On the Buddhist Temples and Pagodas in the Capital of the Six Dynasties

There is still no systematic research on specific structures of the Buddhist temples and pagodas in the capital of the Six Dynasties.The basic elements of the Buddhist temples in the Six Dynasties were temple gate,Buddha palace,schoolroom,Chan-chapel,pagoda,refectory,etc.The Buddhist temples in Eastern Wu period maintained the pattern of Chinese traditional square courtyards,whose central part had the Buddhist temple or the Buddhist pagoda with multilayered pavilions.During the period from Eastern Jin to the beginning of Southern Dynasties,two types of Buddhist temples,the flat style or regular style and the mountain forest style or free style emerged in the capital of the Six Dynasties.Their popular patterns were similar to the structures of the Buddhist temples of 6th and 7th centuries which were discovered or preserved in Korea and Japan.The Buddhist pagodas of the Six Dynasties were mostly the full-timberwork type which prevailed in the South China with their own specialties.The five-layered pagoda in the Falong temple and the three-layered Pagoda of the Faqi temple in Japan maintained the basic characters of the full-timberwork type of the Buddhist pagodas of the capital of the Six Dynasties.