Buddhist Monuments in the Hōryū-ji Area
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How it came to be
According to temple tradition, Hōryū-ji was founded by Prince Shōtoku in 607. The date rests on the inscription behind the Yakushi Buddha in the Golden Hall, although some scholars doubt the statue was made that year. The Nihon Shoki records that in 670 the temple burned and not a single building was left. Excavation of the Wakakusa-garan site in 1939 supported the view that the present western precinct was rebuilt after that fire.
The rebuilt temple was turned slightly to the north-west and is believed to have been finished around 711. Its five-storey pagoda is 32.45 m tall, and a tree-ring study in 2001 found that the central pillar came from a tree felled in 594. Of the roughly 48 buildings listed at Hōryū-ji and Hokki-ji, 11 date from the late 7th or 8th century and are among the oldest surviving wooden buildings in the world.
On 26 January 1949 a fire broke out in the Golden Hall while it was dismantled for repair, and its Asuka-period murals were badly burned. The fire is credited with prompting the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties, and 26 January is now Japan's fire prevention day for cultural properties. Repairs to the hall ended in 1954, and the great restoration begun in 1934 was completed in 1985. Hōryū-ji and Hokki-ji were inscribed together as a World Heritage site in 1993.
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