Phra That Luang / Vientiane, Laos

Manfeilong Pagodas / Xishuangbana Dai Autonomous Prefecture

D. The Most Unique and Splendid Stupas and Pagodas
（1）The Most Unique Stupa in Laos
　　Built in 1566, the Big Relic Stupa of Phra That Luang in Vientiane, Laos is the country's most impressive architecture. While its base is of the Indian inverted alms-bowl type, its body is a combination of the Laotian square-vase stupa style and the Cambodian slender stupa form.

（2）China's Bamboo-Shoots Pagodas
　　Manfeilong Pagodas in Xishuangbana Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan, China was built in 1204. This group of pagodas is composed of a magnificently outstanding main pagoda, surrounded by eight smaller white-colored pagodas that look like bamboo shoots coming out from the ground in spring.

（3）Pagoda-Centered Monasteries and Temples
　　In the earliest time, there were neither temples nor monasteries in Buddhism, except for the stupas and the pagodas. Therefore, when Buddhists paid homage to the stupas or the pagodas, they were paying homage to the Buddha. During the Chinese Tang dynasty (618 – 906), a new style of Buddhist architecture emerged to become quite popular. Since the pagoda was built in the center of a monastery or temple, surrounded by halls and buildings, this type of architecture came to be known as the pagoda-temple or the pagoda-monastery. However, with the arrival of the Song dynasty (960 – 1279), pagodas were relegated to the back of the temple ground and gradually vanished after the Yuan dynasty (1279 – 1368).
　　Shitennoji in Osaka is Japan's oldest government-sponsored temple. Built from 593 onward, the temple was constructed in the style of the Tang dynasty pagoda-temple, with a five-storey pagoda in the middle of the temple ground, surrounded by corridor-like ambulatories, connecting the various halls and buildings of the temple.

E. The Relationship between the Pagoda and the Temple
　　After the Yuan dynasty (1279 – 1368), only halls and shrines were built in most Buddhist temples to gradually replace the pagoda's importance as the center of the temple. Today, when people talk about Buddhist architectures, they would only think of temples and monasteries, not stupas or pagodas. However, after learning their history, people should now have a clear understanding of the stupa's function in the earliest time as the place of reverence for Buddhists since it housed the Buddha's relics and image. They eventually moved onto temples and monasteries.

F. The Temple is a Continuation of the Stupa and the Pagoda
　　Ordinarily, people would think of a temple as only a place for reciting sutras or paying homage to the Buddha. They have overlooked the fact that modern-day monastery is a multi-function educational center, for its development is the result of meeting the needs of the people—a continuation of the role played by the stupa or the pagoda of the earliest time.
　　Fo Guang Shan Monastery, for example, has not only provided devotees a place to pay homage to the Buddha with the Main Shrine, the Great Compassion Hall and the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Hall, but also functioned as a leader in cultural, educational, and charitable endeavors. Fo Guang Publishing House has published all kinds of Buddhist literatures for people to read; the monastic college has fostered talents for the dissemination of the Buddha's teachings and welcomed young people from all walks of life; the Compassion Foundation has given emergency relief in its effort to help society and the general public. Therefore, a temple or a monastery has many functions to fulfill—it is life's gas station and a spiritual department store that can meet the different needs of people in the community.

Shitennoji / Osaka, Japan	Fo Guang Shan Monastery, Kaohsiung, Taiwan