Introduction
It is important to understand the Confucian of the Eastern religions are based on two intrinsic values. These values are hierarchy and justice. Focusing on Justice, Confucian though has great respect for humanity. Life is highly sacred according to the doctrines and dogmas of the Confucian thought. This means that humans are believed to originate from a supernatural being from which they trace their form and guidance. The respect for this supernatural being is achieved by living according to the teachings of the Confucian philosophy. This means that the adherents embracing the Confucian thought have to demonstrate that their faith and commitment to the religion by being actively participating in the religious activities of worship and societal responsibilities that are laid out in the belief system of the confusion school of thought. Focusing on hierarchy, it is essential to note that the Confucian thought is highly organized in terms of a bottom up religious framework. Each member of the hierarchical framework plays a key role in the organization of the Confucian school of thought. One thing that is worth noting is that the Confucian thought has a different perception with regards to justice and rights compared to the Western understanding of these elements.
Justice and Rights in Confucian Thought
Justice according to the Western understanding has been regarded as doing what is fair a given person or population. This means that the thinking and ideas of these people have to be respected at all times if they do not pose any harm to their immediate society. However, the Confucian thought seems to base the definition of Justice on the belief system that governs the school of thought. This therefore means that that which is in accordance to the belief system is just and should be therefore upheld. On the other hand, ideas and school of thoughts that do not reflect the doctrines and dogmas of the Confucian thought should not be upheld. This difference in the understanding of justice between Confucianism and other Western philosophies has caused many scholars to question the Confucian school of thought. This is because the world has been slowly transforming to a more egalitarian society that has respect for civil rights and liberties even though these rights do not conform to the religious or philosophical underpinnings that are currently in existence. This account for the reason why places like China believe in a more strong government that has the ability to improve the outcome of society while the West seems to embrace what they term to us a democratic society that grants freedoms and prevents coercion by government. This takes us the questions what rights are in the Confucian understand. According to philosophies like John Locke, human behavior and personality is good and therefore man is not capable of causing evil within the society. This means that man has to be granted the necessary right in order to enjoy what the immediate environment has to offer. This in itself means that individual rights and freedoms in the Western understanding are already pre-existing; This means that these rights are not granted but occur naturally governments are only these rights prevailed.Japan was organized and ruled by powerful wealthy families. Yorimichi family ruled Japan during the Heian period, which was between (994-1074).During this period, Buddhism, which was an imported form of religious practise started taking root in Japan. Buddhism had originated from India and China but spread to Japan from Korea. This brought about the unique type of architecture designated in Japan. In the mid ninth century, the powerful Fujiwara clan reigned Heian, which was the capital and today known as Kyoto, after overthrowing the emperor.
It was believed that Fujiwara clan intermarried with the imperial families so as to strengthen their kingdom#. In the late Heian period, the Yorimichi family dominated the kingdom thus took over the leadership. Fujiwara Yorimichi is remembered for turning one of his father's villas into a place of worship, which is the phoenix hall. The early Japanese people had a sense of connection to nature as well as religious practices such as Shintoism and Buddhism. Shintoism was the earliest form of religion in Japan but slowly vanished after introduction of Buddhism. Buddhism was then introduced to Japan from Korea and it was greatly embraced because Shintoism and Buddhism were closely associated especially the ritual practices. Ritual practices and religious activities were carried out in the Phoenix Hall. This paper aims at discussing the architecture of the phoenix hall, religious beliefs of the Amida Buddha, Bodhisattvas found around the Amida Buddha and the man-made pond around the Phoenix Hall.
The Phoenix Hall is one of the surviving architectures made in the ninth century. Its characteristics defined the name of the Hall. For example, the building’s physical features embarked the name Phoenix Hall since the shape of the architecture resembles a phoenix bird that is ready to take off. The second reason is that at the roof top of the hall, there are some phoenixes for ornamentation. It is believed that phoenix bird protected the Buddha from the evil spirits. These are some of the reasons why it was named Phoenix Hall.
Consequently, after the introduction of Buddhism to Japan, they modified the architecture such that it defined their own culture. For example the Phoenix Hall in China is monumental compared to the one in Japan in that it is human size. However, the hall is raised on a platform which is a symbol of Hierarchy. In addition, the Phoenix Hall is completely built from natural wood and integrated to nature to signify the importance of nature towards their religion, Buddhism. The Phoenix Hall also has a bracketing system with tiled roof so as to survived earthquakes, civil war and fires during the ancient times. This may be the main reason as to why the Hall has managed to survive through the years. It is also believed to be sacred since the Sutra scrolls are preserved in the Phoenix Hall and that the Amida Buddha dwells inside the Hall. The Amida Buddha is sacred figure in the Buddhist religion such that the Phoenix hall was also known as Amida Hall. Inside the Phoenix Hall, there were decorations on the walls, sculptures, ceilings and, pillars of rich colors, and golden leaves. This kind of decoration was a way to imitate or reflect the Western paradise. However, over the years the colors faded away#.
