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Home , Han dynasty

Francis D. K. Ching Mark Jarzombek Vikramaditya Prakash

2011 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 400 CE The decline of Europe culturally and In , the dynasty collapsed in 220 CE; economically paralleled the shift of the Roman it was superseded by the , power base toByzantium and western Asia. with the Chinese religious world impacted by The other main centers of power were the the arrival ofBuddhism brought in by traders Sassanian in , the Gupta and monks from . At , located Empire in India, and the in China. at the western end of the Great Wall-where The Sassanians, who replaced the Parthians and the Route splits into its northern and reduced the reach of the Kushites, established southern arms, winding around the Taklamakan their capital in Firuzabad, in present-day Desert-Buddhist monks built one of the largest Iran; they ruled from the Mediterranean to cave complexes in the world. Hundreds of caves, the borders of China. Eurasia finds itself in a canved out of the sheer cliff face, functioned as a moment of adjustment in 400 CE, as the South publishing house, where thousands of copies of Asian, Chinese, and Roman worlds were all the sutras from India were copied for distribution being transformed by new religious ideas. South throughout China. Japan, during this , had Asia experienced the rebirth of Hinduism, China its first encounter with centralized government, came under the sway ofBuddhism, and the following the ascent of the Yamato clan. In a Roman world was in the process of coming related development, was on to terms with Christianity. Aksum, in northern the verge of rapid expansion, with Indian and Ethiopia, was also still a force to be reckoned Chinese traders plowing the waters in search with, although it was by then in decline. of markets. The Puy inBurma (modern-day In Central Asia, the most impressive ), who adoptedBuddhism, were the first buildings were made by the Sassanians in Iraq in the region to develop large fortified cities built and Iran, where Zoroastrianism still prevailed. in conjunction with the extensive of local Little remains of the Zoroastrian fire temples, streams. however, creating a gap in how the In Rome, Emperor Constantine issued the of architectural development of that time is Edict of Milan in 313 CE, which decreed religious understood. Farther east, in South Asia, the tolerance towards Christians. The foundation of Gupta rulers had built an empire that by 400 CE Constantinople, Constantine's city, was, however, controlled all of . They saw it as a hybrid of Christian and pagan motifs. The their mission to revive old Aryan theologies, Christianization of the empire continued after but they did so in a manner that incorporated his death, as "heathen" altars and temples Buddhist practices. In the process, they created were destroyed and new forms of architecture, a new religion that we now call Hinduism. The suitable for the religious needs of Christianity, emergence of Hinduism under the Gupta was, were established. Architecture centered to a great in fact, simultaneous with an efflorescence of extent on great martyr cities such as Rome and Buddhist practice in places such as Ajanta Jerusalem. At the same time, invasions from the and Nalanda. Alongside the Gupta's first brick Russian steppes were taking their toll on the unity Hindu temples, some of the earliestBuddhist of the empire, which was now split into different brick temples were also being constructed, such jurisdictions. However, cities in the eastern as atBodh Gaya, the place of theBuddha's provinces, like Antioch and Constantinople, enlightenment. MahayanaBuddhism continued with their strong Hellenistic traditions, remained to flourish in the remnants of the Kushan relatively wealthy and would become, for a while, Empire, which was located at the intersection of the key to the survival of European learning. the Eurasian trade routes. There, colossal rock­ Climate seems to have played an important cutBuddha figures were built that were to have role in the developments of this period. The a profound influence on the development of volcanic eruption of Krakatoa in 416 CE created Chinese, Korean, and JapaneseBuddhism. years of famine and disruption around the globe. In 600 CE, on the eve of 's mediating between East and West. Especially collapse, the civilizations of Central and in architecture, it played an important role South America were at their zenith. With of cultural transmission by preserving the Monte Alban still a powerful statefarther ancient Greek and Hellenistic traditions of north, a host of Mayan city-states-, fine masonry craftsmanship (in contrast to Calakmul, Copan, Tonina, Palenque, and the Byzantine workmen, who had reverted Yaxchilan-arose in the Yucatan. Although to brick). Otherwise, architecture in the bound by trade, family ties, and a common European West was usually made of roughly culture, these states competed ferociously hewn stones. In the area that is now northern for dominance. The main achievement Syria, eastern Turkey, Georgia, and Armenia of the Mayas was the development of the itself, precision-built stone churches arose, most advanced