Tam quan

A Tam quan (Chữ Hán: 三關) or Tam môn (Chữ Hán: 三門) is a kind of traditional gateway of Vietnamese Buddhism, has three aisles (traditionally, the middle aisle is the largest and the two side aisles are smaller) not only are they applied in Buddhist works, they are also commonly applied to other religious works such as Confucianism, Taoism, Vietnamese folk religion, Đạo Mẫu,... and even Christianity. In addition, they are also applied to non-religious modern buildings such as schools, People's committees,....

Tam quan
A typical Tam quan of folk architecture
Tam quan of Nghiêm Quang temple, Thận Trai village, Bắc Ninh
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabetTam quan
Chữ Hán三關

Origin and meaning
Tam quan of Vạn Đức Pagoda, Bình Tân

Origin

The ancient torana is sacred gateway architecture found all over the Indian subcontinent. It has influenced the gateway architecture further across asia via the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism; Chinese paifang gateways[1] Japanese torii gateways,[1][2] Korean hongsalmun gateways,[3] Vietnamese tam quan gateways[4]and Sao Ching Cha in Thailand[2] have been derived from the Indian torana. The functions of all are similar, but they generally differ based on their respective architectural styles.[5][6]In addition to originating from India, the Tam quan gateways is also influenced by Chinese architecture.[7]

Meaning

The Tam quan carries the concept of "three ways of seeing" of Buddhism, including "hữu quan 有覌", "không quan 空覌" and "trung quan 中覌",[8][9] representing the form (false), the void (anitya) and the middle of both.[10] The second explanation is that the three gates are the gates of the Three Jewels.[11] Another theory holds that the three gates are the "Samadhi" of the Zen sect. Therefore, countries that do not belong to Zen Buddhism do not have Tam quan as the entrance to the temple.

Architecture

Tam quan is mainly three aisles with the middle door usually larger than the two side doors. The wall of the gateway can be woodor build a wall brick or stone. Above the gateway with a tiled roof. The two sides of the path are often decorated with couplets, the front of the door is written with the name of the temple or the name of the gateway.

The original gateway
Tam quan in decorative painting at Indochina University lecture hall, Hanoi
Tam quan of Thượng temple

Is the primitive gateway form and is also the most common type. Only roof and three paths, in front of the temple's name.

The gateway has an upper floor
Tam quan Thiên Mụ Pagoda built guardhouse above the middle entrance, Huế royal style

Small gateways only make one floor, but when built on a larger scale, many places build two roofs or build upper floors. Brick and stone gates almost always have an upper level, although it may just be a fake upper floor to create height. There are places built into three floors. When designing the upper floor, there is a pagoda that uses it to hang the bells, the plaques, and the drums used in temple rituals...

Gateway style of four pillars
Tam Quan style of four pillars Quốc Ân Temple, Huế

Tam quan style of four pillars instead of building walls, uses four pillars, the middle two pillars are higher than the two side pillars to divide into three paths. Above, connecting the four pillars is a stylized beam to make the gate's forehead (some places do not connect the four pillars).

The Tam quan of Láng Pagoda, Hanoi is a four-pillar style combined with a curved roof

The gateway of Láng Pagoda is characterized by a four-pillar structure with a curved roof, giving the pagoda's Tam quan a unique and unique shape in the traditional architecture of Vietnam.[12]

Another Tam quan of Thượng temple built in the style of Tam quan at Láng pagoda
The gateway of Thổ Khối Village's communal house, Hanoi, Vietnam
Tam quan at communal temple in Cổ Lãm village, Bình Định commune, Lương Tài district, Bắc Ninh province

Variations of the Tam quan are found in some pagodas built into five aisles such as in the case of Sét pagoda, Hanoi.

Application in non-religious works

Tam quan is applied to many non-religious public works in Vietnam.

School gate
A school gate built in the form of a Tam quan
Gate of Quốc Học – Huế High School for the Gifted
Gate of Cẩm Phả High School
Việt Đức school gate
Gate of Việt Đức High School, Lý Thường Kiệt, Hanoi

Village gate

Traditional Vietnamese village gates usually have only one path (although there are also some places built in the form of a Tam quan), but many places today will build a village gate in the form of a Tam quan to use as a kind of welcome gate.

Thanh Lương village gate
Ngọc Trà village gate, Quảng Trung commune, Quảng Xương, Thanh Hóa, Vietnam
Chu Đậu ancient pottery village gate
Đông Thái village gate
Tam Tảo village gate
Trinh Nữ village gate, Ninh Bình

Welcome gate
Welcome gate in the form of Tam quan in Rạch Giá city
Welcome gate in Mai Xá village

See also
  • Nghi môn, in Vietnamese temple architecture
  • Trụ biểu, in Vietnamese temple architecture
  • Torana, in Indian temple architecture
  • Paifang, in Chinese temple architecture
  • Torii, in Japanese temple architecture
  • Hongsalmun, in Korean temple architecture
  • Iljumun, in Korean temple architecture

Refer
  • Nguyễn Bá Lăng. Vietnamese Buddhist Architecture Vol. II. Paris: Nguyễn Bá Lăng, 2001.

References
  1. Albert Henry Longhurst (1992). The Story of the Stūpa. Asian Educational Services. p. 17. ISBN 978-81-206-0160-4.
  2. Scheid, Bernhard. "Religion in Japan". Torii (in German). University of Vienna. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  3. A.H. Longhurst (1995). Story Of The Stupa. Asian Educational Services. pp. 17–. ISBN 978-81-206-0160-4.
  4. From Torana gateways to Tam quan gateways
  5. Ronald G. Knapp (2000). China's old dwellings. University of Hawaii Press. p. 85. ISBN 0-8248-2214-5.
  6. Simon Foster; Jen Lin-Liu; Sharon Owyang; Sherisse Pham; Beth Reiber; Lee Wing-sze (2010). Frommer's China. Frommers. p. 435. ISBN 978-0-470-52658-3.
  7. Tam quan in Vietnamese temple architecture
  8. What does Tam quan mean?
  9. Meaning and symbolism of Tam quan gate
  10. Tam quan Danang newspaper July 5, 2014
  11. Meaning of Tam quan
  12. The spread of the Tam quan of Láng pagoda
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.