A Tam quan (

Chữ Hán Chữ Hán (𡨸漢, literally "Chinese characters", ), Chữ Nho (𡨸儒, literally "Confucian characters", ) or Hán tự (漢字, ), is the Vietnamese term for Chinese characters, used to write Văn ngôn (which is a form of Classical Chinese ...

: 三關) or Tam môn (

: 三門) is a style of traditional gateway symbolic of Vietnamese Buddhism, it 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 Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...

Taoism Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Ta ...

Vietnamese folk religion Vietnamese folk religion ( vi, tín ngưỡng dân gian Việt Nam, sometimes just called , Chữ Hán: ) is the ethnic religion of the Vietnamese people. About 86% of the population in Vietnam are associated with this religion. Vietnamese f ...

Đạo Mẫu Đạo Mẫu (, ) is the worship of mother goddesses which was established in Vietnam in the 16th century. While scholars like Ngô Đức Thịnh propose that it represents a systematic worship of mother goddesses, Đạo Mẫu draws together fa ...

, and

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

. In addition, they are also applied to non-religious modern buildings such as schools and People's committee buildings.

Origin and meaning

Origin

The ancient ''

torana ''Torana'' ( sa, तोरण; '' awr-uh-nuh') is a free-standing ornamental or arched gateway for ceremonial purposes in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain architecture of the Indian subcontinent. Toranas can also be widely seen in Southeast Asia and ...

'' 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 Buddhism entered Han China via the Silk Road, beginning in the 1st or 2nd century CE. The first documented translation efforts by Buddhist monks in China were in the 2nd century CE via the Kushan Empire into the Chinese territory bordering the ...

; Chinese

Paifang A ''paifang'', also known as a ''pailou'', is a traditional style of Chinese architectural arch or gateway structure. Evolved from the Indian subcontinent's ''torana'' through the introduction of Buddhism to China, it has developed many styles ...

gateways Japanese

Torii A is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred. The presence of a ''torii'' at the entrance is usually the simple ...

gateways, Korean

Hongsalmun In architecture, a ''hongsalmun'' is a gate for entering a sacred place in Korea. ''Hongsalmun'', also called ''hongjeonmun'' or ''hongmun'', are usually erected to indicate Korean Confucian sites, such as shrines, tombs, and academies such as ...

gateways, Vietnamese Tam quan gatewaysFrom Torana gateways to Tam quan gateways
/ref> and

Sao Chingcha The Giant Swing ( th, เสาชิงช้า, , ) is a religious structure in Sao Chingcha Subdistrict, Phra Nakhon District, Bangkok, Thailand. Located in front of Wat Suthat, it was formerly used in an old Brahmin ceremony, and is on ...

in Thailand have been derived from the Indian ''torana''. The functions of all are similar, but they generally differ based on their respective architectural styles. In addition to originating from India, the ''Tam quan'' gateways is also influenced by Chinese architecture.Tam quan in Vietnamese temple architecture
/ref>

Meaning

The Tam quan carries the concept of "three ways of seeing" of Buddhism, including "hữu quan, 有觀)", "không quan, 空觀)" and "trung quan, 中觀)",What does Tam quan mean?
/ref>Meaning and symbolism of Tam quan gate
/ref> representing the form (false), the void (

anitya Impermanence, also known as the philosophical problem of change, is a philosophical concept addressed in a variety of religions and philosophies. In Eastern philosophy it is notable for its role in the Buddhist three marks of existence. It is ...

) and the middle of both.Tam quan
Danang newspaper July 5, 2014 The second explanation is that the three gates are the gates of the Three Jewels.Meaning of Tam quan
/ref> Another theory holds that the three gates are the "

Samadhi ''Samadhi'' ( Pali and sa, समाधि), in Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools, is a state of meditative consciousness. In Buddhism, it is the last of the eight elements of the Noble Eightfold Path. In the Ashtanga Yo ...

" of the Zen sect. Therefore, countries that do not belong to

Zen Buddhism Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), an ...

do not have Tam quan as the entrance to the temple.

Architecture

''Tam quan'' is mainly three gateways with the middle door usually larger than the two side doors. The wall of the gateway can be wooden or be made up of stone or brick. Above the gateway lays 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 common form of the gate

The regular form of the gate has three gateways and is also the most common type. Typically Buddhist couplets in

Hán văn Literary Chinese (Vietnamese: 文言, 古文 or 漢文) was the medium of all formal writing in Vietnam for almost all of the history of the country up to the early 20th century, when it was replaced by vernacular writing in Vietnamese using ...

