Huayan Lower Monastery, Bhagavat Sutra Hall  華嚴寺下寺薄伽教藏殿

Building Information

The Bhagavat Sutra Repository is located in the southeast of Huayan Monastery. It serves as the main hall of the Lower Monastery and is the scripture repository of Huayan Monastery, and it is the earliest and only remaining piece of architecture from the Liao Dynasty in Huayan Monastery. The Repository is a tingtang style hall with a hip-gable roof. It is five bays, or 25.65 meters, wide and four bays, or 18.47 meters, deep, facing east. Due to its function as a storage hall for sutras, only the three central bays of the front facade have doors while the remaining sides are solid walls to ensure a secure storage of scriptures. Although the building seems simple from the outside, the sutra cabinets, commonly known as bizang (wall storage), are exquisitely constructed using xiaomuzuo 小木作 (small-scale carpentry) to resemble a miniature heavenly palace (中国文物地图集 山西分册, 78; Hong 2017; Steinhardt 1997, 124-140). 2

The Repository is situated in front of a spacious platform measuring 4.2 meters high, and there is a broad “moon terrace" in front (yuetai). The single-eaves hip-and-gable roof incorporates seventeen different types of bracket sets, including some of the most complex found in Liao dynasty architecture. Being a sutra repository, the hall is dark inside, and the different shaped pillars suggest that multiple repairs have been done to the hall over time (中国文物地图集 山西分册, 78; Steinhardt 1997, 124-140). 3

Building Information

薄伽教藏殿位於華嚴寺的東南方，是下寺主殿，也是華嚴寺的藏經殿。 雖然這棟建築從外部看起來不太引人注目，但它是華嚴寺中現存最古老的建築，也是唯一留存下來的遼代建築。 它採用亭堂式建築風格，頂部為歇山頂，寬五間（25.65米），深四間（18.47米），朝向東方。 由於其功能是用於存放經卷，除了正面三間有門之外，其他部分都是實牆。這棟建築外觀雖簡陋，但藏經閣（俗稱壁藏）卻是用小木作小木作精雕細琢，猶如一座微型天宮（中國文物地圖集山西分冊，78；Hong 2017；Steinhardt 1997，124-140）。 2

大殿坐落在4.2米高的台基，前設有寬闊的大月台。 它採用了單簷歇山頂的設計，屋頂採用了十七種不同類型的支撐系統，其中包括遼代建築中最複雜的一些建築結構。 作為一個藏經殿，其大廳內非常昏暗，不同形狀的柱子暗示了多次修復的痕跡（中國文物地圖集 山西分冊，78；Steinhardt 1997，124-140）。 3