Misplaced Pages

#824175

44-465: The Haguro Five-story Pagoda is a recognised national treasure of Japan. It has three subshrines The Dewa Sanzan mountains are particularly noteworthy as having the oldest history of mountain worship in Japan. The mountains were first opened as a religious centre over 1400 years ago in 593 by prince Hachiko, who was the first-born son of Emperor Sushun , the 32nd emperor of Japan and reigning emperor at

88-510: A spire crowning the top. Its walls are 2.5 m thick, with a ground floor diameter of 10.6 m. Another early brick pagoda is the Sui dynasty Guoqing Pagoda built in 597. The earliest large-scale stone pagoda is a Four Gates Pagoda at Licheng , Shandong, built in 611 during the Sui dynasty . Like the Songyue Pagoda, it also features a spire at its top, and is built in the pavilion style. One of

132-411: A stupa , by way of Portuguese. The origin of the pagoda can be traced to the stupa (3rd century BCE). The stupa, a dome shaped monument, was used as a commemorative monument to house sacred relics and writings. In East Asia, the architecture of Chinese towers and Chinese pavilions blended into pagoda architecture, eventually also spreading to Southeast Asia. Their construction was popularized by

176-461: A "divine palanquin" ( mikoshi , a term usually translated in English as "portable shrine" ), and carried around the streets among the faithful. The portable shrine is used to physically protect the shintai and to hide it from sight. An example of the importance of a sacred tree is the 700-year-old camphor growing in the middle of Kayashima Station . Locals protested against moving the tree when

220-455: A Buddhist vihara. The architectural structure of the stupa has spread across Asia, taking on many diverse forms specific to each region. Many Philippine bell towers are highly influenced by pagodas through Chinese workers hired by the Spaniards . One proposed etymology is from a South Chinese pronunciation of the term for an eight-cornered tower, Chinese: 八角塔 , and reinforced by the name of

264-566: A central pagoda might not have been either desirable or possible. In the Song dynasty (960–1279), the Chan (Zen) sect developed a new 'seven part structure' for temples. The seven parts—the Buddha hall, dharma hall, monks' quarters, depository, gate, pure land hall and toilet facilities—completely exclude pagodas, and can be seen to represent the final triumph of the traditional Chinese palace/courtyard system over

308-489: A famous pagoda encountered by many early European visitors to China, the "Pázhōu tǎ" (Chinese: 琶洲塔 ), standing just south of Guangzhou at Whampoa Anchorage . Another proposed etymology is Persian butkada , from but , "idol" and kada , "temple, dwelling." Yet another etymology is from the Sinhala word dāgaba , derived from Sanskrit dhātugarbha or Pali dhātugabbha : "relic womb/chamber" or "reliquary shrine", i.e.

352-402: A list inscribed on it of the recently successful examination candidates, in hopes that it would reverse the trend and win the county supernatural favor. Pagodas come in many different sizes, with taller ones often attracting lightning strikes , inspiring a tradition that the finial decoration of the top of the structure can seize demons. Today many pagodas have been fitted with wires making

396-790: A notable exception being the eighteenth-century orientalist pagoda designed by Sir William Chambers at Kew Gardens in London. The pagodas in Himalayas are derived from Newari architecture , very different from Chinese and Japanese styles. During the Southern and Northern dynasties , pagodas were mostly built of wood, as were other ancient Chinese structures. Wooden pagodas are resistant to earthquakes, and no Japanese pagoda has been destroyed by an earthquake, but they are prone to fire, natural rot, and insect infestation. Examples of wooden pagodas: The literature of subsequent eras also provides evidence of

440-459: A pre-existing, naturally occurring shintai (for example a rock or waterfall housing a local kami ), or of an artificial one, which must therefore be procured or made to the purpose. An example of the first case are the Nachi Falls , worshiped at Hiryū Shrine near Kumano Nachi Taisha and believed to be inhabited by a kami called Hiryū Gongen . In the second, the mitama (spirit) of a kami

484-408: A religious function, most often Buddhist , but sometimes Taoist , and were often located in or near viharas . The pagoda traces its origins to the stupa , while its design was developed in ancient India . Chinese pagodas ( Chinese : 塔 ; pinyin : Tǎ ) are a traditional part of Chinese architecture . In addition to religious use, since ancient times Chinese pagodas have been praised for

