Hōryūji

0:00:06.4 Dr. Beth Harris: We took a car and drove about 40 minutes from the center of the city of Nara, which was in the 8th century the capital of Japan, and we’ve arrived at the oldest Buddhist temple in Japan, Hōryūji.

0:00:22.3 Dr. Steven Zucker: This is a large complex that was originally built adjacent to Prince Shōtoku’s palace. Prince Shōtoku is a formative figure in the history of Japan. He was not only part of the imperial family, but he is widely credited with being one of the primary figures who established and promoted Buddhism in Japan.

0:00:41.5 Dr. Beth Harris: We’re looking into the central courtyard where we see three structures, a five-story pagoda, a Kondō or the main hall, and behind that the lecture hall where the monks would learn the teachings of Buddhism. And what’s so special about being here at Hōryūji is that in a way we’re here at the very beginnings of Buddhism in Japan and the beginnings of the establishment of Japan as a united nation-state. So Buddhism as a unifying force that came to Japan through northern India where it began, through China, Korea, and then into Japan in the 6th century.

0:01:20.8 Dr. Steven Zucker: Not only is this site associated with early Buddhism in Japan, but it is also extraordinary because these are the oldest wooden buildings in the nation.

0:01:31.5 Dr. Beth Harris: One of the earliest Buddhist sculptures in Japan is held in the Kondō here at Hōryūji. It’s a sculpture known as the Shaka Triad. It shows the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, known as Shaka in Japan, with a bodhisattva on either side. By legend, the face of the Buddha has the features of Prince Shōtoku.

0:01:54.5 Dr. Steven Zucker: In fact, there’s an inscription on the sculpture that says that it was made just at the moment when Prince Shōtoku was dying.

0:02:01.0 Dr. Beth Harris: And it strongly resembles Chinese sculpture, specifically Northern Wei sculptures, for example those in the Longmen Caves. So we see the important influence of Chinese sculpture, Chinese architecture here in the early years of Buddhism in Japan.

0:02:19.4 Dr. Steven Zucker: Let’s focus on the pagoda because the pagoda is original in its entirety. A pagoda can be understood as a Chinese and Japanese variant of the Indian stupa that historically was understood to hold the relics of the Buddha. This pagoda is enormous and its structural material is entirely made out of wood, which is phenomenal, especially when you consider how far out those eaves are cantilevered. Those eaves are supporting very heavy ceramic tiles and the weight of the wood itself is phenomenal, and yet there are no posts on the exterior corners. This is fully self-supporting. The workmen who produced it sought out the largest, strongest trees in order to support the massive height and weight of this building. They sought out hinoki trees from the top of mountainsides, but only the sides that were exposed to the most wind.

0:03:14.8 Dr. Beth Harris: That’s because trees that are exposed to strong winds become stronger themselves.

0:03:20.6 Dr. Steven Zucker: The main support in the building is known as the heart, a single tree, and then that is surrounded by a series of enormous planks from other hinoki, and all of that rests on a large circular stone. Within that stone is carved a cavity that holds the holy relics of this building.

0:03:40.8 Dr. Beth Harris: Let’s talk about the wooden brackets that support those cantilevered eaves.

0:03:47.7 Dr. Steven Zucker: That bracket system is what allows for these massive eaves to be supported, and what’s lovely about them is that they’re completely exposed to our view so that we can see the mechanics of the building.

0:03:59.6 Dr. Beth Harris: And in fact, they’re astoundingly beautiful. They form a kind of decorative skin for the pagoda that engages our eyes.

0:04:08.5 Dr. Steven Zucker: It’s important to understand that the core column does not hold this building up alone. There are a series of columns that are aligned with the inner walls of the pagoda, and those exterior columns then support the brackets. And the bracketing system is complex and multi-storied. You can see that there is a bearing block, and upon that bearing block a series of branches, almost like arms, that come out and split themselves, almost like the branches of a tree. And of course, all of this is made from the wood of a tree. Then you have a series of beams and rafters that tie the brackets together. You can see what is known as a tail rafter, which is that diagonal that slopes down from the building and outward. These were trees that came from mountaintops at some distance, and although we don’t know the location, we do know that pieces of wood this large would take an enormous amount of energy to move to this site.

0:05:03.9 Dr. Beth Harris: What a pagoda does is draw our eye upward. That makes sense given its function as a place where the relics of the Buddha reside, this link between the earthly and the divine. And that finial at the very top that tapers so gracefully upward and draws our eye up also has a symbolic meaning.

0:05:26.0 Dr. Steven Zucker: And part of that finial refers to the upper worlds, which is a concept that comes from the Hindu and from Buddhism. And that finial really marks this point as a kind of axis mundi, as a kind of axis of the world.

0:05:38.1 Dr. Beth Harris: And the master carpenter who worked on this building in the early 20th century on preserving it for future generations wrote about the way that his work was not simply about building but had an important spiritual dimension. And he noted that before the master carpenter began his work, he would offer a Shinto prayer, “We have taken the life of these trees growing in the earth and flourishing in the mountains and transported them to this spot. We fervently pray that these trees will continue to live, will find a second life in the buildings to be erected here.”

0:06:12.4 Dr. Steven Zucker: This is a building where each piece of wood was carved in response to the natural growth of that tree. And it’s remarkable the symmetry that has been achieved despite the fact that each piece has been carved by hand. And the master carpenter who was responsible for the maintenance of these buildings in the 20th century wrote down one of the proverbs that he inherited that speaks to the teamwork that was required to produce this structure. “Building a pagoda means joining wood. Joining wood means matching the wood’s traits. Matching the wood’s traits means matching human traits. Matching human traits means matching human hearts. Matching human hearts refers to the master carpenter’s consideration for his workers. Rather than criticizing the faults of others, consider your own faults first.”