7 Temples, 6 Pagodas, 1 Dagoba and a Turtle (Roughly)
Mahayana
Attempting to explain the differences between Mahayana and Theravada is beyond my level of understanding of Buddhism, and not helped by both being ‘broad churches’. I will confine myself to a few basic points and hope not make too many howlers.
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Distribution of the Different Buddhist traditions
This is a simplified map by Javierfv1212
To see his more complex map, click here |
Mahayana came from India before Buddhism was abandoned in the land of its birth. It accepts the main scriptures and
teachings of early Buddhism, and adds new doctrines and texts, particularly the Mahayana Sutras, writings from between 100 BCE and 100 CE preserved in Chinese, Tibetan or Sanskrit manuscripts. Mahayana also consorted with the various folk religions it encountered on its eastward journey.
There is a heavenly hierarchy in Mahayana. Arhats are those far advanced along the path of enlightenment who have escaped the cycle of death
and rebirth but lack the altruism to advance further. Bodhisattvas, however, are
struggling to become fully awakened Buddhas. There were Buddhas before Siddhartha
Gautama achieved enlightenment and Maitreya, the ‘Future Buddha’ will come
after him.
Mahayana Buddha images often come as a triad, the Bodhisattva Maitreya (the Future Buddha), the Buddha, and Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (The Compassion
Buddha).
A monastic tradition exists, but is less important than in other forms of Buddhism.
China
There are roughly 244m Buddhists in China, almost half the world’s total and most follow the Mahayana tradition. Tibetans have their own Vajrayana tradition, sometimes regarded as a branch of Mahayana.
Buddhism arrived in China during the latter part of the Han dynasty around 150 CE. Travelling teachers brought writings from India that
were translated and formed the basis of local Buddhist thought. Periodically a
feeling would arise that modern practices were drifting from earlier teaching,
so someone set off to fetch some more written wisdom
Yuan Zhao in Suzhou
One of the earliest know teachers was Yuan Zhao, who may have been Chinese or may have come from India and been given a Chinese name.
He brought Buddhism to Suzhou, near Shanghai in eastern China and his statue looks Chinese,
but as he lived in the 2nd or 3rd century the likeness may not be exact – or even
approximate.
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| Lynne and Yuan Zhao in Suzhou |
He sits facing Ruiguang Ta (Pagoda of Auspicious Light). Built to house his teachings around 250 CE by the local king, it was
rebuilt in the 10th century and again in the 12th and restored in 1879. By 1978 it was a ruin but has since been
restored yet again – or maybe completely rebuilt, the Chinese are unfazed by
distinctions between restoration, rebuilding and outright fakery.
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| Ruiguang Pagoda, Suzhou |
See Suzhou (3), The Lingering Garden and City Gate: Part 5 of South East China (2016)
Kumarajiva and Baime Ta
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| Locations mentioned in the Kumarajiva story |
Born in Kucha in 344 the son of a Kashmiri priest and the King’s sister, Kumarajiva studied in Kucha and then Kashmir. Back home, he became the
royal priest and a renowned Buddhist teacher.
The ‘Later Qin’ Emperor in Chang’an (now Xi’an) wanted Kumarajiva to come to what was then the world’s largest city. After various vicissitudes,
including time spent imprisoned by a war lord, he arrived about 400.
His life is well documented, but it is unclear who he was fleeing in 384 when his white horse dropped dead in the Dunhuang Oasis. As
the horse turned out to be a disguised Dragon God rather than merely a white
horse, it felt reasonable to build a Dagoba over his tomb.
Baima Ta, the White Horse Dagoba, seemed in fine repair considering its antiquity. Only as I left did I spot the plaque bearing the (English) words: 'the White
Horse Dagoba, rebuilt by Dunhuang City government in 1992’. I felt cheated, but
then I also doubt the horse was really a dragon god. Kumarajiva was among the
greatest intellectuals of his age - sad then that his hokum is his major memorial.
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| Baima Ta - The White Horse Dagoba - Dunhuang |
Kumarajiva’s finest achievement was the translations of a vast number of Sanskrit documents and the development of language for expressing
Buddhist concepts in Chinese. Previous translators had made do with adopting words for similar
Daoist or Confucian ideas. For all his efforts it can still be difficult to
tell Daoist from Buddhist temples.
See Dunhuang, Dunes in the Gobi (2008)
Xuanzang and the Great Wild Goose Pagoda
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Xuanzang, an illustration in Journey to the West
In Public Domain |
Born in Henan Province in 602, Xuanzang became a novice monk at the age of 13. Unrest forced a move to Chengdu, where he became
a full monk in 622 and then to Chang’an, capital of the peaceful and orderly
Tang Dynasty. Concerned about misinterpreting the incomplete Buddhist texts available
he decided to journey to India.
