Chinese TemplesReligion in the Chinese Landscape

Huanqiutan

“Tan” is Chinese for altar, but these are no ordinary altars. Built in a circle, the tan is a three-t iered structure with the altar at the center …

The most famous of these tan is in Beij ing, at the Temple of Heaven (Tiantan) Park. I t was built in 1530 during the reign of Emperor Jiaj ing of the Ming dynasty.

Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest

At the other end of Tiantan Park is the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest. This was the f irst of the buildings in the Temple of Heaven complex, dating to about 1420 C.E.

The white platform on which the building sits is a circular altar approximately 144 feet across and 18 feet high.

Ancestral Halls

Ancestral tablets embody the dead. The most typical way of preserving them is a dedicated area of a home. However, those with more money wil l buy or build a separate house for the tablets. Ancestral halls range from the very simple to the very elegant, depending on the family’s f inancial status.

This “spirit tablet” dates to ca. 1900. The inscription reads “Spirit tablet of the il lustrious lord Zhang, who had received the t it le of Grand Master for Governance from the Qing court. Respectfully set up by his pious son, Zhang Fujun.” (U of Missouri-Columbia Museum of Anthropology)

Above: Tang Ancestral Hall in Taiwan, est. in the mid-

1700s.

The entrance to the Foshan Ancestral Temple in the far south of China. The temple was originally built in the late 11 th century.

The ancestral hall (citang in Chinese) is more than simply a type of mausoleum. Families gather here for special meals, weddings and other special functions.

Taoist Temples

Taoist temples are nearly always made of wood (not stone or brick). Their roof l ines dist inguish them from other temples – the intended impression is the defiance of gravity, an achievement often attr ibuted to Taoist Immortals ( imagine the scenes from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon).

Qingyang Huanglong

ShibaozhaiChongqing

In Taoism, the Taoshi (priest) carries out the various r ites and ceremonies, including funeral r i tes and ri tes on behalf of the community. At other t imes, the laity come to the Taoshi for help with their own specif ic problems.

The “three purit ies” ar ethe primary focus at the Taoist temple.

Robe for a Taoist priest (mid-1800s)

Taoist priest in a piece from the Southern Song Dynasty (Qinghua)

Buddhist Temples

Central in a Chinese Buddhist temple is Shakyamuni Buddha (Siddhartha during his l i fe), f lanked by two other Buddhas. Also prominent is Kwan Yin, a Chinese bodhisattva.

Kwan Yin (right) is associated in China with mercy, and hence with vegetarianism. Her statue in a restaurant indicates that the menu is vegetarian.

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The Big Goose Pagoda in Xi’an was built in the mid-600s in honor of Xuan Zang, a monk who traveled to India to gather Sanskrit versions of the Buddhist texts, so as to improve the state of the Chinese translat ions.

The Silk Road (the network of travel routes that connected eastern China to Persia, Byzantium, the Middle East and beyond) was a desolate strecth. But from the 1st century B.C.E. to the 14th century C.E., the city of Gaochang was a key stop along the way. Today, only ruins remain of i ts Buddhist temple and mountainside grottoes.

Shaolin Temple may be the most famous Buddhist monastery in the world, due to its associat ion with Kung Fu. Built in 497 C.E., i t was the site from which Chan Buddhism (called “Zen” in Japan) was introduced.

Immediately inside the front entrance (above) are two guardians. This one is on the right side.

Far left: Bodhidharma (who brought Chan from India to Shaolin) in a 16 th century painting. Left : Mural from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Cave Temples

The practice of hol lowing out caves as temples began in India, but spread to China by the 300s C.E.

In Dunhuang in northwest China, over 500 cave temples were created from 336 C.E. to

This is cave 96. The front building is 9 stories – evoking tradit ional Chinese symbolism. Inside is a 100’ tall Buddha.

The practice of hollowing out caves as temples began in India, but spread to China by the 300s C.E.

In Dunhuang in northwest China, over 500 cave temples were created from 336 C.E. to

Confucian Temples

There is an austerity to the Confucian Temple. There are no gods or spir its displayed, no dragons, l ions or other tradit ional religious symbols. The focus is on the ancestors alone.

Qufu

Qufu is the Kong family home. Tradit ion holds that the ancestral hal l was built in 478 B.C.E., soon after Confucius’ death. Several more buildings and gates were added in the following centuries.

The ceremony at the Confucian temple consists in the “sacrif ice” of music, dance, and food and wine. The sounding of the j in drum and the bell init iate the ceremony. Tradit ional dance was performed by eight l ines of eight dancers.

A Confucian temple is essential ly an ancestral hall for the Kong family. At the very center above the altar is the spir it tablet of Confucius himself. Note the numerous musical instruments.

For most of the last two mil lennia, Confucian thought was the foundation of Chinese public l i fe. The Communist victory brought that to an end, and in the Cultural Revolut ion many Confucian temples were seized and/or destroyed. This temple, in Beij ing, is the second largest in the country, f irst built in 1320. Since the death of Mao, it has been restored, although some of the damage was irreparable.