SECTION 10

#1732873693825

528-408: A shrine is to house and protect its shintai and the kami which inhabits it. If a shrine has more than one building, the one containing the shintai is called honden ; because it is meant for the exclusive use of the kami , it is always closed to the public and is not used for prayer or religious ceremonies. The shintai leaves the honden only during festivals ( matsuri ), when it is put in

572-570: A variety of rare alpine plants and other marsh vegetation. The hiking path on Mt. Gassan leads all the way to its peak, the second highest point in the Shonai Region of Japan. Due to heavy snow however, it is often only accessible during late spring to the early fall. Mount Yudono is viewed as being the heart of the three sacred mountains and is considered the most holy of ascetic disciplinary practice grounds. Many ascetics and yamabushi believe they have not completed their pilgrimage, and thus entered

616-420: Is Mount Fuji . A yokozuna , a wrestler at the top of sumo 's power pyramid, is a living shintai . For this reason, his waist is circled by a shimenawa , a sacred rope which protects sacred objects from evil spirits. A kannushi , that is, a Shinto priest, can become a living shintai when a kami enters his body during religious ceremonies. The founding of a new shrine requires the presence of either

660-606: Is Beijing's Yonghe Temple , which was the residence of Yongzheng Emperor before he ascended the throne. It was donated for use as a lamasery after his death in 1735. Examples of Han dynasty era tower architecture predating Buddhist influence and the full-fledged Chinese pagoda can be seen in the four pictures below. Michael Loewe writes that during the Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) period, multi-storied towers were erected for religious purposes, as astronomical observatories , as watchtowers , or as ornate buildings that were believed to attract

704-527: Is accessible all throughout the year, as heavy snowfall prohibits pilgrimage to the other two mountains of Dewa during the winter months. It is the most well known of the three mountains of Dewa both locally and internationally, as it serves as the location of the Haguro Five-story Pagoda, one of Japan's national treasures. Mount Gassan is the tallest of the three sacred mountains and is well known for its natural scenery and beauty, as it plays host to

748-558: Is divided in half through a process called kanjō and one of the halves is then stored in a yorishiro . This is the process which has led to the creation of networks of shrines housing the same kami , as for example the Hachiman shrine , Inari shrine or Kumano shrine networks. Because over the years the shintai is wrapped in more and more layers of precious cloth and stored in more and more boxes without being ever inspected, its exact identity may become forgotten. The first role of

792-492: Is objects by their very nature capable of attracting kami . The most common shintai are man-made objects like mirrors, swords, jewels (for example comma-shaped stones called magatama ) , gohei (wands used during religious rites), and sculptures of kami called shinzō ( 神像 ) , but they can be also natural objects such as rocks ( shinishi ( 神石 ) ), mountains ( shintai-zan ( 神体山 ) ), trees ( shinboku ( 神木 ) ), and waterfalls ( shintaki ( 神滝 ) ) Before

836-442: Is referred to as sangaku shinkō . The Dewa Sanzan are very holy to both the religions of Shintō and Buddhism , but in particular are very significant and sacred to the shugendō religious system of beliefs, as they represent great spiritual significance. Mount Haguro, Mount Gassan, and Mount Yudono each have their own shrine, though the primary shrine itself, Dewa Shrine, is located at the summit of Mount Haguro. The primary shrine

880-761: Is the Liaodi Pagoda. In April 2007 a new wooden pagoda Tianning Temple of Changzhou was opened to the public, the tallest in China, standing 154 m (505 ft). Chinese iconography is noticeable in Chinese and other East Asian pagoda architectures. Also prominent is Buddhist iconography such as the image of the Shakyamuni and Gautama Buddha in the abhaya mudra . In an article on Buddhist elements in Han dynasty art, Wu Hung suggests that in these temples, Buddhist symbolism

924-460: Is unique in that it venerates all three sacred mountains. Every year, mountain ascetic devotees known as yamabushi - which are laymen practitioners of shugendo - pay reverence to the Dewa Sanzan. Mount Haguro is significant in this role as it serves as the entryway to Mount Gassan and Mount Yudono. Though Mount Haguro is the smallest of the three mountains, it is the only mountain of Dewa that

SECTION 20

#1732873693825

968-528: The Northern Wei and Sui dynasties (386–618) experiments began with the construction of brick and stone pagodas. Even at the end of the Sui, however, wood was still the most common material. For example, Emperor Wen of the Sui dynasty (reigned 581–604) once issued a decree for all counties and prefectures to build pagodas to a set of standard designs, however since they were all built of wood none have survived. Only

