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https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27192#0552
Chap. IV.
INTRODUCTORY.
487
upon as the original type of, at all events, the Korean pagoda.
The scarcity of wood in China would be sufficient to account for
the employment of either brick or stone for the construction of
their pagodas, and this is borne out by the two Chinese drawings
in the National Library of Paris referred to on page 467, where
the lower storeys are shown to be of solid construction in
either brick or stone. The Japanese pagodas, on the other
hand, even down to the present day, are all built in timber
as being better able to resist the shock of earthquakes, and
may be looked upon, therefore, as the survivals of those which
formerly existed in Korea, in which country they are now
however in stone or brick.
The principal source of information on Japanese architecture
is that which is derived from photographs, but much is to be
learnt from the meischos or guidebooks to the various provinces,
which in Japan are largely illustrated, and from the prints by
Hiro-shige, Yei-sen, and Toyo-kuni. The most valuable works
on the subject are those by Herr F. von Baltzer,1 in which plans
section and elevations are given of temples, pagodas, and other
structures. The papers contributed by Prof. Josiah Conder2 to
the transactions and journal of the Institute of British Architects
contain the most complete account of some of the temples and
palaces, and are well illustrated. Of other works consulted are
those by Prof. B. H. Chamberlain, and Mr. W. B. Mason,3
Mr. E. S. Morse,4 M. Titsingh,5 Mr. Ralph A. Cram,6 and
Dr. Dresser.7
It was not till the second half of the 6th century that Japan
emerged from a state of barbarism, and its earliest architectural
structures date from the commencement of the 7th century,
when the introduction of Buddhism from China through Korea
and its revelations stirred the Japanese people to a loftier con-
ception than those which the older Shinto religion had inspired.
The temple and pagoda at Hdriuji near Nara (A.D. 607),
the earliest buildings existing, are said to have been erected
by carpenters from Korea, and in their design and execution
present a completeness of style which must have taken several
1 ‘Das Japanische Haus eine Bau- j and 181-84.
technische Studie ’ (1903). ‘ Die Archi- ] 3 Murray’s Handbook to Japan, 8th
tektur des Kultbauten Japans ’ (1907). ; edition, 1907,
2 ‘Notes on Japanese Architecture,’ j 4 ‘Japanese Homes and their Sur-
in‘Transactions R.I.B.A., 1877-78,’vol. ! roundings,’ 1895.
xxviii. pp. 179-92. ‘ Further Notes and a | 8 ‘Illustrations of Japan ; Memoirs of
Description of the Mausoleum at Nikkb’ the Djogouns,’ 1822.
in the ‘Transactions New Series, 1885- ! 6 ‘Impressions of Japanese Architec-
86,’ vol. ii. pp. 185-214, and a third ture and the Allied Arts,’ 1905.
paper on the ‘Domestic Architecture of j 7 ‘Japan, its Architecture, Art, and
Japan,’ 1886-87, in vol. iii. pp. 103-27 Art Manufactures,’ 1882.
INTRODUCTORY.
487
upon as the original type of, at all events, the Korean pagoda.
The scarcity of wood in China would be sufficient to account for
the employment of either brick or stone for the construction of
their pagodas, and this is borne out by the two Chinese drawings
in the National Library of Paris referred to on page 467, where
the lower storeys are shown to be of solid construction in
either brick or stone. The Japanese pagodas, on the other
hand, even down to the present day, are all built in timber
as being better able to resist the shock of earthquakes, and
may be looked upon, therefore, as the survivals of those which
formerly existed in Korea, in which country they are now
however in stone or brick.
The principal source of information on Japanese architecture
is that which is derived from photographs, but much is to be
learnt from the meischos or guidebooks to the various provinces,
which in Japan are largely illustrated, and from the prints by
Hiro-shige, Yei-sen, and Toyo-kuni. The most valuable works
on the subject are those by Herr F. von Baltzer,1 in which plans
section and elevations are given of temples, pagodas, and other
structures. The papers contributed by Prof. Josiah Conder2 to
the transactions and journal of the Institute of British Architects
contain the most complete account of some of the temples and
palaces, and are well illustrated. Of other works consulted are
those by Prof. B. H. Chamberlain, and Mr. W. B. Mason,3
Mr. E. S. Morse,4 M. Titsingh,5 Mr. Ralph A. Cram,6 and
Dr. Dresser.7
It was not till the second half of the 6th century that Japan
emerged from a state of barbarism, and its earliest architectural
structures date from the commencement of the 7th century,
when the introduction of Buddhism from China through Korea
and its revelations stirred the Japanese people to a loftier con-
ception than those which the older Shinto religion had inspired.
The temple and pagoda at Hdriuji near Nara (A.D. 607),
the earliest buildings existing, are said to have been erected
by carpenters from Korea, and in their design and execution
present a completeness of style which must have taken several
1 ‘Das Japanische Haus eine Bau- j and 181-84.
technische Studie ’ (1903). ‘ Die Archi- ] 3 Murray’s Handbook to Japan, 8th
tektur des Kultbauten Japans ’ (1907). ; edition, 1907,
2 ‘Notes on Japanese Architecture,’ j 4 ‘Japanese Homes and their Sur-
in‘Transactions R.I.B.A., 1877-78,’vol. ! roundings,’ 1895.
xxviii. pp. 179-92. ‘ Further Notes and a | 8 ‘Illustrations of Japan ; Memoirs of
Description of the Mausoleum at Nikkb’ the Djogouns,’ 1822.
in the ‘Transactions New Series, 1885- ! 6 ‘Impressions of Japanese Architec-
86,’ vol. ii. pp. 185-214, and a third ture and the Allied Arts,’ 1905.
paper on the ‘Domestic Architecture of j 7 ‘Japan, its Architecture, Art, and
Japan,’ 1886-87, in vol. iii. pp. 103-27 Art Manufactures,’ 1882.