The gilded sculpture of Amida Buddha is housed in the Phoenix Hall, who is mainly the central focus when one enters the hall. The sculpture was made by Jocho, which is approximated to be three meters long with a flame like Mandala and golden lotus#. The Amida Buddha has lifelike qualities such as archaic smile, neat top knot, neck roles and halfway closed eyelids. Amida Buddha seats on a golden lotus and the drapery of the robe across the bare torso is a sign of life likeness. The Amida looks inviting and compassionate as his hands are in the “mudra of welcome” this is because the Japanese believed that the Amida Buddha came at the time of death to save one's soul#. As the Amida seats on his golden lotus, the spiritual being looks down as a show of meditation or concentration to the deceased soul. The golden lotus, which the Amida sits on, is believed to be a cloud in which the Amida travels in as he comes to rescue souls of the deceased. The Amida Buddha saves the souls of the faithful by taking them to the phoenix hall, which is believed to be the paradise. In addition, the phoenix Hall is believed to be the place in which the deceased spends his afterlife and maybe becoming by becoming a celestial being#. At the ceiling in Phoenix Hall, Amida Raigo, who is also a form of Amida Buddha, takes the souls of the faithful to the Phoenix Hall, where the deceased spends the next life. Amida’s sculpture is large scale compared to the Bodhisattvas, who surround him, hence he is easily noticed. This shows the importance of Amida in that he is like a God who comes to fetch or recue souls. The Bodhisattvas on the other hand are like angels who follow the Amida to collect the souls of the deceased by taking them to paradise, which is the Phoenix Hall. Like the Amida Buddha, Amida Raigo seats on a cloud surrounded by his attendants whose role is to receive the soul of the faithful as well#. The Amida Raigo looks down as a show of infinite compassion and concerns as the deceased repeats his name over and over, before his death. This shows that both the Amida Buddha and Amida Raigo are spiritual beings who come to save the souls of the Faithful by taking them to paradise, Phoenix Hall.
Amida Raigo is surrounded by Bodhisattva and his attendants as he comes down from a cloud to save the soul of the deceased. There were fifty two worshipping Bodhisattva's suspended on the frieze inside the hall, all suspended on clouds around the upper parts of the walls and shown singing, playing instruments, dancing etc(Baker, 70) The celestial Bodhisattva surrounds the Amida Raigo and each of them has a mandala around the head. The sculptures are natural with little or no painting since most of the paint has been washed off over the years. It was believed that inside the Phoenix Hall, there were decorations on the walls, sculptures, ceilings and, pillars of rich colors and golden leaves. The Phoenix Hall was designed in a way to reflect or imitate the western paradise. The Bodhisattvas symbolize an image of paradise or pure land in a three dimensional form. It was this pure land that Yorimichi and the other these aristocrats of the period dreamed for in their afterlife#. The Bodhisattva are sculptured in different positions whereby some are playing instruments, others sited while meditating, some holding a lotus pedestal to receive the soul of the faithful and some dancing. Craftsmen and Jocho, one who sculpted, carefully designs the sculptures such that they look lifelike#. The Bodhisattvas are illustrated as celestial beings that come with the Amida Raigo to take the soul of the deceased to the pure land which is the Western paradise. The Phoenix Hall is where the deceased spends his afterlife with the spiritual beings. The Bodhisattvas are a symbol of compassion and intimacy to those who die faithful.
Moving on to the man-made pond around the phoenix hall, the significance of the pond was to make the land look like pure land of Western paradise. This is because the Heian period was known for using nature and gardens to bring about the scenic beauty of a place making it resemble a paradise and as well for religious purposes. It is believed that the lake had a significant important in that it helped the Phoenix Hall survive the fire during the ancient times#. The structure of the garden symbolized pure land or Amida's paradise. The integration of Phoenix hall to nature reflects Heian way of life#. The garden and reflective pond were intended to bring an imagery of what and how the pure land would look like. In addition, today the Phoenix Hall is still strong and very important to the Japanese people. To show the importance of the Hall, the Japanese have the Phoenix Hall on their money, yen. The Phoenix Hall and the Amida Buddha are Japanese national treasures. Considering the surrounding scenery, the beauty of the temple and the appearance of a levitating Amida, it is easy to see how the people of that time were religious and adored nature. It is clear that the man-made pond contributes to the beauty of the Phoenix Hall as a whole.
In conclusion, the Phoenix Hall, which was built during Heian period, is a masterpiece since it was built in the eleventh century and still standing today. It is believed that during that time, the art of Buddhism was at the peak. The corridors of the Phoenix Hall are shaped like that of the Phoenix bird, hence the name of the Hall. However, some people may refer to the Hall as Amida Hall, since it is the dwelling place for Amida Buddha. The Amida Buddha seats on a golden lotus as he comes to save one’s soul and take the deceased to the pure land, which is the Phoenix Hall. The Amida is surrounded by attendants and Bodhisattvas, who are celestial beings. The Bodhisattvas symbolize an image of western paradise in a three dimensional form. It was this pure land that Yorimichi and the other these aristocrats of the period hoped to go for the afterlife. The manmade pond contributes to the scenic beauty of the Phoenix Hall as it is integrated to nature as well. This illustrates that during Heian period, nature was interrelated to religion especially Buddhism. The Phoenix Hall and the Amida Buddha are important features to Japanese people in that they are national treasures today.
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