DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27192#0553
488
JAPANESE ARCHITECTURE.
Book IX.
centuries to develop, but of which the sources are gone in con-
sequence of the annihilation of all the early architecture of
China. The earliest remains in the latter country are those of
the t’ai or pagoda, which are almost universally octagonal on
plan, and are built in stone or brick, whereas the example at
Horiuji is square on plan, and constructed entirely in timber.
This would lead us at once to doubt the origin so far as China
is concerned, especially as in the early records of the Chinese
Empire the t’ais are described as being usually square, some-
times of great height and always built in stone to serve as
watch towers, treasuries, or store-rooms.
If, on account of their differences in plan and the material
of their construction, there is any doubt as to the origin of the
Japanese pagoda, there can be none as regards that of the
temple at Horiuji, which represents the simpler type of the
T’ing design with Frimoya side gables identical with those of
the temples, palaces, and great halls already described in China.
It is, however, not only in the main design but in their construc-
tive and decorative details that the general resemblance is
shown ; the groups of brackets which support the eaves of the
Horiuji temple and pagoda are found in all the Chinese temples
and halls, and in the later examples the employment of the
bracket-groups as the decoration in their friezes is found both
in Japan and China, so that it would be impossible, except for
other reasons, to distinguish between those of the temple at
Nikko and the temples and halls in the Forbidden City of
Pekin.
In Japan, as in China, where the stereotyped form of roof
and its supports seems to have been fixed for all time, the only
variety the architect would seem to have been allowed to intro-
duce into his design was its over-elaboration with painting and
carving, and this during the last two centuries has in a measure
destroyed the simplicity of their earlier work. The framing of
the Japanese roofs, however, is, as a rule, superior to that of the
Chinese, and in the designs for those of the smaller structures,
such as the Shord or belfry and the Koro or drum tower in
their temple enclosures, and the entrance doorways, fences,
and screens of their domestic architecture, they display a
fertility of invention and a remarkable execution in the framing
which places them in the first rank as carpenters; like the
Chinese, however, they have never understood how to truss their
timbers, so that in their roofs there is the same ponderous con-
struction with immense beams one above the other similar to
those found in China.
As already stated, the Chinese temples and halls have no
clerestory windows, the light being admitted only through the
JAPANESE ARCHITECTURE.
Book IX.
centuries to develop, but of which the sources are gone in con-
sequence of the annihilation of all the early architecture of
China. The earliest remains in the latter country are those of
the t’ai or pagoda, which are almost universally octagonal on
plan, and are built in stone or brick, whereas the example at
Horiuji is square on plan, and constructed entirely in timber.
This would lead us at once to doubt the origin so far as China
is concerned, especially as in the early records of the Chinese
Empire the t’ais are described as being usually square, some-
times of great height and always built in stone to serve as
watch towers, treasuries, or store-rooms.
If, on account of their differences in plan and the material
of their construction, there is any doubt as to the origin of the
Japanese pagoda, there can be none as regards that of the
temple at Horiuji, which represents the simpler type of the
T’ing design with Frimoya side gables identical with those of
the temples, palaces, and great halls already described in China.
It is, however, not only in the main design but in their construc-
tive and decorative details that the general resemblance is
shown ; the groups of brackets which support the eaves of the
Horiuji temple and pagoda are found in all the Chinese temples
and halls, and in the later examples the employment of the
bracket-groups as the decoration in their friezes is found both
in Japan and China, so that it would be impossible, except for
other reasons, to distinguish between those of the temple at
Nikko and the temples and halls in the Forbidden City of
Pekin.
In Japan, as in China, where the stereotyped form of roof
and its supports seems to have been fixed for all time, the only
variety the architect would seem to have been allowed to intro-
duce into his design was its over-elaboration with painting and
carving, and this during the last two centuries has in a measure
destroyed the simplicity of their earlier work. The framing of
the Japanese roofs, however, is, as a rule, superior to that of the
Chinese, and in the designs for those of the smaller structures,
such as the Shord or belfry and the Koro or drum tower in
their temple enclosures, and the entrance doorways, fences,
and screens of their domestic architecture, they display a
fertility of invention and a remarkable execution in the framing
which places them in the first rank as carpenters; like the
Chinese, however, they have never understood how to truss their
timbers, so that in their roofs there is the same ponderous con-
struction with immense beams one above the other similar to
those found in China.
As already stated, the Chinese temples and halls have no
clerestory windows, the light being admitted only through the