從建築的折衷風格論中台禪寺

Abstract

Chung Tai Chan Monastery, completed in 2001 and located in central Taiwan, exhibits a kind of eclecticism reflecting what the architect Li Zuyuan tries to achieve by combining traditional Chinese and modern architecture. As a matter of fact, eclecticism has been the major architectural trend in Taiwan in the early 20th century when Taiwan was a Japanese colony, the Palace of Taiwan Prefect being the most outstanding example. Even after Taiwan was repossessed by the Republic of China, eclecticism still dominates, as witnessed by the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (1976-80). In addition to influences derived from traditional Chinese religious architecture, most noticeably the Dragon and Tiger Tower in Shangdong Province, Chung Tai Chan Monastery also shows influences from the Temple of Hepshepsut in Egypt, the Potala at Lhasa in Tibet, and Islamic buildings such as the Dome of the Rock at Jerusalem and Taj Maha at Agra. Finally, Chung Tai Chan Monastery can be construed in Postmodernism as the latter challenges the authority posed by Modernism, and the very essence of Chan (or Zen) lies in provoking the established rules.