− | The Sanjûsangendô (lit. "Hall of 33 Bays") is a Buddhist temple of the [[Tendai sect]] located in Kyoto. It was built by [[Taira no Kiyomori]] for [[emperor Go-Shirakawa|Former Emperor Go-Shirakawa]] and finished in [[1164]] . It is thirty-three bays long (about 120 meters) and four bays deep, the width of "bays," i.e. the space between the pillars in a building, being standardized in traditional Japanese architecture. | + | The Sanjûsangendô (lit. "Hall of 33 Bays") is a Buddhist temple of the [[Tendai sect]] located in Kyoto. It was built by [[Taira no Kiyomori]] for [[emperor Go-Shirakawa|Former Emperor Go-Shirakawa]] and finished in [[1164]] . It is thirty-three bays (''ken'') long (about 120 meters) and four bays deep, the width of "bays," i.e. the space between the pillars in a building, being standardized in traditional Japanese architecture at a distance equal to roughly 1.8 meters. |
| Due to the great length of the hall, its exterior porch has long been the site of [[archery]] competitions. The competition centered not on hitting a bull's eye or other target with exceptional precision or accuracy, but rather on firing as many arrows as possible within a limited time, and on having as many of those arrows as possible fly the full length of the hall without striking the floor, walls, pillars, or ceiling of the porch. The standing record dates back to [[1686]], when a competitor is said to have loosed 13,053 arrows down the length of the building, of which 8,133 were successfully shot the full length of the building without touching it. | | Due to the great length of the hall, its exterior porch has long been the site of [[archery]] competitions. The competition centered not on hitting a bull's eye or other target with exceptional precision or accuracy, but rather on firing as many arrows as possible within a limited time, and on having as many of those arrows as possible fly the full length of the hall without striking the floor, walls, pillars, or ceiling of the porch. The standing record dates back to [[1686]], when a competitor is said to have loosed 13,053 arrows down the length of the building, of which 8,133 were successfully shot the full length of the building without touching it. |
| *Ching, Francis D.K. et al. ''A Global History of Architecture''. Second Edition. John Wiley & Sons, 2011. p398. | | *Ching, Francis D.K. et al. ''A Global History of Architecture''. Second Edition. John Wiley & Sons, 2011. p398. |