Hitachi Kokubun-ji
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Hitachi Kokubun-ji
is a Buddhist temple in Fuchū neighborhood of the city of Ishioka, Ibaraki, Japan, belonging to the Shingon-shū Chizan-ha sect, and is the provincial temple ("kokubunji") of former Hitachi Province. The ruins of the Nara period temple and the nearby nunnery have been collectively protected as a National Historic Site since 1922. In 1952, the designation was upgraded to that of a Special National Historic Site. Hitachi Kokubun-ji The ''Shoku Nihongi'' records that in 741, as the country recovered from a major smallpox epidemic, Emperor Shōmu ordered that a monastery and nunnery be established in every province. These temples had the dual purpose of promoting Buddhism as the national religion of Japan and standardising control of the Yamato rule to the provinces. The actual date the Hitachi Kokubun-ji was founded is unknown. Per the "Hitachi-Fuchū Kagami", the temple was founded in 743 and consecrated in 752 AD. The original design of the temple was a walled square compou ...
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Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gradually spread throughout much of Asia via the Silk Road. It is the world's fourth-largest religion, with over 520 million followers (Buddhists) who comprise seven percent of the global population. The Buddha taught the Middle Way, a path of spiritual development that avoids both extreme asceticism and hedonism. It aims at liberation from clinging and craving to things which are impermanent (), incapable of satisfying ('), and without a lasting essence (), ending the cycle of death and rebirth (). A summary of this path is expressed in the Noble Eightfold Path, a training of the mind with observance of Buddhist ethics and meditation. Other widely observed practices include: monasticism; " taking refuge" in the Buddha, the , and th ...
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Yamato Dynasty
The , also referred to as the Imperial Family or the House of Yamato, comprises those members of the extended family of the reigning Emperor of Japan who undertake official and public duties. Under the present Constitution of Japan, the Emperor is "the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people". Other members of the Imperial Family perform ceremonial and social duties, but have no role in the affairs of government. The duties as an Emperor are passed down the line to their male children. This Japanese monarchy is the oldest continuous hereditary monarchy in the world. The Imperial House recognizes 126 monarchs, beginning with Emperor Jimmu (traditionally dated to 11 February 660 BC), and continuing up to the current emperor, Naruhito. However, scholars have agreed that there is no evidence of Jimmu's existence, that the traditional narrative of Japan’s founding is mythical, and that Jimmu is a mythical figure. Historical evidence for the first 25 emperors is mythical, ...
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Sengoku Period
The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the Ashikaga shogunate. Various samurai warlords and Japanese clans, clans fought for control over Japan in the power vacuum, while the emerged to fight against samurai rule. The Nanban trade, arrival of Europeans in 1543 introduced the arquebus into Japanese warfare, and Japan ended its status as a Tributary system of China, tributary state of China in 1549. Oda Nobunaga dissolved the Ashikaga shogunate in 1573 and launched a war of political unification by force, including the Ishiyama Hongan-ji War, until his death in the Honnō-ji Incident in 1582. Nobunaga's successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi completed his campaign to unify Japan and consolidated his rule with numerous influential reforms. Hideyoshi launched the Japanese invasions of Korea (159 ...
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Satake Clan
The was a Japanese samurai clan that claimed descent from the Minamoto clan. Its first power base was in Hitachi Province. The clan was subdued by Minamoto no Yoritomo in the late 12th century, but later entered Yoritomo's service as vassals. In the Muromachi period, the Satake served as Governor (''shugo'') of Hitachi Province (today Ibaraki Prefecture), under the aegis of the Ashikaga shogunate. The clan sided with the Western Army during the Battle of Sekigahara, and was punished by Tokugawa Ieyasu, who moved it to a smaller territory in northern Dewa Province (northern Honshū) at the start of the Edo period. The Satake survived as lords (daimyō) of the Kubota Domain (also known as the Akita Domain). Over the course of the Edo period, two major branches of the Satake clan were established, one ruled the fief of Iwasaki, the other one the fief of Kubota-Shinden. During the Boshin War of 1868–69, the Satake were signatories to the pact that formed the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōm ...
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Taira No Masakado
was a Heian period provincial magnate (''gōzoku'') and samurai based in eastern Japan, notable for leading the first recorded uprising against the central government in Kyōto. Early life Masakado was one of the sons of Taira no Yoshimasa (平良将), also known as Taira no Yoshimochi (平良持), of the Kanmu Taira clan (''Kanmu Heishi''), descendants of Emperor Kanmu (reigned 781-806) who were demoted from princely to commoner status and granted the Taira surname. Yoshimochi was one of the sons of Prince Takamochi, a grandson or great-grandson of Kanmu who was appointed the vice-governor of Kazusa Province (modern central Chiba Prefecture) in 889 ( Kanpyō 1). Takamochi's sons who joined him there occupied a variety of provincial offices in the eastern part of the country such as that of '' chinjufu shōgun'', the commander-in-chief of the defense garrison (''chinjufu'') in Mutsu Province tasked with subjugating the Emishi peoples of the north. Not much is known of Mas ...
