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 the original central-pagoda tradition established 1000 years earlier by the White Horse Temple in 67.
- Tag Archives buddhism china
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Three or Four brush strokes on Buddhism
I almost wrote this title “Buddhism for Dummies”, but I am sure that you are not Dummy, nor I can explain buddhism, even to Dummies. Initially this post was about the architecture of Buddhist Monasteries in China, but speaking about Monasteries without details about monastic life and Buddhism had no sense… so, let us start with some brushstrokes on Buddhism and its differences compared to Christianity.