2021-4239-AJA-ARC 1 Arrangement Plan of Inner Mongolia Buddhist 2 Temple 3 4 Since BC, the construction of cities has been started in the Mongolian 5 Plateau with the establishment of dynasties, but many were turned into 6 ruins. However, the Tibetan Buddhist temples built after the 16th century, 7 which are an indispensable element in the process of settling the Mongolians 8 from nomadic life, have been relatively well preserved in Inner Mongolia. 9 These temples have been thought to the epitome of the Mongolian economy, 10 culture, art, and construction technology. Therefore, it has a great 11 significance to research them systematically. Interestingly, these temples in 12 Mongolia were originated from Inner Mongolia, which is located on the 13 south side of Mongolia. The architectural design of these temples has been 14 primarily influenced by Chinese and Tibetan temple architecture, suggesting 15 that the temples appear to be considered a vital sample for studying temple 16 architecture in Mongolia or East Asia. So far, there is still no study 17 systematically on temple architecture in Inner Mongolia. Therefore, this 18 research aims to study the arrangement plan of Inner Mongolian Tibetan 19 Buddhist temples, which is the most important factor to consider in the first 20 stage of temple construction. 21 22 23 Introduction 24 25 On the Mongolian Plateau, cities have been constructed with the 26 establishment of dynasties Since BC, but most turned to ruins, and a few old 27 buildings still exist. Under such circumstances, the temple buildings were built 1 28 after the 16th century occupies the majority . According to data, up to the 19th 29 century, more than 1,200 temples in Inner Mongolia, more than 700 temples in 2 30 Mongolia, and more than 100,000 monks in Inner Mongolia were confirmed . 31 These temples were built by combining the power of each level of society and 32 are considered the epitome of the Mongolian economy, culture, art, and 33 construction technology of the time. The Mongolian region after the Yuan 34 Dynasty corresponds to a wide area like the present Inner Mongolia 35 Autonomous Region and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of the People’s 36 Republic of China, Mongolia, and the Republic of Buryatia, Republic of Tuva 37 and Republic of Kalmykia in the Russian Federation. However, many Buddhist 38 temples in these countries and regions were destroyed by religious persecution 39 caused by Soviet socialism or the Cultural Revolution in China. 40 Interestingly, these temples originated from Inner Mongolia, the southern 41 part of Mongolia. And the architectural design of these temples has been 42 primarily influenced by the architecture of Han Buddhist temples and Tibetan 43 temples. Therefore, these temple’s architecture is considered a vital sample for 1Zhang Yuhuan: Inner Mongolian Ancient architecture, Tianjin University Press, pp.1-9, 2013, Tianjin. 2 Rasorong: Daci Temple-Hyangarwa, Inner Mongolia Culture Press, pp. 2-31, 2013, HulunBuir. 1 2021-4239-AJA-ARC 1 studying temple architecture in Mongolia and East Asia. Until now, these 2 temples have been relatively well preserved for a long time is Great fortune in 3 misfortune. Yet, due to there is still no systematic study on this subject, the 4 value of these old buildings is not widely recognized by society, there are many 5 cases where they are demolished during repairs. 6 Therefore, there is great value and significance to study the temples of 7 Inner Mongolia and systematically clarify the characteristics of Mongolian 8 temple architecture not only in Mongolia but also in the architectural history of 9 East Asia, and there is an urgent need to make the value known to society. This 10 study focuses on Buddhist temples in the Inner Mongolia region and considers 11 the layout plan of the temple, which is the most important aspect in the design 12 and first stage of temple construction. 13 14 15 Literature Review 16 17 The previous study on the architecture of Tibet Buddhist temple in Inner 18 Mongolia is mainly summarized in two studies, mainly by Japanese and 19 Chinese researchers. 20 Studies of Japanese researchers are ‘‘Notes of the Mongolian Plateau 21 Crossing’’ 1)by Mongolian investigation class of Eastern Archaeological 22 Society of Japan in 1930-40, ‘‘Mongolian Academic Temple’’ 2） by Gajin 23 Nagao, a Buddhist scholar from Eastern Culture Research Institute, 24 ‘‘Mongolian Buddhist travelogue’’ 3） by Akira Suganuma, ‘‘A Comprehensive 25 Survey of Buddhist Temples at Western Inner Mongolia: A Study on the 26 History of Mongolian Buddhist Architecture (Part 1)’’ 4） and ‘‘The process for 27 Establishment of Buddhist Temple Ushin Dzuu and Its Spatial Structure: A 28 Study on the History of Mongolian Buddhist Architecture(Part 2)’’ 5） by Bao 29 Muping. 