The introduction of Buddhism from India some 2,000 years ago was a major event in Chinese history. It now occupies an important position in China’s social life, while Buddhist structures have become an important building type second only to the palace, including Buddhist temples and pagodas. Following are some characteristics:
1. Compared with Christianity in relation to the West, Buddhism in relation to China has never risen to the mainstream position commanding the thought of the whole society. In China, there has never emerged a papal system, as the sovereign descends into the world, and the heart of the supreme domination has consistently been the monarch. Both China and the West preached that divine right of kings, but the West placed great emphasis on “charismatic”, while China put greater stress on “monarchical right”, and the divine right was only added a sacred element to the existing monarchical rule. This difference was also reflected in buildings. For a long time, the West has taken temples or churches as the mainstream, while China has always taken palace and capital city as the center of gravity, and the religious Taoist temple was placed in a secondary position.
2. At the beginning of the spread of Buddhism, the Chinese people began to transform it so that it carried a distinguishing Chinese characteristic in the course of its development. Therefore, from the very beginning, Chinese Buddhist architecture was not a simple transplantation of Indian architecture, but mainly China’s own creation.
3. Chinese religious architecture was also very different from the Western one in artistic character. The latter emphasized the “expression” of believers’ passion and fanaticism aspiring to a place in the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, the mysterious shadow changes, the unexpected figure, the domineering kinetic potential and the turbulent atmosphere became the keynote of its character. The former, however, emphasized the “reappearance” of tranquility and peace, nirvana. That’s why Chinese Buddhist architecture in most cases shows an atmosphere of serenity and affinity.
4. Chinese Buddhist temples have many points in common with residences and palaces. They both adopted the method of group combination with the courtyard as the main form.
The objects worshipped by believers are only relics, remains of Buddha, as well as souvenirs representing the experience of Buddha during his lifetime. Buddhist temples are divided into several kinds in line with layout, the main type of which is temples with a pagoda at its center. In this type, the open space in the courtyard provides room for monks to walk around. The towering pagoda is the main part in the design. If there are watchtowers in the four corners of the courtyard, they echo and set off the big pagoda, constituting rich scenery. The method of layout of temples built in the cities is similar to that of the complex of other large buildings. There are also quite a number of temples built in beautiful forests, arranged flexibly in an undulating land in close combination with the natural scenery of the local environment, and filled with a simple and warm atmosphere and displaying high creativity.
The development of Chinese Buddhist temples consists of three parts: From the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Wei and Jin dynasties (1st century-4th century), the beginning with the introduction of Buddhism; from Southern and Northern Dynasty to the Five Dynasty (mid-4th century – mid-10th century), the peak; from the Song Dynasty to the end of Qing (10th century early 20th century), in decline.
（Source: chinaculture.org）