calendar in the world. In with important implications for Islamic the Andes, around Lake Titicaca, Tiwanaku and Christian architecture in the following emerged at the center of an extensive centuries. empire. The South Asian dynasties were In Eurasia, this period was a time of accelerating their transformation of consolidation during which the newly arising into Hinduism and engaging in experimental world religions were changing and being temple design in response to the liturgical tested. The Byzantines, for example, were demands of Hinduism. The Kalcuris, and in the process of adapting Christianity to then the Chalukyas in the Deccan Plateau establish the basis from which imperial power and the Pallavas in the south, developed could draw its authority. New architectural a range of rock-cut and structural stone forms, such as the brick , were temples. But while Buddhism was slowly developed, concrete by this time having disappearing from India, it was emerging been forgotten. The Hagia Sophia was the as a powerful force in China, , and most ambitious and splendid architectural Japan. The T'ang emperors invested heavily accomplishment of the age. in large public works projects such as roads Ruling from Constantinople, the and canals aimed at enabling trade. As a Byzantines were the dominant force in consequence, engineering skills matured. the Mediterranean, but even they had to New monasteries were built, and a new negotiate with hordes of invaders from the building form, the ta, or , emerged north and deal as best they could with out of the Indian stupa. Meanwhile, in Japan, the Ostrogoth rulers of Italy. The plains Buddhism, which had entered from Korea, and deserts of Syria and Persia, though fused with preexisting Shinto concepts still nominally under the control of the to produce a unique brand of Buddhism Sassanians, were in a state of unrest. that, from the start, was allied with high Muhammed founded the last of the great architectural accomplishment, such as the modern religions, Islam, taking Mecca in Horyu- Temple in Nara. The first building of 630 CE. With the Syrian heartland in turmoil, lse Jingu, Japan's holiest Shinto shrine, also Armenia experienced a moment of growth, dates from this time. In 800 CE, China's T'ang dynasty (618- kingdom with a capital called Hariharalaya, 906 CE) was one of the largest powers in the on the floodplain of the Tonie Sap Lake, the 800 CE world, and the city Chang'an, at the eastern largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. end of the Silk Route, was not only Eurasia's The city, a perfect square about 3 kilometers economic engine but also home to a large on a side, with a temple at its geometric and varied populace of different intellectual center, rivaled the circular city of Baghdad persuasions and religions. T'ang buildings, as an urban enterprise. With an economy however, having mainly been of wood, have organized around rice production, the Khmer all but disappeared but for a few surviving were to rule over Cambodia for six hundred monastic halls that provide a glimpse of their years, their achievement largely due to their architecture. Parallel in global importance sophisticated irrigation technology. was the new Islamic kingdom that stretched Compared to the massive amounts of from Persia to the western Mediterranean as wealth that flowed from East to West and far as Cordoba in Spain. The architectural that filtered its way through Southeast Asia, expression of Islam was the mosque, which the situation in Europe, after the collapse of in the early days of the new religion was a Rome, was still rather tenuous. Europe was simple hypostyle hall oriented toward Mecca. only coming into its own when Charlemagne But soon elaborate and gardens was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope arose, competing with the glamour and Leo Ill on Christmas night of 800 CE. His display of the . On the ca pa city to organize the kingdom brought Temple Mount in Jerusalem, which had seen Europe back onto the global horizon. His two Jewish temples and a Roman temple, architectural accomplishments, however, a new structure was built, the unequaled were relatively slight, as technology and the Dome of the Rock, venerating the spot where philosophical arts were still in serious decline. Muhammed is said to have ascended to Nonetheless, Charlemagne, though himself heaven. The Umayyad caliphs occupying barely literate, admired and sponsored the old Roman and Visigoth city of Cordoba learning and supported monasteries, which in AI-Andalus on the Spanish peninsula were the repositories of ancient texts and developed a splendid and tolerant court, with the only source of literacy north of the Alps. a large mosque built on the ruins of a Roman Eager to assume the legacy of the Roman temple. In 750 CE, the Umayyad dynasty was Empire, he adopted the language of Roman replaced by the Abbasids, whose new capital, architecture that would become the referent Baghdad, made that city one of the great for architectural expression for centuries to urban settlements of the age. come. Meanwhile, South Asia, divided among All in all, in the 9th and 10th centuries, several kingdoms, was a hotbed of intellectual the Eurasian map