He left China in 629 journeying through what is now Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. He travelled throughout India and Nepal
before returning to China to much acclaim in 645. The Great Wild Goose Pagoda was
built in Chang’an to house the writings and Buddha images he brought back from
his 17-year sojourn.
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| The (much restored) Great Wild Goose Pagoda, Xi'an (formerly Chang'an) 2004 |
In 646 Xuanzang completed his Great Tang Records on the Western Regions. the longest and most detailed account of the countries
of Central and South Asia of the period. 900 years later his journey was
fictionalised by Wu Cheng'en in Journey to the West, one of the earliest
Chinese novels and 500 years after that set to music by Damon Albarn in Monkey:
Journey to the West.
The photograph of the pagoda is from our pre-blog 2004
visit to Xi’an. We
re-visited in 2008
Pagodas and the occasional dagoba are easy to find in China, but temples are less obvious. It is easy to book a Chinese tour and see no
temples at all – an impossibility in India or Thailand. But they do
exist, and I will start with the most important (though for political rather
than religious or architectural reasons)
Guangji Si, Beijing
Power in China is centralised and Xi Jinping is their most authoritarian leader since Mao; religions can offer an alternative power
base so the government keeps a firm grip on all religious activity. Guangji Si, in north central Beijing, is the headquarters of the Chinese Buddhist Association, so although the Buddhist flag flies, this
is as near as makes no difference a government department.
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| Buddhist flags fly around the Incense incinerator, Guangji Si, Beijing |
The temple was
built in the 12th century but most surviving structures are Ming (1368 to 1644). Inside are some important sculptures and pictures, but we missed them. From the outside it is a typical building of its period.
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| Guangji Si, Beijing |
There were also many closed doors - the offices of the association we presumed.
Visited 06/09/2013, see Beijing (2): Xicheng and Beihai Park
Yuantong Temple, Kunming
When we visited in November 2010 Kunming had forgotten that it is the ‘city of eternal spring’ and was practicing ‘Incipient Winter.’
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| The Location of Kunming and Xingyi |
A little north of the city centre, Yuantong was built in the 8th century, rebuilt and expanded in the 15th and took its
present form in the late 17th. It is (according to the Rough Guide) the ‘most
important Buddhist site in northern Yunnan Province’ - faint
praise or what?
Approaching from the south an ornamental gate leads into a garden.
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| Entrance, Yuantong Temple, Kunming |
Beyond the garden an octagonal pavilion sits in a luridly green pond.
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| Octagonal Pavilion in a green pond, Yuantong Temple, Kunming |
At the end is space for devotees to light their incense sticks and hold them in a bunch while bowing in each of the cardinal directions.
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| Burning incense, Yuantong Temple, Kunming |
Prayers may then be offered while kneeling before a Buddha image.
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| Buddha image, Yuantong temple, Kunming |
see Kunming to the Stone Forest (2010)
Cave Temple, Wanfengling, Xingyi
Xingyi is a small city (by Chinese standards) some 300 km east of Kunming. On the edge of the city is Wanfengling, the Forest of Ten
Thousand Peaks. It is an area of karst geology and the peaks are jagged, other-worldly
limestone cones.
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| One of the Wanfengling peaks. I cannot vouch for there being 10,000, but there are lots. |
Temples and shrines – some Buddhist, most Daoist – abound and we encountered the temple below in a cave on the side of one such
peak. The cave has been sacred since ancient times, but the statues of the
Buddha are relatively new, the originals having being destroyed in the Cultural
Revolution. The residue of scrubbed out Cultural Revolution graffiti was still
visible on the cave wall.
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| Main Buddha Images as a triad, Wanfengling Cave Temple |
To the left, in front of a wall of small Buddha images, sits Budai, often erroneously called ‘Happy Buddha’. A possibly mythical Chinese monk, he allegedly travelled and taught
in the Wuyue Kingdom (the Hangzhou/Shanghai region of Eastern China) during
the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–960CE). His name comes from the
Budai (cloth sack) in which he carried his belongings. His cheerful nature and humorous personality
distinguish him among Buddhist masters and some venerate him as Maitreya, the ‘Future
Buddha’.
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| Budai, not really the 'Happy Buddha' |
See Xingyi and on to Huangguoshu (2010)
Lingyin Temple and Felai Feng, Hangzhou
The Lingyin-Felai Feng Scenic area is a 20-minute drive into the countryside outside Hangzhou in eastern China.
According to tradition, Lingyin (lit: Soul’s Retreat) Monastery was founded in 328 CE by an Indian monk given the Chinese name ‘Huili’. His
ashes are allegedly entombed in the small, weathered Elder Li’s Pagoda.