30 These studies are valuable materials that record the appearance of temple 31 architecture at that time. Still, they are limited to a few temples in Inner 32 Mongolia and have not yet clarified the characteristics of the whole Inner 33 Mongolia temple. 34 Studies by Chinese researchers are ‘‘Inner Mongolian Ancient 6) 35 architecture’’ by Zhang Yuhuan, ‘‘Archaeology of Tibetan Buddhist 7) 8） 36 Temple’’ by Su Bai, ‘‘Inner Mongolian Tibetan Buddhist Architecture’’ 37 by Zhang Pengju. Among these research surveys, ‘‘Inner Mongolian Tibetan 38 Buddhist Architecture’’ by Zhang Pengju conducts an actual measurement 39 survey of temple architecture in the whole area of Inner Mongolia, organizes 40 photographs and drawings of the building. Although it is possible to grasp the 41 characteristics of temple architecture in a comprehensive manner, it has not yet 42 reached a systematic study on the changes in the times of temple architecture. 43 There are currently about 110 existing temples built between the 16th and 19th 44 centuries in the Inner Mongolia region3. However, only 30 temples, including 3Zhang Pengju: Inner Mongolian Tibetan Buddhist Architecture (I), China Architecture & Building Press, pp. 6, 2013, Beijing. 2 2021-4239-AJA-ARC 1 ten leagues and cities, can master the situation of each building through their 2 arrangement plan, so this study takes these 30 temples as the research object. 3 Among the 30 temples, there are 9 in Tongliao City and Chifeng City in the 4 eastern region, 10 in Hohhot City, Xilingol League and Ulanqab City in the 5 central region, and 11 in Alxia League, Ordos City, Bayannaoer City, and 6 Baotou City in the western region (Figure 1). 7 8 9 Methodology 10 11 As a research method, Firstly, the temples are divided into different levels 12 according to the historical background of the temples. Further, the temple 13 buildings are also classified based on their functions. Lastly, the arrangement 14 plan has been modeled, which is also organized into a series of different types 15 to clarify further the characteristics of the arrangement of the Inner Mongolian 16 Buddhist temples. 17 18 Figure 1. The Map of Inner Mongolia 19 20 Drawn by author 21 22 23 The Judgment of Temple Level 24 25 The time from the 16th century to the 19th century is the period from the 26 Northern Yuan Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty in Mongolia. In the 27 past 300 years, most of the temples in Inner Mongolia were built by Mongolian 28 nobles. Still, in the construction process, they were also influenced by the 29 political influence of the Qing Dynasty from the East and the religious impact 30 of Tibet from the West. The administrative divisions of the Qing dynasty that 31 governed Mongolia at that time generally had "Province" called "Sheng" under 32 the "State" called "Guo," and had "prefecture" called "Fu" or "Zhou" under the 33 "Province", also had "County" called "Xian." The current Inner Mongolia 34 Autonomous Region and Mongolia were called "Inner Mongolia" and "Outer 35 Mongolia" from the Qing dynasty at that time, and both were equivalent to the 36 administrative divisions of the "Province" of the Qing dynasty. The 37 administrative units equivalent to "Fu" or "Zhou" is called "League" (Aimugu 38 in Mongolian), equal to "Xian" is called "Banner" (Hosho in Mongolian). It has 3 2021-4239-AJA-ARC 1 been used as the name of the administrative divisions of Mongolia and Inner 2 Mongolia Autonomous Region until now. Since Inner Mongolia was an 3 administrative division corresponding to the "Province" of the Qing dynasty, 4 the name of the administrative division "Province" will be treated as the name 5 of the administrative division of the whole of Inner Mongolia in this paper. 6 From the above, based on the social background of the history time and the 7 level of each temple, the levels of the Inner Mongolia temples can be 8 summarized as follows: "Province Level Temple", "League Level Temple", 9 and "Banner Level Temple" (Table 1). 10 There are 4 Province Level temples, Ihezhao Temple, Xiretzhao Temple, 11 Hoh Temple, and Jiang-Jia Hoh Temple, which were built by Mongolian khan 12 and the emperor of the Qing dynasty. 13 There are 18 League Level temples. In these temples, the Maidarzhao 14 Temple, Xiaramuren Temple, Osutozhao Temple, Maritu Temple, Badgar 15 Temple are belonging to the Province Level temples, and the Chaganbure 16 Temple belongs to the imperial temple of the Qing dynasty. Fuhui temple, 17 Batahalaga Temple, Lingyue Temple, Maritu Temple, Fuhui Temple, Merigen 18 Temple, Zhungaarzhao Temple, Yamen Temple were built by the nobles of 19 Leagues, and Xingyuan temple was constructed by the high-ranking Hutuhetu4. 20 Xiaramuren Temple, Shaletew Temple, Beis Temple have subordinate temples. 21 There are 8 Banner Level temples. In these temples, Changshou Temple, Faxi 22 Temple, Agui Temple, Badanjiren Temple, and Fuyuan Temple belong to the 23 League Level temples, and the others are ordinary temples5.