started to foreshadow and religious activity, leaving a substantial the modern world, with distinct kingdoms architectural legacy. The Hindu kingdoms' arranged continuously from the Pacific to architects built in stone and brick, and by the Atlantic, linked to one another by trade means of rock cutting, as is evidenced by and determined just as much by religion their numerous temples. Simultaneously, as by . This was also a period of Buddhist monasteries continued on and urban innovation: Hariharalaya, the new matured into universities of international capital of the Khmer; Baghdad, of the Islamic repute. Monks from China, Sri Lanka, Japan, Abbasids; Cordoba, Spain; and Aachen, Southeast Asia, and Indonesia came to the capital of the Holy . study at Nalanda, Paharpur, and Amaravati. Chang'an, however, still remained, along with Southeast Asia was also coming into its Constantinople, among the largest cities in own, fed by the expanding trade links to the world. China and India, and in particular by the In America, a new generation of Pallavas from India's east. In Indonesia, Mayan city-states had arisen in Guatemala, the Shailendra kings built Buddhist, and Honduras, and El Salvador starting around subsequently Hindu, stone temples of great 250 CE. The impact of Central America's accomplishment, including Borobudur, one civilizations continued to be felt at its of the finest Buddhist stupa shrines ever. To outermost reaches through the establishment Indonesia's north, in Cambodia, the Khmer of cities like Pueblo Bonito by the so-called king Jayavarman Ill founded a new Hindu Anasazi of North America. 1000 CE The turn of the millennium saw extensive impressive, however, as they imposed a temple-building programs throughout South particularly coherent political, religious, and and Southeast Asia. Thousands of temples economic architecture on their territory. The arose. They were not built by one single Silk Route, though diminished, continued kingdom; rather several kingdoms used to flourish, with the Armenian capital, temple architecture to vie for wealth and Ani, becoming a significant stop. Another influence. Among them were older kingdoms, important city was Cairo, which had, under like the Pratiharas, and new kingdoms, the Fatimids, been provided with several like the Gangas, the Chandellas, and the new mosques and palaces. Solankis. Eventually, the Cholas in south India In Europe, the struggle for dominance would control a territory that reached from the was led by the Ottonian kings in Germany Ganges in the north to the island of Sri Lanka and the Normans in England. Both used in the south. The Khmer in Cambodia were a combination of religious and military also building grand temples in their capital institutions to stamp their authority on the city on the Angkor Plain; the in land. The Ottonians combined monasteries Indonesia were great temple builders as well. with local market towns, whereas the All of this was to some degree a consequence Normans reorganized the entire legal of the weakening of the Silk Route, a result and religious landscape of England. The of political disruptions in north China that visible result, in architectural terms, was forced the to look to the south for the appearance of cathedrals, , and economic leverage and trade. While the Song monasteries that tended to blend continental territories, crisscrossed with a network of and Islamic features, partially creating the newly established towns, developed a strong base of what would later be known as Gothic mercantile economy, the Liao in the north, architecture. Also developing was a complex who had adopted Lamaist Buddhism, created monastic network, with the Cluniacs, in new hybrid monasteries, thereby establishing particular, controlling monasteries across the first firm Chinese connection to Trbet. In France, Italy, Germany, and Spain and Japan, meanwhile, a shift in power from the creating a rapid development in architectural emperor to the aristocracy was accompanied language. At the same time, another type of by the growth of a new form of Buddhism, religious geography emerged as a result of popular in contemporary Song China, known the developing pilgrimage routes that linked as Pure Land Buddhism. distant destinations and spread architectural In the Islamic world, the political and knowledge from place to place. Italy was religious patterns that were to determine the slowly developing its own architectural power gambits of these regions for centuries expressions, including the baptistery, which to come began to emerge. Islam had divided was located at the center of the town next to itself into different political entities, with the duomo, or cathedral, and was paid for the differences between Sunni and 'ite with city funds rather than-as was common becoming irreversible. From west to east we in France and England-through royal find the Berber Almoravids, who took control patronage and taxes. of Spain and linked it with their home base In the Yucatan Peninsula, the Mayas around Marrakech; the Shi'ite Fatimids, were at their height. In the valley of Oaxaca, who controlled Algeria and Egypt; the Sunni the Zapotecs continued to construct new Seljuk Turkomans, who had subdued Persia cities. and in the north, the Toltecs were and whose leader became the new caliph in the process of building a powerful new in 1055; and the largely Sunni Ghaznavid dynasty destined to define the form and Empire, stretching from to shape of the cultures that the Spanish northern India. All were great mosque and conquistadores encountered five hundred builders. The Seljuks remain the most years later. 1200 CE