1012-566: The Songyue Pagoda has survived, a circular-based pagoda built out of brick in 523 AD. The earliest extant brick pagoda is the 40-metre-tall Songyue Pagoda in Dengfeng Country, Henan . This curved, circle-based pagoda was built in 523 during the Northern Wei dynasty , and has survived for 15 centuries. Much like the later pagodas found during the following Tang dynasty, this temple featured tiers of eaves encircling its frame, as well as

1056-655: The kami ") , or go-shintai ( 御神体 , "sacred body of the kami") when the honorific prefix go - is used, are physical objects worshipped at or near Shinto shrines as repositories in which spirits or kami reside. Shintai used in Shrine Shinto (Jinja Shinto) can be also called mitamashiro ( 御霊代 , "spirit replacement" or "substitute") . In spite of what their name may suggest, shintai are not themselves part of kami , but rather just temporary repositories which make them accessible to human beings for worship. Shintai are also of necessity yorishiro , that

1100-632: The domination of wooden pagoda construction. The famous Tang dynasty poet, Du Mu , once wrote: 480 Buddhist temples of the Southern Dynasties, uncountable towers and pagodas stand in the misty rain. The oldest standing fully wooden pagoda in China today is the Pagoda of Fugong Temple in Ying County, Shanxi , built in the 11th century during the Song/ Liao dynasty (see Song architecture ). During

1144-529: The earliest brick and stone pagodas was a three-storey construction built in the (first) Jin dynasty (266–420) , by Wang Jun of Xiangyang . However, it is now destroyed. Brick and stone went on to dominate Tang , Song , Liao and Jin dynasty pagoda construction. An example is the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda (652 AD), built during the early Tang dynasty. The Porcelain Pagoda of Nanjing has been one of

1188-511: The efforts of Buddhist missionaries , pilgrims, rulers, and ordinary devotees to honor Buddhist relics. Japan has a total of 22 five-storied timber pagodas constructed before 1850. The earliest styles of Chinese pagodas were square-base and circular-base, with octagonal -base towers emerging in the 5th–10th centuries. The highest Chinese pagoda from the pre-modern age is the Liaodi Pagoda of Kaiyuan Monastery, Dingxian, Hebei , completed in

1232-419: The enshrinement of all three deities at the temple located on the summit of Mount Haguro. Following the establishment of the Dewa Sanzan mountains as a center of ascetic religious beliefs, many people began to make yearly pilgrimages to the mountains to pay reverence, even arduously trekking thousands of miles to visit the shrines during the summer months. These pilgrimages held significance to many religions and

1276-591: The favor of spirits, deities, and immortals . Pagodas built during the Sui and Tang dynasty usually had a square base, with a few exceptions such as the Daqin Pagoda: Pagodas of the Five Dynasties, Northern and Southern Song, Liao, Jin, and Yuan dynasties incorporated many new styles, with a greater emphasis on hexagonal and octagonal bases for pagodas: Pagodas in the Ming and Qing dynasties generally inherited

1320-517: The finial into a lightning rod . Wooden pagodas possess certain characteristics thought to resist earthquake damage. These include the friction damping and sliding effect of the complex wooden dougong joints, the structural isolation of floors, the effects of wide eaves analogous to a balancing toy, and the Shinbashira phenomenon that the center column is bolted to the rest of the superstructure. Pagodas traditionally have an odd number of levels,

1364-693: The forcible separation of kami and Buddhas of 1868 ( shinbutsu bunri ) a shintai could even be the statue of a Buddhist deity. Other shintai include the mirror Yata no Kagami (one of the Imperial Regalia of Japan ), Mount Miwa , Mount Nantai , the Nachi Falls , and the Meoto Iwa rocks. Many mountains like Mount Miwa or the Three Mountains of Kumano (Kumano sanzan) are considered shintai and are therefore called shintaizan ( 神体山 , shintai mountain) . The most widely known and renowned shintai

Three Mountains of Dewa - Misplaced Pages Continue

1408-533: The holy land, until they have reached Mount Yudono. Mount Yudono is famous for its goshintai , a sacred object believed to be directly connected to a god. The shrine on Yudono is also revered as hallowed land which must be kept secret, and even today, photography and video recordings are prohibited. Pagoda A pagoda is a tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Thailand , Cambodia , Nepal , China , Japan , Korea , Myanmar , Vietnam , and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have

1452-518: The most famous brick and stone pagoda in China throughout history. The Zhou dynasty started making the ancient pagodas about 3,500 years ago. Pagodas, in keeping with the tradition of the White Horse Temple , were generally placed in the center of temples until the Sui and Tang dynasties. During the Tang, the importance of the main hall was elevated and the pagoda was moved beside the hall, or out of