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Engishiki
The is a Japanese book about laws and customs. The major part of the writing was completed in 927. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Engi-shiki''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 178. History In 905, Emperor Daigo ordered the compilation of the ''Engishiki''. Although previous attempts at codification are known to have taken place, neither the ''Konin'' nor the ''Jogan Gishiki'' survive making the Engishiki important for early Japanese historical and religious studies. Fujiwara no Tokihira began the task, but work stalled when he died four years later in 909. His brother Fujiwara no Tadahira continued the work in 912 eventually completing it in 927. After a number of revisions, the work was used as a basis for reform starting in 967. Contents The text is 50 volumes in lengths and is organized by department: *volumes 1–10: Department of Worship: In addition to regulating ceremonials including Daijyō-sai (the first Niiname-sai following the accession of a new emperor) a ...
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Archaeological Excavation
In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be conducted over a few weeks to several years. Excavation involves the recovery of several types of data from a site. This data includes artifacts (portable objects made or modified by humans), features (non-portable modifications to the site itself such as post molds, burials, and hearths), ecofacts (evidence of human activity through organic remains such as animal bones, pollen, or charcoal), and archaeological context (relationships among the other types of data).Kelly&Thomas (2011). ''Archaeology: down to earth'' (4th ed.). Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. Before excavating, the presence or absence of archaeological remains can often be suggested by, non-intrusive remote sensing, such as ground-penetrating radar. Basic informat ...
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Kuri (kitchen)
A or is the kitchen of a Zen monastery, typically located behind the ''butsuden'' (or, Buddha Hall). Historically the ''kuri'' was a kitchen which prepared meals only for the abbot and his guests, though in modern Japan it now functions as the kitchen and administrative office for the entire monastery.Baroni, 201Watanabe, 34 See also *''Kaisando'' *''Umpan An ''umpan'' (, , literally "cloud plate") is a flat gong, usually bronze, which is rung at mealtime in a Zen monastery. Literally translated as "cloud plate," the umpan is also sounded to "signal other events,"Baroni, 364 such as a call to the c ...'' Notes References * * * Zen {{zen-stub ...
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Shōrō
The two main types of bell tower in Japan The or is the bell tower of a Buddhist temple in Japan, housing the temple's . It can also be found at some Shinto shrines which used to function as temples (see article '' Shinbutsu shūgō''), as for example Nikkō Tōshō-gū. Two main types exist, the older , which has walls, and the more recent or , which does not. History During the Nara period (710–794), immediately after the arrival of Buddhism in Japan bell towers were 3 x 2 bay, 2 storied buildings. A typical temple '' garan'' had normally two, one to the left and one to the right of the ''kyōzō'' (or ''kyō-dō''), the sūtra repository. An extant example of this style is Hōryū-ji's Sai-in Shōrō in Nara (see photo in the gallery). During the following Heian period (794–1185) was developed a new style called ''hakamagoshi'' which consisted of a two storied, hourglass-shaped building with the bell hanging from the second story. The earliest extant example is H ...
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Kyōzō
in Japanese Buddhist architecture is a repository for sūtras and chronicles of the temple history. It is also called , , or . In ancient times the ''kyōzō'' was placed opposite the belfry on the east–west axis of the temple. The earliest extant ''kyōzō'' is at Hōryū-ji, and it is a two-storied structure. An example of one-storied ''kyōzō'' is at Tōshōdai-ji in Nara. A ''kyōzō's'' usual size is 3 x 3 ''ken''. All storage buildings are equipped with shelving to store the containers that hold the rolled sūtras. Some temples have circular revolving shelves for sūtra storage: a central pillar revolves, like a vertical axle, and octahedral tubes are attached to it. A revolving sūtra storage case is called . Revolving shelves are convenient because they allow priests and monks to select the needed sūtra quickly. Eventually, in some ''kyōzō'' the faithful were permitted to push the shelves around the pillar while praying—it was believed that they could receive re ...
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Japanese Pagoda
Multi-storied pagodas in wood and stone, and a ''gorintō'' Pagodas in Japan are called , sometimes or and historically derive from the Chinese pagoda, itself an interpretation of the Indian ''stupa''. Like the ''stupa'', pagodas were originally used as reliquaries but in many cases they ended up losing this function. Pagodas are quintessentially Buddhist and an important component of Japanese Buddhist temple compounds but, because until the Kami and Buddhas Separation Act of 1868, a Shinto shrine was normally also a Buddhist temple and vice versa, they are not rare at shrines either. The famous Itsukushima Shrine, for example, has one. After the Meiji Restoration the word ''tō'', once used exclusively in a religious context, came to mean also "tower" in the western sense, as for example in . Of the Japanese pagoda's many forms, some are built in wood and are collectively known as , but most are carved out of stone (. Wood pagodas are large buildings with either two stor ...
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Rectory
A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically owned and maintained by a church, as a benefit to its clergy. This practice exists in many denominations because of the tendency of clergy to be transferred from one church to another at relatively frequent intervals. Also, in smaller communities, suitable housing is not as available. In addition, such a residence can be supplied in lieu of salary, which may not be able to be provided (especially at smaller congregations). Catholic clergy houses in particular may be lived in by several priests from a parish. Clergy houses frequently serve as the administrative office of the local parish, as well as a residence. They are normally located next to, or at least close to, the church their occupant serves. Partly because of the general conservati ...
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