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| Elder Li's Pagoda, Feilai Feng |
Between the pagoda and Lingyin is Feilai Feng (lit: The Peak that Flew Here). Limestone is so unusual locally that the outcrop was surely
whisked through the air from India by the power of Buddhist philosophy. It is covered with carvings many dating from
the 10th century when Lingyin housed 3,000 monks.
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| Carvings, Feilai Feng |
In the monastery courtyard visitors are presented with incense sticks.
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| Main courtyard, Lingyin Monastery |
Which they light in the brazier...
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| Lighting the incense stick, Lingyin Monastery |
…and bow
in the four cardinal directions before planting them in the incense the burner.
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| Bowing to the north, Lingyin Monastery |
The Guardian Hall, like most of the existing buildings dates from the Qing dynasty (1644-1912). It contains four scary guardians who frighten
off evil spirits…
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| Guardian, Lingyin Monastery |
…while the main hall contains the primary Buddha image.
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| Main Buddha image, Lingyin |
See Hangzhou (1) West Lake, Lingyin Temple and Longjing Tea (2016)
West Garden Temple,
Suzhou
And finally for China, a brief look at the small and outwardly unremarkable West Garden temple in Suzhou.
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| Either the Drum or the Bell Tower, West Garden Temple, Suzhou |
It has magnificent statues of the arhats, though doing them justice in a photograph was beyond me.
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| Arhats, West Garden Temple, Suzhou |
But, best of all, is the pool at the back. For over 400 years it has been home to a colony of Asian giant soft-shelled turtles. As they
only surface to breath twice a day it is very unlikely one will pop up when you
have your camera ready. But it can happen.
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| Turtle, Fangsheng Pond, West Garden Temple, Suzhou |
See Suzhou
(3), The Lingering Garden and City Gate (2016)
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is China, but not China – as long as Xi Jinping permits.
The Ten Thousand Buddha Monastery, Shatin
The temple its on a low hill near Shatin railway station. The path up the hill is lined with arhats.
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| Arhats on the path ip to the 10,000 Buddha Monastery, Hong Kong |
As an ensemble they always look eccentric, but that effect is multiplied when seen singly.
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| Arhat on the path up to 10,000 Buddha Monastery, Hong Kong |
Even the courtyard at the top is surrounded by them. Clearly there is a story behind each one, as there is a story behind each
Christian saint, but the statues do not make guessing easy.
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| Courtyard, 10,000 Buddha Monastery, Hong Kong |
And, of course there are Buddha images, too, big ones….
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| Compassion Buddha, 10,000 Buddha Monastery, Hong Kong |
….and little ones. Maybe there really are 10,000.
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| Little Buddhas by the thousand, 10,000 Buddha Monastery Hong Kong |
North Korea
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| The Koreas with Sariwon circled |
Buddhism arrived in Korea from China in 372 CE, largely supplanting Shamanism. Early Korean monks perceived inconsistencies in their inherited Mahayana traditions and their quest for harmony resulted in a distinctive Korean form of Mahayana known as Tongbulgyo
("interpenetrated Buddhism"). There must be something in the Korean
air as over a millennium later the remarkably stable genius Kim Il Sung
similarly resolved the inconsistencies in Marxism/Leninism/Maoism to create North
Korea’s ruling ideology.
Songbul Monastery, Sariwon
Today the majority in both Koreas describe themselves as irreligious with only 16% of South Koreans and 5% in the North claiming to
be Buddhists. There is of course complete freedom of religion in the worker’s
paradise of North Korea and to prove it we were taken to Songbul Monastery near
the city of Sariwon.
Founded in 898, the monastery consists of six buildings in a rough square….
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| Songbul Monastery, Sariwon |
….including two of the oldest wooden buildings in Korea. The Kukrak Hall was last rebuilt in 1374 and the little pagoda outside is of much
the same date.
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| Kukrak Hall and small pagoda, Songbul Monastery, Sariwon |
Inside are the expected Buddha images (another appearance of a triad)...
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| Buddha Images, Kukrak Hall, Songbul |
…while beside sits what what looks like an overlarge jury but is, presumably the arhats.
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| Arhats, Kukrak Hall, Songbul |
They wheeled out the abbot to greet us….
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Actors, Songbul Monastery
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… but it’s not this chap, he is an actor like those lining the buildings in the top photo. The North Korean film industry is
booming and ancient monasteries make excellent locations. The ‘real abbot’ is
the guy below.
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| Lynne and the Abbot, Songbul Monastery |
‘Are there any other monks?’ I asked through the interpreter. He assured me there were. ‘But where are they?’ ‘They are not here, but they
are nearby.’ After a few days in North Korea you get used to the bland and unconvincing.
I preferred the actors, at least they admitted they were just pretending.
