Tracing the Origin of Japan's First Buddhist Temple: Japan's Asukadera Viewed through the Lens of the Korean Paekche Kingdom Temple Site of Wanghŭng-sa
The beginning of the construction of Japan’s first large-scale Buddhist temple, Asukadera 飛鳥寺, in 588, marks an important turning point in the ancient history of Japan. The construction of a Buddhist temple was a major event through which Japanese people, who had believed in traditional indigenous r...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
MDPI
2022
|
| In: |
Religions
Year: 2022, Volume: 13, Issue: 9 |
| Further subjects: | B
model for Asukadera
B śarīra reliquaries B Buddhism B building sites B wooden pagoda |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | The beginning of the construction of Japan’s first large-scale Buddhist temple, Asukadera 飛鳥寺, in 588, marks an important turning point in the ancient history of Japan. The construction of a Buddhist temple was a major event through which Japanese people, who had believed in traditional indigenous religion, came to embrace Buddhism, one of the major world religions. Inscribed śarīra reliquaries were discovered from the wooden pagoda site at the Wanghŭng-sa 王興寺 in Puyŏ. According to these inscriptions, Wanghŭng-sa was built in 577, 11 years before the establishment of Asukadera in 588. Based on this data, both Korean and Japanese academics have raised the possibility that Wanghŭng-sa might have provided inspiration or even a model for Asukadera in Japan. In this paper, I briefly examine reliquaries and roof tiles that have been excavated from the wooden pagoda site within the Wanghŭng-sa site and the arrangement and characteristics of the temple’s building sites, including the sites of the main hall and corridors. Next, I discuss the similarities and differences between ancient Buddhist temples in Korea and Japan by comparing Wanghŭng-sa with ancient Japanese temples such as Asukadera. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2077-1444 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religions
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.3390/rel13090846 |