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Nanzen-ji Temples
, or Zuiryusan Nanzen-ji, formerly , is a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan. Emperor Kameyama established it in 1291 on the site of his previous detached palace. It is also the headquarters of the Nanzen-ji branch of Rinzai Zen. The precincts of Nanzen-ji are a nationally designated Historic Site and the Hōjō gardens a Place of Scenic Beauty. History Nanzen-ji was founded in the middle Kamakura period (1291, or Shōō 4 in the Japanese era system). It was destroyed by fire in 1393, 1447, and 1467, rebuilt in 1597, and expanded in the Edo era. A large complex, it has varied over time between nine and twelve sub-temples. Zenkei Shibayama, who provided a popular commentary on the Mumonkan, was an abbot of the monastery. Significance in Zen Buddhism Nanzen-ji is not itself considered one of the "five great Zen temples of Kyoto"; however, it does play an important role in the "Five Mountain System" which was modified from Chinese roots. is considered to be one of the so-c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sanmon
A , also called , is the most important gate of a Japanese Zen Buddhist temple, and is part of the Zen ''shichidō garan'', the group of buildings that forms the heart of a Zen Buddhist temple.JAANUS It can be often found in temples of other denominations too. Most ''sanmon'' are 2- or 3- bay ''nijūmon'' (a type of two-storied gate), but the name by itself does not imply any specific architecture. Position, function and structure Its importance notwithstanding, the ''sanmon'' is not the first gate of the temple, and in fact it usually stands between the '' sōmon'' (outer gate) and the ''butsuden'' (lit. "Hall of Buddha", i.e. the main hall). It used to be connected to a portico-like structure called , which however gradually disappeared during the Muromachi period, being replaced by the , a small building present on both sides of the gate and containing a stairway to the gate's second story. (Both ''sanrō'' are clearly visible in Tōfuku-ji's photo above.) The ''sanmon's'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shōō (Kamakura Period)
was a after ''Kōan'' and before ''Einin.'' This period spanned the years from April 1288 through August 1293. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1288 : The new era name was created to mark an event or a number of events. The previous era ended and a new one commenced in ''Kōan'' 11. Events of the ''Shōō'' era * April 16, 1288 (''Shōō 1, 15th day of the 3rd month''): The accession of Emperor Fushimi took place. * 1288 (''Shōō 1''): Oracles of the three deities — Amaterasu, Hachiman and Kasuga appeared on the surface of the pond at Todaiji in Nara. * May 26, 1293 (''Shōō 6, 13th day of the 4th month''): An earthquake in Kamakura, Japan kills an estimated 23,000. Notes References * Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005) ''Japan encyclopedia.''Cambridge: Harvard University Press. OCLC 58053128* Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). ''Nihon Odai Ichiran''; ou ''Annales des empereurs du Japon.'' Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jufuku-ji
, usually known as Jufuku-ji, is a temple of the Kenchō-ji branch of the Rinzai sect and the oldest Zen temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Ranked third among Kamakura's prestigious Five Mountains, it is number 24 among the pilgrimage temples and number 18 of the temples. Its main object of worship is Shaka Nyorai. History The temple was founded by Hōjō Masako (1157–1225), a great historical figure familiar enough to the Japanese to appear on television ''jidaigeki'' dramas, in order to enshrine her husband Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147–1199), founder of the Kamakura shogunate, who died falling from his horse in 1199. Having chosen Jufuku-ji's present site because it used to be Yoritomo's father's residence, she invited Buddhist priest Myōan Eisai to be its founding priest. Eisai is important in the history of Zen because it was he who, after being ordained in China, introduced it to Japan. He is also known for introducing green tea to the country. Ostracized by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Engaku-ji
, or Engaku-ji (円覚寺), is one of the most important Zen Buddhist temple complexes in Japan and is ranked second among Kamakura's Five Mountains. It is situated in the city of Kamakura, in Kanagawa Prefecture to the south of Tokyo. Founded in 1282 (Kamakura period, the temple maintains the classical Japanese Zen monastic design, and both the Shariden and the are designated National Treasures. Engaku-ji is one of the twenty-two historic sites included in Kamakura's proposal for inclusion in UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. It is located in Kita-Kamakura, very close to Kita-Kamakura Station on the Yokosuka Line, and indeed the railway tracks cut across the formal entrance to the temple compound, which is by a path beside a pond which is crossed by a small bridge. History The temple was founded in 1282 by a Chinese Zen monk Mugaku Sōgen (1226-1286) at the request of the then ruler of Japan, the regent Hōjō Tokimune after he had repelled a Mongolian invasion in the pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kenchō-ji
Kenchō-ji (建長寺) is a Rinzai Zen temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, which ranks first among Kamakura's so-called Five Great Zen Temples (the ''Kamakura Gozan'') and is the oldest Zen training monastery in Japan.English pamphlet from Kenchō-ji These temples were at the top of the Five Mountain System, a network of Zen temples started by the Hōjō Regents. Still very large, it originally had a full shichidō garan and 49 subtemples. The sangō is Kofukusan (巨福山). The temple was constructed on the orders of Emperor Go-Fukakusa and completed in 1253, fifth year of the Kenchō era, from which it takes its name. It was founded by Rankei Doryū, a Chinese Zen master who moved to Japan in 1246, spending some years in Kyushu and Kyoto before coming to Kamakura. Kenchō-ji and the shogunate Kamakura Regent Hōjō Tokiyori was the temple's main patron during its early years. The sponsorship was spiritual (he was close to a Zen master himself) as well as polit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu
