Dayun Cloister, Amitābha Hall 大雲院彌陀殿
edition published: 2018-03-21-04:00
language: en; zh-latn-pinyin; zh-Hant; zh-Hans; zh-latn-wadegile
availability: Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)

Amitābha Hall; 彌陀殿; 弥陀殿; Mítuódiàn; Mi-t'o-tien; Dayunyuan Amitābha Hall; 大雲院彌陀殿; Dàyúnyuàn Mítuódiàn; Great Buddha Hall; 大佛殿; Dàfódiàn
identifier: https://architecturasinica.org/place/000158
Date: 940
The Amitabha Hall 彌陀殿 (or Great Buddha Hall 大佛殿) of Dayunyuan was built in the fifth year of the Later Jin Tianfu reign period (後晉天福五年, 940 CE). It stands on a 1.3 m high brick podium. The hall has a front façade of three bays measuring 11.55 meters east-west. It measures ten meters north-south and has a depth of six rafters (Jiu 1958, 44). Having a single eaves hip-gable roof, the six-rafter-deep hall uses a transverse framework composed of a four-rafter beam facing an anterior rufu 乳栿 tie-beam with three columns. The column-tops hold five layer puzuo 鋪作 bracket sets with double huagong 華栱 bracket-arms and there is a single bracket set in the intercolumnar position. The central bay of the back cao 槽 inside the hall is supported by two columns and lack any column-top tie-beams. The roof frame is composed of an array of styles: up to 8 different styles of camel’s-hump braces of varying types. In addition, the interior roof frame still holds the remains of a portion of a Five Dynasties period polychrome painting, which is a rarity among the surviving premodern buildings. There is a bi-valve door on the central bay of both the front and back facades; as well as prism-lattice windows under the two side bays of the front facade. A 28.8-square meter mural, said to be the only mural extant from the Five Dynasties in all known Chinese temples, is found on the interior east wall, north wall, and screen wall. On the east wall is a transformation tableau of Vimalakīrti 維摩變相, and the back side of the screen wall features a transformation tableau Western Pure Land 西方淨土變相.
Dynasty: Later Jin 936-946
location: 36.3669333 113.4386667
location: [36˚ 22.016' N 113˚ 26.320' E (Garmin 2019-05-29)]
Type: palatial hall, dian, 殿, 殿
II:305; 34-C5-1
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