the history of religions is never static, as Notre-Dame of Reims in France); and for a while, the Mongolians lowered the and this is especially true during the 13th · churches belonging to a new type of religious risks of trade across the great distances of and 14th centuries. In Japan, Buddhism order-the mendicants who renounced the Eurasian continent. This enabled the developed into a variant known as Pure Land the wealth and ostentation of the great quickening of the Eurasian economy that Buddhism which is based on the concept of cathedrals, preferring instead simple and reached its zenith in the 15th and 16th visuealization; as the path to liberation. The modest buildings (such as the Dominican centuries. One of the consequences of the lsukushima Shrine in Japan brought out the Church of Toulouse in France)-all developed 13th-century Mongolian domination of the delicate balance in Pure Land Buddhism's nearly simultaneously. In Italy, the urban Eurasian north was the rapid development attempt to achieve a balance between cathedrals and mendicant churches formed of a sea-based southern economy that outer land;cape and inner meditation. In composite, though somewhat contradictory, stretched from Africa, India, and Indonesia China. Mahayana Buddhism continued liturgical spaces. The Ethiopians, whoe to China. Southeast Asia, in fact, now to take the form of large state-sponsored maintained the great tradition of rock cutting, became an economic zone all its own, monasteries, with the pagoda (or ta) serving created an entire liturgical landscape basede with the Burmese in Pagan, the Khmer as a vertical representation of the many levels on distant Jerusalem. in Cambodia and the Srivijayan Empire in of enlightenment. In Pagan, in modern-day Following the dots on the map, it becomes Malaysia and Sumatra controlling trade MayanmarBuddhism came to be associated clear that there is a major gap in the area between India and China, and becoming with didacteic panels placed inside the from Central Asia to the Near East, in largely themselves major rice producers. The temple superstructures. Buildings that were Islamic lands, where architecture was in a coastal ports extending from southern China once meant: to be solid now had dramatic virtual standstill from 1220 to about 1330 to eastern Africa were now all part of a single internal illumination. In Cambodia, the because of the Mongolian disruptions. trade network. Khmer rulers shifted from Shaivite Buddhists Mongolian armies invaded south into China This was the time period of an amazing to Vishnavites, the latter better serving and Burma and westward into Russia and cast of architectural patrons, including their developing ideology of royal divinity. Anatolia, altering the economic and political Emperor Huizong (1100-25) in China; Scale was no issue: Angkor Wat remains landscape everywhere they went. The Song Prime Minister Taira no Kiyomori (1118--81) one of the largest religious buildings in the in China, the Seljuks in Anatolia, the Delhi in Japan; Suryavarman II (1113-45) in world. in South Asia, Hinduism continued sultanate in north India, and the Novgorod Cambodia; King Kyanzittha (1084-1113) of its transformation into a religion with a Empire in Russia all came to a rather sudden Burma; Qutb-ud-Din Aibak (1150-1210) in multifaceted pantheon. The Orissan kings end. The only Islamic region to prosper, well northern India; King Narasimhadeva (1238- emphasized the god in a temple that had out of the range of the Mongolians, was Spain 64)eof Orissa; King Lalibela (1185-1225) ine at its symbolic center an enormous stone and North Africa, where in Granada and Fes Ethiopia; Mohammed I (1238-73) of Islamic charitot. The Hoysalas developed temples with new mosques and palaces were built. The Spain; Frederick II (1194-1250) of the Holy a star-shaped plan to accommodate multiple most spectacular of the palaces was the Roman Empire. deities. Alhambra. In Central America, the Toltecs, claiming In the Christian world, the situation Once the destructive fury was over, the descent from Teotihuacan, established a was equally diverse and fluid. Large urban Mongolians were quick to adapt to local militaristic culture that was to define the cathedrals that required the coordination of customs and ways, becoming Buddhist, region's civilizations right up to the Spanish the powers of the Roman Church with those Confucian, or Muslim-both Sunni and conquest. In the Yucatan, Chichen ltza of the state (such as Gloucester Cathedral Shi'ite----depending on where they were. emerged as the primary city-state, the final in Norman England); pilgrimage churches, In China, they founded the dynasty. moment of Mayan development before its with their emphasis on the Virgin Mary (such By eliminating regional rivalries, at least final collapse around 1250.