real silver pavilion, he
spent eight years and a lot of money to build Ginkaku-ji Temple to
express the “Kansokotan no bi”, which means simple and
refined beauty. I prefer Ginkaku-ji temple to Kinkaku-ji temple
because I think that Kinkaku-ji temple is too showy. On the other
hand, Ginkaku-ji temple has an elegant simpliciy. You should compare
the two.
In Japan, there are a lot of types of temples, not only Buddhist statues, but also gardens and buildings, which were built to express the Buddhist world. It is very important for me to visit Kyoto and experience Japanese culture, through temples and shrines. They inspire my heart and soul. I am sure that if you visit Kyoto, you will want to visit there again!
Images resources in bold.
1)
http://www.kyohaku.go.jp/grj/hp8-45.jpg
2) http://www.page-five.de/TENSHU/sanjusan.htm
3) http://www.kyohaku.go.jp/tokuten/myoho/hp8-49e.htm
4) http://www.kyohaku.go.jp/tokuten/myoho/hp8-48e.htm
5)
http://www.frodl.purespace.de/japan/images/sanjusangendo3.jpg
6) http://www.japon-net.com/shoukai/kansai/narashashin2.html
7) ryoanjitemple.jpg (Lisa Takeuchi)
8) http://www.sacredsites.com/2nd56/224.html
9) http://geography.ou.edu/dynamic
mirror/The_Great_Mirror/Japan%253A_Kyoto/6%253
A_Kinkakuji_and_Ginkakuji/2/b.jpg?imgver=1971
10)
http://web.kyoto-inet.or.jp/org/orion/eng/hstj/sakyo/ginkaku1.html
11)
http://web.kyoto-inet.or.jp/org/orion/eng/hstj/sakyo/ginkaku4.html
12) kinkakujitemple.jpg (Lisa Takeuchi)
Additional resources:
Kinkaku-ji temple, Ginkaku-ji temple, Sanjusangendo (13) Sanjusangendo (14)
13)
http://www.farstrider.net/Japan/Kyotosanhall2big.JPG
14) http://farstrider.net/Japan/Kyotosanhallbig.JPG
Korean Cultural Assets: Buddhist
Temples
JaeWook
Lee
What do you think about the term “cultural
assets?” It is not a simple concept. These cultural assets
represent a country's special features. Therefore, these are very
important when we explain about our country. My country, Korea, has
many national treasures. Especially the treasures related to Buddhism
are given much weight, and almost all of these are preserved in
famous temples.
The best two temples in Korea are located in
Kyoung
Ju (1) because there were many mountains
in the east of Korea, and Buddhism in Korean culture started in the
southeast. Almost all temples in Korea are located in the depths of
forests and among mountains. The reason is the monks in the temples
don’t like to meet strangers who don’t believe in Buddhism
or live outside of the temple, so they are located in places which
people can’t find or approach easily.
First of all, I will explain about Bulguksa Temple
and Seokguram Grotto (a man-made cave that shelters objects in a
garden). The construction of Bulguksa
Temple(2) began in 751 A.D and was
completed in 774 A.D. Because of its grandeur and sublimity, some
historians describe this temple in these words, “A symbolic
representation of Buddha Pure Land". The structure of the temple
shows a sense of majesty, refinement and exquisite proportions.
This
temple's (3) layout looks like a palace.
It is a very beautiful temple.
When I was a high school student, my schoolteacher
used to take students to this temple every year. Sometimes we were
bored because we went to the same place every year! But when going
for the first time, many students in my school were surprised and
marveled at the temple. (I can’t express how wonderous I was at
that time). It is a very large temple, its structure is great, and it
looks like a palace, as I mentioned before. Inside of the temple,
there are many Buddhist images, which are made of gold, and many
monks read from Buddhist prayer books. The temple is very quiet.
