ON THE ARCHITECTURE OF JIJU-DEN IN THE HEIAN-DAIRI : Part 1 Jiju-den in the middle and late Heian period

Heian-Dairi first constructed in 794 is reported to have been destroyed by fire sixteen times in all during about 430 years from 794 to 1227. Each time it was destroyed Heian-Dairi was rebuilt, but not after the fire of 1227. Jiju-den was primarily built as the Emperor's private residence in Heian-Dairi. Jiju-den facing the south was located to the immediate north of Shishin-den. In the early Heian period Jiju-den was often used as the Imperial chamber, although after the reign of Emperor Uda Seiryo-den took the place of Jiju-den as a building for the Emperor's private life. Jiju-den which was rebuilt in the middle and late Heian period was mainly used for Nai-en (a private banquet at court), Sumo matches before the Emperor, or Buddhist mass. This paper is intended to show the original form of Jiju-den which was used for the Emperor's private life, through investigation and also through comparison of the architecture of Jiju-den at each reconstruction. The architecture of Jiju-den rebuilt in the middle and late Heian period is examined in Part 1 in this paper. 1) Jiju-den rebuilt in 1100 and in 1157 is supposed to be 9 ken long east and west and 6 ken long north and south in size, and to be also much the same in form. As for the type of structure the main building, or Shu-oku, was 9 ken in keta-yuki and 4 ken in hari-yuki, and to both the north and south sides of it was added Mago-bisashi. The roof was a hipped and gabled one covered with the brown bark of Japanese cypress, and, in particular, at each corner of the building there seems to have been lowered roof as Sumi-bisashi. The plan of Jiju-den rebuilt in 1100 and 1157 was roughly almost the same with what was described in the Daidairi-Zu-Kosho, but in point of construction of its interior space the former is very different from the latter. In the Daidairi-Zu-Kosho Me-do (a corridor) is shown to run through the center of Jiju-den, but on inquiry no evidence was found to support it. According to the records in the late Heian period, Jiju-den in those days contained a large room, 3 ken in keta-yuki and 4 ken in hari-yuki, in the center of the main building. The main building is supposed to be broadly divided into three parts. The central large room had three paneled doors on the south side, a paneled door and Renji windows on both the east and west side, a paneled door and walls on the north side. The next part on the east side, 2 ken in keta-yuki and 4 ken in hari-yuki, seems to have been shaped into one room marked off by paneled doors. The west part, abso 2 ken in keta-yuki and 4 ken in hari-yuki, was divided into three small rooms. The central 2 ken square room of them was partitioned off by latticed doors on the south side and by walls on the north side. The next room on the south side of the central square room, 2 ken in keta-yuki and 1 ken hari-yuki, is presumed to have been Nenju-no-ma in which Kannon-ku (Buddhist mass) was observed. 2) Jiju-den rebuilt in 961 is supposed to have had in essence the same form and construction in plan with the one rebuilt in 1100 and 1157. Too little data on Jiju-den rebuilt in the middle Heian period, after 961, has so far been available to show what it was like in form. Taking the similarity, however, between the forms of Jiju-den rebuilt in 961, 1100, and 1157 into consideration, it may be said that Jiju-den in the middle Heian period was reconstructed after the model of the early Heian period.