Baoguo Monastery, Mahāvīra Treasure Hall  保國寺大雄寶殿

Site Information

The Mahavira Treasure Hall (Daxiongbaodian 大雄寶殿), or "Treasure Hall of the Great Hero," is a building in a Buddhist Monastery that is dedicated to the worship of Sakyamuni Buddha. The Mahavira Treasure Hall at Baoguo Monastery was first built in 1013 during the Northern Song Dynasty and was originally three bays in width and depth with a single eaves hip-gable roof (shaliangtou 厦兩頭) (Guo 2003, 77). During a renovation in the twenty-third year of the Qing 清 Kangxi reign period (1684), two rows of pillars were added to the front, left, and right of the building to create a double-eaves hall, expanding the building to five bays (seven if the exterior wall is included) in width and six bays in depth, measuring 21.6 x 19.85 meters. Only one layer of eaves was added to the back because of the site’s sloping topography (Guo 2003, 33-39; Yang 1987, 46). The roof of the building is supported by an eight-rafter beam structure. The transverse roof frame extends eight rafters using a three-rafter beam in the front bay, a three-rafter beam in the central bay, and a rufu 乳栿 tie beam spanning two rafters in the back (中国文物局 2010, 117). These are all supported using four pillars from front to back. Significant features of this building include the dimensions of the hall, which was originally narrower across the front (11.9 m) than in depth (13.36 m) and the use of octagonal recessed zaojing 藻井 ceilings in the front bay (Guo 2003, 77). These are notably similar to masonry versions found in the region, such as those in Suzhou's Bao'en Monastery pagoda (Bao'ensi ta 報恩寺塔; aka Beisita 北寺塔), dating to the Southern Song dynasty (Guo 2003, 105). All sixteen of the pillars supporting the original Mahavira Treasure Hall are lobed and tapered composite pillars (guasuozhu 瓜梭柱), with six different variations. This is significant in Chinese architectural history because Baoguo Monastery Mahavira Treasure Hall’s pillars are the earliest remaining timber examples of this technique. Similar pillars are seen in stone buildings from the Song Dynasty (Guo 2003, 86). Another important artifact of the Mahavira Treasure Hall is the painting on the lan'e (闌額). The painting follows the “seven red eight white” (qizhu babai 七朱八白) method described in the Yingzao fashi (營造法式 1103; Li 2009, 14.10a). 2