Wayō

is a Buddhist architectural style developed in Japan before the Kamakura period (1185－1333), and is one of the important Buddhist architectural styles in Japan along with ''Daibutsuyō'' and the ''Zenshūyō'', which were developed based on Chinese architectural styles from the Kamakura period. This style originated in the Asuka (538－710) and Nara period (710－794), when Japanese studied Buddhist architecture of the Tang dynasty, and was improved in the Heian period (794－1185) to suit the Japanese climate and aesthetic sense. After the Kamakura period, the ''Wayō'' developed into the ''Shin-wayō'' style by combining it with the ''Daibutsuyō'', and further developed into the ''Setchūyō'' by combining it with the ''Zenshūyō'', and pure ''Wayō'' architecture decreased.

Overview

The name was coined later, during the Kamakura period when the other two styles were born. Because by then the style was considered to be native, the term started to be used to distinguish older styles from those just arrived from China. It was characterized by simplicity, refraining from ornamentation, use of natural timber and in general plain materials. Structurally, it was distinguished by a main hall divided in two parts, an outer area for novices and an inner area for initiates, a hip-and-gable roof covering both areas, a raised wooden floor instead of the tile or stone floors of earlier temples, extended eaves to cover the front steps; shingles or bark rather than tile roofing; and a disposition of the ''shichidō garan'' adapting to the natural environment, rather than following the symmetrical layouts prevalent for example in ''Zen'' temples.

During the Heian period temples were built using only non-penetrating tie beams () made to fit around columns and pillars and nailed. The ''daibutsuyō'' style, first, and the ''zenshūyō'' style, later, replaced them with penetrating tie-beams (), which actually pierced the column, and were therefore much more effective against earthquakes. The ''nageshi'' was, however, retained as a purely decorative element.

Temples in this style, uninfluenced by the later styles, can be found mostly in the Kansai region, and particularly in Nara.

Shin-Wayō

During the Muromachi period, the combination of ''wayō'' with elements of the ''daibutsuyō'' style became so frequent that sometimes it is called by scholars .

See also

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*''Setchūyō''

References

Bibliography

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wayo
Japanese Buddhist architecture
Japanese architectural history
Japanese architectural styles