Manpuku-ji is the head temple of the Obaku school of Zen Buddhism, which is
administratively separate from the Rinzai school but which shares the same
Rinzai teachings. The Obaku school was founded by the Ming Chinese Zen
master Yinyuan Longqi 隱元隆琦 (J., Ingen Ryuki, 1592–1673), who in 1654 came to
Japan and devoted the rest of his life to spreading the teachings of the
Linji (Rinzai) school as they had developed in China over the centuries
since their initial introduction to Japan in the thirteenth century. In
1661, after serving as abbot of temples in Kyushu and Osaka, Yinyuan won the
support of Tokugawa Ietsuna (1641–1680), the fourth Tokugawa shogun, to
build a temple in Uji, just south of Kyoto, as the headquarters of his new
line of teaching. The temple was completed in 1668. Yinyuan named the new
temple Manpuku-ji 萬福寺, with the mountain-name Obaku-san 黄檗山, in honor of his
home temple in China. Until 1740 only Chinese monks served as abbots of
Manpuku-ji; since 1786, after a period during which both Japanese and
Chinese monks served as abbot, the lineage has been entirely Japanese.
Manpuku-ji was designed
according to contemporary Chinese temple architecture, and its monastic rule
and lifestyle continue to follow the Chinese pattern. Its unusual
architecture is famous in Japan, and many of its buildings are designated as
Important Cultural Properties. The Somon 総門 (Main Gate) features on its roof images
of Makara 摩伽羅, crocodile-like river deities of Indian origin. The Tennoden
天王殿 (Heavenly King’s Hall) displays a statue of the Chinese Zen monk Hotei 布袋,
regarded as a manifestation of Bodhisattva Maitreya 彌勒菩薩, the Buddha of the
future. In China, Hotei has come to represent good fortune and happiness.
The central image of Manpuku-ji’s Main Hall, known as the Daiyuhoden 大雄寳殿,
is Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha. To his side are images of two of his
most important disciples, Mahakashyapa and Ananda.
Manpuku-ji is also
known for the 60,000 carved wood blocks used for printing the Obaku edition
of the Buddhist Canon. They were produced with the aid of donations
collected from all over the country by the Japanese Obaku monk Tetsugen Doko
鐡眼道光 (1630–1682). They were completed in 1678, and are still used.
Another well-known
attraction of Manpuku-ji is its fucha ryori 普茶料理 Chinese-style vegetarian
cooking.