1496-607: The mountains served as a place of learning for various belief systems, but were most particularly important to shugendō . Several notable individuals made this pilgrimage to the Dewa Sanzan to include En no Gyōja , the founder of shugendō asceticism, as well as Kūkai , the founder of the Shingon Sect. Following the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the Japanese government dissolved the pattern of Shintō-Buddhist amalgamation and Shintō

1540-509: The original central-pagoda tradition established 1000 years earlier by the White Horse Temple in 67. Although they were built outside of the main temple itself, large pagodas in the tradition of the past were still built. This includes the two Ming dynasty pagodas of Famen Temple and the Chongwen Pagoda in Jingyang of Shaanxi . A prominent, later example of converting a palace to a temple

1584-418: The spectacular views they offer, and many classical poems attest to the joy of scaling pagodas. The oldest and tallest pagodas were built of wood, but most that survived were built of brick or stone. Some pagodas are solid with no interior. Hollow pagodas have no higher floors or rooms, but the interior often contains an altar or a smaller pagoda, as well as a series of staircases for the visitor to climb to see

1628-427: The styles of previous eras, although there were some minor variations: Tiered towers with multiple eaves: Stupas called "pagodas": Places called "pagoda" but which are not tiered structures with multiple eaves: Structures that evoke pagoda architecture: Structures not generally thought of as pagodas, but which have some pagoda-like characteristics: Shintai In Shinto, shintai ( 神体 , "body of

1672-405: The temple compound altogether. In the early Tang, Daoxuan wrote a Standard Design for Buddhist Temple Construction in which the main hall replaced the pagoda as the center of the temple. The design of temples was also influenced by the use of traditional Chinese residences as shrines, after they were philanthropically donated by the wealthy or the pious. In such pre-configured spaces, building

1716-559: The time. Prince Hachiko arrived in Dewa province in 593 after fleeing the Soga clan upon the assassination of his father. He then devoted the rest of his life to religious pursuits, eventually enduring difficult ascetic exercises and a period of penance, which led to his worship of Haguro Gongen, the deity of the mountain. Following this, the prince began worship at the Gassan and Yudono mountains, which led to

1760-418: The view from an opening on one side of each tier. Most have between three and 13 tiers (almost always an odd number) and the classic gradual tiered eaves. In some countries, the term may refer to other religious structures. In Vietnam and Cambodia, due to French translation, the English term pagoda is a more generic term referring to a place of worship , although pagoda is not an accurate word to describe

1804-484: The year 1055 AD under Emperor Renzong of Song and standing at a total height of 84 m (275 ft). Although it no longer stands, the tallest pre-modern pagoda in Chinese history was the 100-metre-tall wooden pagoda (330 ft) of Chang'an , built by Emperor Yang of Sui , and possibly the short-lived 6th century Yongning Pagoda ( 永宁宝塔 ) of Luoyang at roughly 137 metres. The tallest pre-modern pagoda still standing

Three Mountains of Dewa - Misplaced Pages Continue

1848-718: Was considered a kanpei taisha. Today all three are considered equal Beppyo shrines Folk religion has continued throughout the ages to be a standard part of the daily lives of the Japanese people, particularly the aspect of the association between religious beliefs and practices with sacred mountains. This practice of mountain worship holds a significant place in Japanese beliefs and had become widespread throughout Japan’s history. It has been observed that nearly every high mountain top has had its own dedicated shrine at one point, with some receiving pilgrimages every year from thousands of worshippers. This collection of diverse phenomena linking religious activities and beliefs with sacred mountains

1892-474: Was fused with native Chinese traditions into a unique system of symbolism. Some believed reverence at pagodas could bring luck to students taking the Chinese civil service examinations . When a pagoda of Yihuang County in Fuzhou collapsed in 1210, local inhabitants believed the disaster correlated with the recent failure of many exam candidates in the prefectural examinations The pagoda was rebuilt in 1223 and had

1936-561: Was selected as the official state religion. Shugendō was adversely affected by this split and many shugendō priests returned to a secular life. Following the end of World War II however, shugendō was allowed to enjoy a status as a minor religious group. These changes in religious association also altered the designation of the shrines located on the Dewa Sanzan. In the Empire of Japan , Hagurosan Shrine and Yudonosan Shrine were designated as kokuhei shosha, while Gassan Shrine on Mount Gassan

#824175