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Course: Art of Asia > Unit 2
Lesson 1: A beginner's guide to Imperial China- Introduction to China
- Imperial China, an introduction
- Archaeology and the study of ancient China
- Discoveries in Chinese archaeology
- Buddhist Temples at Wutaishan
- Chinese calligraphy, an introduction
- Decoding Chinese calligraphy
- Appreciating Chinese calligraphy
- Ascending the Heron Tower written in cursive script
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Buddhist Temples at Wutaishan
The Chinese Buddhist figures seen in the galleries at the Asian Art Museum were originally placed in temples and monastic buildings. This video explores Wutaishan, an area with one of the heaviest concentration of Buddhist temples in China. Learn more about Buddhism on the Asian Art Museum's education website. Created by Asian Art Museum.
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Are the architecture of these temples sturdy? They don't like that sturdy but they lasted for a long time. Is this because of their stable and sturdy architecture or are the areas they were built in not frequented by storms or earthquakes?(4 votes)
For a single example, traditionally built pagoda throughout Asia have stood for hundreds, or even a thousand years, even in Japan with it's intense seismic activity. The pagodas at least, are inherently very stable structures due to such features as the free moving inner pillar, and fire is more a threat than earthquake. Other temple architecture I can't say.(0 votes)
How long did the wooden pagoda take to build?(2 votes)- What rock is the 50 foot great white pagoda made out of?(2 votes)
Are there any emperors in China today ?(1 vote)
No. China has a president, who serves for 7 years.(3 votes)
- Are there other Buddhist Temples in other countries? I think there are might be some in Japan but I' not sure and I don't know about other countries. Can someone please if there are some in other countries and which countries these are if there are any?(2 votes)
There are Buddhist temples all over the world. With the explosion of Buddhism's popularity over the past few decades, many people have desired a place to mediate, and so a large number of new temples have been constructed.
As for ancient temples, before the wide expansion of Buddhism, those are more locally centered, with most being located in the Indian mainland. Other notable site include temples in Nepal, Japan, and Indonesia.(1 vote)
Hello, please could someone check audio of this video? From0:46to the end where the audio has almost disappeared it sounds horrible. If you cant do anything around the audio, could you please add the subtitles to the video? Thank you in advance.(1 vote)- I just tried it on February 10 at 6PM (Taiwan time) and it worked all the way through for me. I had a problem of similar sort with another video last week and reported it through the help center (found at the bottom of the page). I got a very polite response that suggested I try a different browser, which worked well. Alternatively, you could go watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT4tXGcoyWw where you can turn on the closed captions.(2 votes)
- 1:46, What was that they were rotating?(1 vote)
I believe it is a giant prayer wheel. Inside it, there are manuscripts, and it is believed that the merit of reading these manuscripts is also gained when spinning it around in prayer wheels.(1 vote)
Are thoes all Chines coucher(1 vote)
can you please restate the question? I cant understand.(1 vote)
- How do these early Chinese buddhist temples compare with the early Tibetan temples?(1 vote)
- What aspect? What would you like to know.(1 vote)
- Is it true that if you rub Buddha's belly you get good luck?(1 vote)
It's said that yes, if you rub a Buddha's belly you get good luck. And this is entirely based on pop culture, and superstitions. (When my family and I visit Buddhist Monasteries, I like to rub the Buddha's belly; it makes me feel more full, and content in my life.)(1 vote)
0:46Video transcript
the chinese buddhist figures seen in the galleries of the Asian Art Museum were originally placed in temples and monastic buildings one of the heaviest concentrations of historic Buddhist temples in China can be found at Wutai Shan Shan si province not far from the border of Inner Mongolia in northern China during its heyday over 1,000 years ago there were roughly 200 temples in this area today less than 50 still stand but among these are a number of significant buildings travelers approaching wutai shan from the north often stopped at the suspended in the air temple perched high on a mountain cliff the whole structure appears to dangle on the rock face with the support of a few timbers also nearby is the oldest surviving wooden pagoda in China dating from 1056 c/e nestled within the immediate area of Wutai or five peaks are numerous temples that are so extensive they appear to run into each other a major landmark is this 150 foot high great white pagoda of the taiwan temple here we see the influence of Tibetan Buddhism which was patronized by various Chinese emperors from the 1200s through the 1800s close by is the Shenton temple whose origins stretch back almost 2,000 years the principal feature here is an enticing square bronze pavilion filled with 1,000 tiny images of the Buddha the John Hay temple appears today much as it did when it was founded in 1711 this was the residence of various jeong-ja or living buddhas who were the Guru's of the kangxi emperor the emperor gave this box now in the collections of the Asian Art Museum to the second guru the ornate colors and decoration of the junghae temple are in great contrast to some of the older sites at Wutai Shan the oldest wooden structure in all of China today is this small Buddha Hall at Nanchang temple dated 782 C II the second oldest wooden structure can be found at fo Guang temple built on a steep Terrace the original much-older temple was destroyed during the persecutions of Buddhism that took place in 845 C II the present Great Eastern Hall was rebuilt in 857 C II with its elaborate bucketing system supporting a gently curved roof line it is a fine example of early Buddhist temple architecture in China a number of the temples at wutai shan are being restored and are in active use the remoteness of Wutai Shan has helped preserve the many treasures here that continue to attract intrepid pilgrims and tourists alike you