Tenryū-ji
Tenryū-ji | |
---|---|
Religion | |
Affiliation | Tenryū-ji Rinzai |
Deity | Shaka Nyorai (Śākyamuni) |
Status | Head Temple, Five Mountain Temple (Kyoto) |
Location | |
Location | 68 Saga-Tenryūji Susukinobabachō, Ukyō-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture |
Country | Japan |
Geographic coordinates | 35°0′57.47″N 135°40′25.58″E / 35.0159639°N 135.6737722°E |
Architecture | |
Founder | Ashikaga Takauji and Musō Soseki |
Completed | 1345 |
Website | |
http://www.tenryuji.com/ |
Tenryū-ji (
History[edit]
In the early Heian period, Empress Tachibana no Kachiko, wife of Emperor Saga, founded a temple called Danrin-ji on the site of present-day Tenryū-ji. The temple fell into disrepair over the next four hundred years.
In the mid-thirteenth century, Emperor Go-Saga and his son Emperor Kameyama turned the area into an imperial villa which they called "Kameyama Detached Palace" (
The palace was converted into a temple in the middle of the Muromachi period[1] at the behest of Ashikaga Takauji, who wished to use the temple to hold a memorial service for Emperor Go-Daigo. Ashikaga became the shōgun in 1338, and Go-Daigo died in Yoshino the following year. Ashikaga opposed the failed Kenmu Restoration, which was started by Emperor Go-Daigo, and the emperor decreed that Ashikaga be hunted down and executed. When his former-friend-turned-enemy died, Ashikaga recommended that Zen monk Musō Soseki construct a temple for his memorial service. It is said that the temple was originally going to be named Ryakuō Shiseizen-ji (
During the 1430s, the temple entered into a tributary relationship with the Imperial Court of Ming-dynasty China. Chinese imperial policy at the time forbade formal trade outside of the Sinocentric world order, and both the Japanese imperial court and Ashikaga shogunate refused to submit to Chinese suzerainty. This arrangement with the Tenryū-ji allowed for formal trade to be undertaken between the two countries, in exchange for China's control over the succession of chief abbot of the temple.[2] This arrangement gave the Zen sect, and Tenryū-ji more specifically, a near monopoly on Japan's legitimate trade with China. In conjunction with the temple of the same name in Okinawa, as well as other Zen temples there, Tenryū-ji priests and monks played major roles in coordinating the China–Okinawa–Japan trade[3] through to the 19th century.
The temple prospered as the most important Rinzai temple in Kyoto, and the temple grounds grew to roughly 330,000 square meters (33 hectares; 82 acres) in size, extending all the way to present-day Katabira-no-Tsuji station on the Keifuku Railway. At one time, the massive grounds were said to contain some 150 sub-temples, however, the temple was plagued with numerous fires, and all of the original buildings have been destroyed. During the Middle Ages, the temple met with fire six times: in 1358, 1367, 1373, 1380, 1447 and 1467. The temple was destroyed again during the Ōnin War and subsequently rebuilt, but in 1815 it was lost to yet another fire. The temple was severely damaged during the Kinmon Incident of 1864, and most of the buildings as they stand today are reconstructions from the latter half of the Meiji period. The garden to the west of the abbey, created by Musō Soseki, shows only traces of its original design.
Layout[edit]
On the eastern boundary of the temple grounds lie two gates: Chokushi Gate (
- Chokushi gate is a one-storey gate, constructed in Yotsuashimon style. It is the oldest structure on the temple grounds and is representative of the style of the Momoyama period.
- The teaching hall is located at the center of the temple grounds, which is unusual for a Zen temple. The extant version is a 1900 reconstruction. It contains an image of Gautama Buddha, flanked by two guardians. The decorative painting of a dragon on the ceiling called Unryū-zu (
雲龍 図 , lit. "image of the cloud dragon") is the work of Suzuki Shōnen. - Ōhōjō was constructed in 1899.
- Kohōjō was constructed in 1924.
- Tahō-den was constructed in 1934. Although it is a modern building, it was constructed in the Kamakura period style. It contains a wooden image of Emperor Go-Daigo.
- Kuri
The tombs of Emperor Go-Saga and Emperor Kameyama also lie within the temple grounds.
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Chokushi gate
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The teaching hall
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Ōhōjō
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Tahō-den
Cultural properties[edit]
The garden, created by Musō Soseki, features a circular promenade around Sōgen Pond (曹源
The Important Cultural Properties of Tenryū-ji include:
- Three portraits of Musō Soseki, and paintings of Avalokiteśvara and Seiryō Hōgen Zenji/Yunmen Daishi
- The wooden carving of Gautama Buddha,
- Illustrations and writings in the document archive, such as Shanaingoryō-ezu (
遮 那 院 御領 絵図 ), Ōkoshokyōkanji-no-ezu (往古 諸 郷 館 地 之 絵図 ), Ōeikinmyō-ezu (応 永 鈞 命 絵図 ), Tōryōeiyo-bakuseki (東陵 永 與 墨蹟 ), and writings of Kitabatake Chikafusa.
See also[edit]
- List of Special Places of Scenic Beauty, Special Historic Sites and Special Natural Monuments
- List of Buddhist temples in Kyoto
- For an explanation of terms concerning Japanese Buddhism, Japanese Buddhist art, and Japanese Buddhist temple architecture, see the Glossary of Japanese Buddhism.
- Japanese garden
Notes[edit]
- ^ Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1956). Kyoto: The Old Capital of Japan, 794–1869, p. 197.
- ^ Kerr, George H. (2000). Okinawa: The History of an Island People, pp. 137–139.
- ^ Kerr, p. 100.
References[edit]
- Baroni, Helen Josephine. (2002). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Zen Buddhism. New York: Rosen Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-8239-2240-6; OCLC 42680558
- Dumoulin, Heinrich. (2005). Zen Buddhism: A History (Vol. II: Japan). Bloomington, Indiana: World Wisdom. ISBN 978-0-941532-90-7
- Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1956). Kyoto: The Old Capital of Japan, 794–1869. Kyoto: The Ponsonby Memorial Society.
- Much of the content of this article was translated from the equivalent Japanese-language article, accessed on July 24, 2006.
Further reading[edit]
- Kawaguchi, Yoko (2014). Japanese Zen Gardens (Hardback). London: Francis Lincoln. ISBN 978-0-7112-3447-5.
- Young, David; Young, Michiko (2005). The Art of the Japanese Garden (Hardback). Singapore: Tuttle. ISBN 978-0-8048-3598-5.
External links[edit]
- 1345 establishments in Asia
- Buddhist temples in Kyoto
- World Heritage Sites in Japan
- Tenryū-ji temples
- Rinzai temples
- Historic Sites of Japan
- Special Places of Scenic Beauty
- Important Cultural Properties of Japan
- 1340s establishments in Japan
- Emperor Go-Daigo
- Kyoto Prefecture designated tangible cultural property
- Japanese imperial tombs