Encyclopedia of Buddhism

ambulatory defined by pillars. Both hall types and full-
scale monasteries are depicted in Buddhist murals and
paintings on silk of the period.

From the Song (960–1279), Liao (907–1125), and
Jin (1125–1234) dynasties, monasteries with numer-
ous buildings survive all over China. As was the case
earlier, a pagoda or multistory pavilion and main Bud-
dha hall on the same building line dominated some
monasteries. Tenth- or eleventh-century monasteries
with pagodas or pavilions as their focus include Dule
Monastery in Hebei province, whose pavilion and
front gate date 984; Fogong Monastery in Shanxi,
whose 67-meter pagoda, the tallest wooden pagoda in
China today, dates 1056; and Fengguo Monastery in
Liaoning, whose main hall was built in 1013.

One of the most extensive lines of main structures
survives at Longxing Monastery in Zhengding, Hebei
province, where a hall to the Sixth Patriarch HUINENG,
a hall to S ́a
kyamuni Buddha, an ordination platform,
and a pavilion to Avalokites ́vara known as Dabei or
Foxiang Pavilion stood on the main axial line behind
the front gate; pairs of side halls, pavilions, and tow-

ers framed each major courtyard in front of one of the

axially-positioned structures. The pairing of pagodas

and pavilions on either side in front of a main hall be-

came standard in tenth- to thirteenth-century Chinese

Buddhist monasteries. Shanhua Monastery in Datong

in Shanxi province consisted of a front gate, a hall of

the three deities, and a main hall along its main build-

ing line, along with two pairs of halls and a pair of

pavilions joined to the covered arcade that enclosed it.

One of the pavilions at both Shanhua and Longxing

monasteries contained the su
tra collection of each

monastery. A su
tra hall, often a pavilion or other

multistory structure, was another standard feature in

Chinese monasteries of this middle period.

By the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279), cen-

tered in Hangzhou, monasteries of the CHAN SCHOOL

dominated Buddhist architecture. The major monas-

teries of this meditative school were dominated by

seven halls arranged along a north-south line: a front

gate, a Buddha hall, a Vairocana hall, a dharma hall,

abbot’s quarters, and a room for seated meditation.

Buildings for mundane affairs, such as storage halls and

MONASTICARCHITECTURE

The Mogao Caves at Dunhuang, China, also known as the Cave of the Thousand Buddhas. © Wolfgang Kaehler/Corbis. Reproduced
by permission.