The influence of Tang Dynasty Architecture on Japanese traditional architecture

  Tang Dynasty is one of the most prosperous times in the long history of China. The Tang Dynasty accepted various nationalities at home and abroad for exchange and study. Its open international diplomacy also made the reputation of "the prosperous Tang Dynasty" spread far. Nowadays, Chinese people are still called Tang people overseas. The culture and art under the prosperous times can be said to have reached the peak achievements of the Central Plains civilization. Although Japan, as a small neighboring country, was influenced by Chinese culture since the Han Dynasty, it was not until the Tang and Song Dynasties that it was attracted by the prosperous Chinese culture and sent a large number of envoys to learn from it in an all-round way.

    Among the numerous cultural communications, architectural culture is particularly prominent because it is a physical display. At that time, both craftsmanship and art of large wooden buildings reached the peak. But unfortunately, there are only four Tang Dynasty buildings left in China today, while Japan has retained many buildings deeply influenced by ancient Chinese culture due to proper preservation. And because of the special properties of religious buildings, most of the remaining architectural types, whether in China or Japan, are temple buildings.

    The protection of traditional buildings in Japan pays more attention to the display of spirit. Therefore, a large number of existing traditional architectural relics in Japan have been basically renovated. However, the spiritual conception and main components of the buildings have been preserved, and we can still find the shadow of Chinese Tang architecture in these buildings.

    Under the influence of Confucian hierarchical thought, China takes symmetry as beauty and presents a central axis symmetric courtyard pattern. The Japanese architectural layout gradually broke this strict symmetry. By the 13th century AD, most buildings had adopted the Japanese style asymmetrical layout. The Falong Temple, which was built in 607, is a distinctive example. Although the Falong Temple imitated the distribution of China's central axis at the beginning of its construction, the original strict symmetrical layout gradually disappeared with the time of reconstruction, expansion and repair, showing an asymmetrical pattern of buildings concentrated to one side. The horizontal arrangement of the five tower and the golden hall is almost absent in Chinese temples.

    Several existing ancient temples in Japan, from architectural components to architectural decoration, still retain obvious architectural features of the Tang Dynasty, providing us with material materials to study architectural culture of the Tang and Song Dynasties. Although Japanese architecture has integrated and changed according to its own unique cultural background on the basis of fully absorbing the architectural skills and forms of the Tang Dynasty of China, thus forming a unique architectural style, we can still explore the architectural culture of the Tang and Song Dynasties of China by comparing these changes and developments.