(Literary Chinese) line the centre doorway. With the name of the place or the gate on a placard on the top of the centre gate.

Multiple floor gate

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 increase the gate's 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...

Four pillar gate

''Tam quan'' style of four Trụ biểu 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 Trụ biểu is a stylized beam to make the gate's centre. The gateway of

Láng Temple Láng Temple ( vi, Chùa Láng, Chữ Hán: 昭禪寺) is a Buddhist temple in Láng village, Đống Đa District, Hanoi, Vietnam. It is known in French as Pagode des Dames (''Temple of the Ladies''). It worships Buddhist monk Từ Đạo Hạ ...

is characterized by a four Trụ biểu structure with a curved roof, giving the pagoda's Tam quan a unique and unique shape in the traditional architecture of Vietnam.The spread of the Tam quan of Láng pagoda
/ref>

Some popular variations

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

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

Application in non-religious works

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

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.

Gallery

File:HANOI 1920-1929 - Université indochinoise - Peinture décorative du grand amphithéâtre.jpg, Tam quan in decorative painting at Indochina University lecture hall, Hanoi File:Hanoi KimLiên1 tango7174.jpg, Tam quan of Kim Liên Pagoda, Hanoi File:Cổng Đền.jpg, Tam quan of Thượng Temple File:Chua Thien Mu 01.jpg, Tam quan of Thiên Mụ Temple built guardhouse above the middle entrance, Huế royal style File:Chùa Quốc Ân 1.jpg, Tam quan style of four pillars Quốc Ân Temple, Huế File:Lang Pagoda gate 1.jpg, The Tam quan of

is a four-pillar style combined with a curved roof File:Cổng tam quan chùa Nghiêm Quang, thôn Thận Trai, xã Minh Tân, huyện Lương Tài, tỉnh Bắc Ninh.jpg, Tam quan of Nghiêm Quang temple, Thận Trai village, Bắc Ninh File:Tam quan chùa Hương.jpg, Tam quan Perfume Temple, the type with the upper floor File:Cong chua Dan.jpg, Tam quan Dận Temple, the type with the upper floor File:ThoKhoi TamQuan.JPG, The gateway of Thổ Khối Village's communal house, Hanoi, Vietnam File:Cổng tam quan đình thôn Cổ Lãm, xã Bình Định, huyện Lương Tài, tỉnh Bắc Ninh.jpg, Tam quan at communal temple in Cổ Lãm village, Bình Định commune, Lương Tài district, Bắc Ninh province File:Cong truong.jpg, A school gate built in the form of a Tam quan File:Quốc Học Huế.jpg, Gate of

Quốc Học – Huế High School for the Gifted Quốc Học – Huế High School for the Gifted or simply "''the Quốc Học of Huế''" is a national magnet and gifted high school in Thừa Thiên–Huế, Vietnam. Founded on October 23, 1896, Quốc Học - Huế is the third oldest high ...

File:THPT Cẩm Phả.jpg, Gate of Cẩm Phả High School File:Viet duc.jpg, Việt Đức school gate File:Trường THPT Việt Đức, Lý Thường Kiệt, Hà Nội 003.JPG, Gate of Việt Đức High School, Lý Thường Kiệt, Hanoi File:Cổng làng Thanh Lương.JPG, Thanh Lương village gate File:Cổng làng Ngọc Trà.JPG, Ngọc Trà village gate, Quảng Trung commune, Quảng Xương, Thanh Hóa, Vietnam File:Cong lang gom co Chu Dau.jpg, Chu Đậu ancient pottery village gate File:DongThai village gate.JPG, Đông Thái village gate File:Tam Tao village gate.jpg, Tam Tảo village gate File:LangtrinhnuNinhBinh (6).jpg, Trinh Nữ village gate, Ninh Bình File:Cổng tam quan TP Rạch Giá.jpg, Welcome gate in the form of Tam quan in Rạch Giá city File:Cổng chào vào làng (Mai Xá).jpg, Welcome gate in Mai Xá village

References

{{Reflist

Sources

* Nguyễn Bá Lăng. ''Vietnamese Buddhist Architecture'' Vol. II.

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

: Nguyễn Bá Lăng, 2001. Buddhism in Vietnam Architecture in Vietnam