Seokguram
Grotto (4) was constructed around the same
time as the Bulguksa Temple. It is man-made and carved from white
granite using special sculpting techniques. Maybe someone can’t
believe that it is a human carved statue because it looks like the
statue is made by machine. In the middle of the grotto, there is a
seated Buddha. Surrounding the Buddha (stone statue), there are 38
other Bodhisattvas, disciples, Dharma-protectors and the Four
Heavenly Kings. In particular, the central Buddha figure is very
beautiful. It gives us a stable and peaceful mind. If you come here
and see them, you will be surprised by them because it is very
beautiful and amazing thing. You will be fascinated.
The
second Temple, Haeinsa Temple,(5) has very
important meaning for both Korean and other countries’ history
(Japan and China). This temple was built by two priests, and also has
special objects, which are valuable, called printing woodblocks.
These are preserved in special
storage buildings.(6) The buildings
contain more than 80,000
printing woodblocks (7 ) from the 13th
century. These printing woodblocks were carved over sixteen years
from 1236 to 1251. This is not only the oldest collection of Buddhist
artifacts, but it is also famed for its accuracy and graceful
calligraphic style. Therefore, it’s very valuable to us. I
don’t have any personal experience with this temple, but my high
school friends or teachers who have, said, “It is very great
temple. Especially, printing woodblocks are the best!” If I have
an opportunity, I want to go there and see them.
So far, we have talked about Korean cultural
assets. These assets are included on UNESCO’S World Heritage
List. As such, these are important things, not only in Korea but also
in the world. Have you ever been invited to Korea? If you want to
visit my country, I hope that you go to these temples. I’m sure
you won’t regret that you came and saw them.
Resources:
1)
http://www.bulguksa.or.kr/bulguksa/html_english/288.htm
2) http://www.knto.or.kr/english/heritage/pulguksa.htm
3) http://tour.daegu.go.kr/tour/english/fra4/bulguksa.html
4)
http://www.knto.or.kr/cgi-bin/GALLERY/e_photo_pop_25th.cgi?photo_number=11
5) http://www.knto.or.kr/english/heritage/haeinsa.htm
6) http://www.ocp.go.kr/english/treasure/dom_hae.html
7) http://www.knto.or.kr/english/heritage/haeinsa.htm
Cultural Treasures of Korea and
Japan
Lisa
Takeuchi and JaeWook
Lee
Korea and Japan, these two countries have not only
many similarities but also differences. We must know about the
historical background of each country before we talk about these
comprenensively. But if we deal with these historical backgrounds,
you will be confused. So, we will explain the features of these two
countries’ cultural treasures, through this will be simple
comparing and contrasting.
Korea and Japan both were affected by Buddhism, so there are many
temples and statues in these countries. Although these two countries
didn’t accept Buddhism at the same time, they were related to
each other. The first Buddhism in Korea came from China. (China was
influenced from India.) Korean Buddhism also influenced Japan. For
example, a long time ago, many Korean monks and architects, who were
related to Buddhism, went to Japan and gave some books that explained
Buddhism and constructed temple and statues. As these two countries
traded their culture with each other, their Buddhist culture became
similar, little by little. So if we go to these two countries and see
the temples or statues, we can find that they share many
similarities; however, there are still major
differences.
There are many differences between Korean temples
and Japanese temples. First, in Korea, Buddhist statues were made of
stone called white granite; on the other hand, in Japan they were
made from wood, painted using Japanese lacquer. In Korea the walls
inside the temples are also made from carved stone, but in Japan, the
walls are made from wood and again painted with colorful lacquers.
Second, there are differences in respect to the person who ordered
these temples built. In Korea, the people were priests, but in Japan,
the people were emperors, generals, or powerful rich leaders. Third,
these temples have special ways to be built. In Korea, the inner
chamber has a function of controlling air temperature. In Japan,
these temples were built using earthquake-proof construction because
they have a lot of earthquakes every year. Finally, Korean temples
are located in the depths of the forest, or in the middle of the
mountains to avoid attracting strangers or outsiders who don’t
believe in Buddhism, but Japanese temples are in the center of the
city in Kyoto, which was the capital city when these temples were
built, and many people visit there to pray.
As you can see, Korean and Japanese temples have both similarities
and differences. Both are important cultural treasures and are worth
seeing if you have an opportunity.
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