rdfs:comment
| - Tōrō (灯籠 light basket) was a [Rokugani]] lantern made of stone, wood, or metal, used to line and illuminate paths to a shrine.
- The oldest extant bronze and stone lanterns can be found in Nara. Taima-ji has a stone lantern built during the Nara period, while Kasuga-taisha has one of the following Heian period. During the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568–1600) stone lanterns were popularized by tea masters, who used them as a decoration in their gardens. Soon they started to develop new types according to the need. In modern gardens they have a purely ornamental function and are laid along paths, near water o next to a building.
|
abstract
| - Tōrō (灯籠 light basket) was a [Rokugani]] lantern made of stone, wood, or metal, used to line and illuminate paths to a shrine.
- The oldest extant bronze and stone lanterns can be found in Nara. Taima-ji has a stone lantern built during the Nara period, while Kasuga-taisha has one of the following Heian period. During the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568–1600) stone lanterns were popularized by tea masters, who used them as a decoration in their gardens. Soon they started to develop new types according to the need. In modern gardens they have a purely ornamental function and are laid along paths, near water o next to a building. Tōrō can be classified in two main types, the tsuri-dōrō(釣灯籠・掻灯・吊り灯籠lit. hanging lamp), which usually hang from the eaves of a roof, and the dai-dōrō(台灯籠lit. platform lamp) used in gardens and along the approach (sandō) of a shrine or temple. The two most common types of dai-dōrō are the bronze lantern and the stone lantern, which look like hanging lanterns laid to rest on a pedestal. In its complete, original form (some of its elements may be either missing or additions), like the gorintō and the pagoda the dai-dōrō represents the five elements of Buddhist cosmology. The bottom-most piece, touching the ground, represents chi, the earth; the next section represents sui, or water; ka or fire, is represented by the section encasing the lantern's light or flame, while fū (air) and kū (void or spirit) are represented by the last two sections, top-most and pointing towards the sky. The segments express the idea that after death our physical bodies will go back to their original, elemental form.
|