Abstract
The Changxi River Basin is a small root-like watershed, surrounded by mountains on three sides and facing the sea to the southeast. It is located on the border between Fujian and Zhejiang on the southeast coast of China. The area gave rise to the Changxi Culture that began in the Sui and Tang Dynasties and flourished in the Song Dynasty. Buddhism in the Changxi Basin was introduced no later than the 9th century. As the core hinterland of the Changxi Basin, Fu’an has always been an important center for Buddhism in Eastern Fujian. It reached its peak in the 10th to 13th centuries during the Song Dynasty. This article conducts a comprehensive investigation and study of the existing Buddhist temple sites and relics in Fu’an. It highlights these structures’ single-bay pattern of construction, based on rectangular plans in which the longitudinal axis extends along the plan’s direction of depth. This is a pattern rarely seen in the history of Chinese Buddhist architecture. The paper also summarizes a common element in these temples, their petal-shaped corrugated stone pillars which are divided into eight segments. Lastly, it illustrates the evolution of the temples in the Changxi River Basin from single-bay layouts to those with widths of multiple bays and indicates the unique status and associated values of single-bay Buddhist temples in the history of southern Buddhist architecture. The study examines new local findings and ideas for the study of Chinese Buddhist architectural history, providing academic support for the protection and research of Buddhist architectural heritage in Southeast China.
Highlights
This study focuses on Fu’an, located on the main stream area of the basin in order to grasp the development of the early remains of Buddhist architecture in the Changxi basin
There are similar single-bay Buddhist temple remains found in archaeological sites, for example, the hall of Guoxing 国兴 Temple built in 1011 C.E. in the Song Dynasty located on Taimu 太姥 Mountain in Fuding 福鼎. (Figures 13 and 14) The main hall of Guoxing Temple is one bay in width and three bays in depth
There are similar single-bay Buddhist temple remains found in archaeological sites, for example, the hall of Guoxing 国兴 Temple built in 1011 C.E. in the Song Dynasty located on Taimu 太姥 Mountain in Fuding 福鼎.(Figures 13 and 14) The main hall of Guoxing Temple is one bay in width and three bays in depth
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. At the beginning of such developprovinces and cities set up by the central governments here were all near estuaries It is ment, the ancient counties, provinces and cities set up by the central governments here clear that the central governments’ administration and control of the small river basins were all near estuaries. Ma Xueqiang’s from the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences systematically studied and investigated the Oujiang 瓯江 river basin, the largest river in the south of Zhejiang Province (Ma 2016). Religions 2021, 12, 1054 team from the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences systematically studied and investigated the Oujiang 瓯江 river basin, the largest river in the south of Zhejiang Province (Ma. 2016). This study focuses on Fu’an, located on the main stream area of the basin in order to grasp the development of the early remains of Buddhist architecture in the Changxi basin. The Core of the Changxi River Basin—The Remains of Ancient Buddhist Buildings in Fu’an
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