See Sariwon
to Nampho (11/09/2013)
Vietnam
Although officially atheist, Vietnam seems to permit genuine freedom of religion. According to the government 15% of the population identify
as Buddhists and 8.5% as Christians (French colonialism created a catholic
elite). Most of the rest are lumped together as no religion/folk beliefs. Folk religion
has seen a revival and every house we entered, whether grand or humble had an ancestor
altar in the entrance hall. Vietnamese Buddhism has no hierarchy to direct
teaching and there is a growing overlap with folk beliefs.
Buddhism has deep roots in Vietnam, but it has never been the majority religion and Buddhist temples are harder to find than catholic churches.
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| The locations of pagodas mentioned below (and Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon) |
The One Pillar Pagoda, Hanoi
The tiny One Pillar Pagoda, once considered a symbol of Hanoi, is today overshadowed by the adjacent Ho Chi Minh museum and
mausoleum. Built in the 11th century by King Le Thai Tong, it has suffered some
heavy-handed restoration; the concrete single pillar looks anything but 11th
century.
See Hanoi (3), the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the Temple of Literature (2012)
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| The One Pillar Pagoda, Hanoi |
Thien Mu Pagoda, Hue
In Vietnam ‘pagoda’ is applied to the whole temple complex not just a particularly shaped building, though the 17th century ‘pagoda
style’ building at Thien Mu is a symbol of the city.
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| Thien Mu Pagoda, Hue |
The pagoda was busy and the local school parties noisy…
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| Thien Mu Pagoda, Hue |
….but inside the atmosphere was calm and subdued, like the lighting.
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| A novice monk and a triad of Buddha images, Thien Mu, Hue |
In one of the sheds around the courtyard was an elderly, rusting Austin Westminster.
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| Thích Quàng Đúc's Austin Westminster, Thein Mu Pagoda, Hue |
In the early sixties, as the Vietnam war picked up ferocity, the autocratic, Catholic President Ngo Dinh Diem marginalised
Buddhist voices and ensured all positions of power went to Catholics. Buddhists felt
persecuted.
In June 1963, Thích Quàng Đúc, the abbot of Thien Mu, drove to Saigon in this Austin Westminster and notified the foreign press that
“something important” would happen. He sat in the lotus position at a major
road intersection while a monk poured petrol over him, then he set himself
alight. The “Buddhist crisis” was old news and only one press photographer turned
up. Malcom Browne’s picture was World Press Photo of the Year 1963. It is an appalling
image, as are many that came out of the Vietnam war. I will not reproduce it
here but it can be seen on the relevant website.
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| The shrine of Thích Quàng Đúc on the corner where he died, Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) |
See Hue (2), A Self-immolating Monk, an Impotent Emperor and an Imperial Dinner (2012)
and
The Cu Chi Tunnels and the Cao Dai Great Temple (2012)
Vinh Trang Pagoda, My Tho
In the heart of the Mekong delta, My Tho’s Vinh Trang Pagoda resembles none of the previous temples. Completed in 1850, it was
seriously damaged ten years later during fighting between the French and
Emperor Tu Duc. There was more major rebuilding after a tropical storm in 1907.
It has been described as ‘like a rajah’s palace’ or ‘blending classical European and Asian architecture’ but to me Vinh Trang is
typical southern Vietnamese exuberance, not always in the best of taste but
always vigorous, even flamboyant.
In front of the façade is a garden of tropical profusion....
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| Vinh Trang Pagoda behind its luxuriant garden, My Tho |
...with a Disneyfied shrine...
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| Shrine, Vinh Trang Pagoda, My Tho |
... and a large Budai, often, though incorrectly called the 'Happy Buddha'. It may have something to do with my build but I have occasionally been greeted with the words ‘Happy
Buddha’ when sitting down in restaurants, I have even had my stomach patted.
This should be taken as a compliment, the Vietnamese consider being
well-nourished a sign of prosperity; they do not (yet) live in our strange
inverted world where obesity and poverty so often walk hand in hand.
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| Two Happy Buddhas, Vinh Trang Pagoda, My Tho |
The temple courtyard is lined with monks' cells and beyond there are more courtyards, more statues and a hall, but Vinh Trang is
not about inside, it is a place to be enjoyed outside.
see The Mekong Delta (3) Cai Rang and My Tho (2012)
Finally
When I compiled the same sort of posts about mosques, it was obvious that, with rare exceptions, the buildings retained a definite
Arabian style in deference to Islam’s Arabian origins. The opposite is true of
Buddhism, Chinese Temples look Chinese, Vietnamese look Vietnamese – though different
in north and south - and Korean look Korean. Buddhism is far more flexible and
readily bends to the society in which it is taught, both in doctrine and
architecture.
Buddhist Temples, Monasteries and Buddha Images
Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Mahayana Buddhism
Part 3: Tibetan Buddhism
Part 4: Theravada (1) Sri Lanka
Part 5: Theravada (2) Myanmar
Part 6: Theravada (3) Laos, Cambodia & Thailand
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