was the third ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate, ruling from 1368 to 1394 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshimitsu was Ashikaga Yoshiakira's third son but the oldest son to survive, his childhood name being Haruō (). Yoshimitsu was appointed ''shōgun'', a hereditary title as head of the military estate, in 1368 at the age of ten; at twenty he was admitted to the imperial court as Acting Grand Counselor (''Gon Dainagon'' ). In 1379, Yoshimitsu reorganized the institutional framework of the Gozan Zen establishment before, two years later, becoming the first person of the warrior (samurai) class to host a reigning emperor at his private residence. In 1392, he negotiated the end of the Nanboku-chō imperial schism that had plagued politics for over half a century. Two years later he became Grand Chancellor of State ('' Dajō daijin'' ), the highest-ranking member of the imperial court. Retiring from that and all public offices in 1395, Yoshimitsu took the tonsure ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manju-ji
is a Rinzai Buddhist temple in Higashiyama-ku Kyoto, Japan. Owing to the influence of the Ashikaga, Manju-ji was designated a Jissatsu temple for a time. At present, it is a sub-temple of Tōfuku-ji. It is considered to be one of the so-called Kyoto ''Gozan'' or "five great Zen temples of Kyoto". History Manju-ji was founded in the middle Heian period (late 13th century). In 1305, (1235–1308) was appointed abbot of Manju-ji. Artwork An artistically noteworthy Amida figure is too large to be moved from Manju-ji for display elsewhere. The temple holds a collection of esoteric Buddhist art which was traditionally used in teaching the salient points in the story of the life of Gautama Buddha. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tōfuku-ji
is a Buddhist temple in Higashiyama-ku in Kyoto, Japan. Tōfuku-ji takes its name from two temples in Nara, Tōdai-ji and Kōfuku-ji.Japan ReferenceTōfuku-ji/ref> It is one of the Kyoto ''Gozan'' or "five great Zen temples of Kyoto". Its honorary '' sangō'' prefix is . History Tōfuku-ji was founded in 1236 by the imperial chancellor Kujō Michiie. He appointed the monk Enni as founding priest, who had studied Rinzai Zen Buddhism in China under the monk Wuzhun Shifan. The temple was burned but rebuilt in the 15th century according to original plans. Tofuku-ji was one of the five temples of the Five Mountain System. The temple was greatly reduced in size from 70 buildings to 25 during the Meiji era after the Shinbutsu bunri decree. In 1881, a fire burned down many major buildings such as the Main Hall, the ''Hōjo'', the ''Hattō'' and the statue of Sakyamuni Buddha. During the Russo-Japanese War , the temple area was requisitioned and became a prisoner-of-war camp fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kennin-ji
is a historic Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan, and head temple of its associated branch of Rinzai Buddhism. It is considered to be one of the so-called Kyoto ''Gozan'' or "five most important Zen temples of Kyoto". History Kennin-ji was founded in 1202 CE and claims to be the oldest Zen temple in Kyoto. The monk Eisai, credited with introducing Zen to Japan, served as Kennin-ji's founding abbot and is buried on the temple grounds. For its first years the temple combined Zen, Tendai, and Shingon practices, but it became a purely Zen institution under the eleventh abbot, (1213–1278). The Zen master Dōgen, later founder of the Japanese Sōtō sect, trained at Kennin-ji. It is one of the Rinzai sect's headquarter temples. Kennin-ji school Kennin-ji is the main temple of the Kennin-ji branch, one of the 14 divisions of the Rinzai sect. The branch is regarded to have 72 temples throughout Japan, and approximately 25,000 adherents. Architecture When first built, the temp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shōkoku-ji
, formally identified as , is a Buddhist temple in northern Kyoto, first founded in 1382 by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, with the existing temple complex having undergone several periods of extensive reconstruction and rebuilding in the succeeding eras. History Shōkoku-ji was founded in the middle Muromachi period. Initial construction of the central temple structures was begun in 1383, and the entire temple complex was initially dedicated in 1392. In the eighth month of the third year of ''Meitoku'', Yoshimitsu organized a great banquet attended by all the great officers of the Imperial court and the military leaders of that time. The pomp and ceremony of the affair was said to have equaled an Imperial event. In 1383, the Zen master (1311–1388) was designated by Yoshimitsu as founding abbot,Titsingh, Isaac. (1834) ''Annales des empereurs du japon,'' p. 317./ref> however, Myōha insisted that the official honor be posthumously accorded to his own teacher, Musō Soseki. Shōkoku-ji ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Five Mountain System
The system, more commonly called simply ''Five Mountain System'', was a network of state-sponsored Chan (Zen) Buddhist temples created in China during the Southern Song (1127–1279). The term "mountain" in this context means "temple" or "monastery", and was adopted because many monasteries were built on isolated mountains. The system originated in India and was later adopted also in Japan during the late Kamakura period (1185–1333). In Japan, the ten existing "Five Mountain" temples (five in Kyoto and five in Kamakura, Kanagawa) were both protected and controlled by the shogunate.Iwanami Nihonshi Jiten, ''Gozan''. In time, they became a sort of governmental bureaucracy that helped the Ashikaga shogunate stabilize the country during the turbulent Nanboku-chō period. Below the ten ''Gozan'' temples there were ten so-called temples, followed by another network called . The terms ''Gozan'' and Five Mountain System are used both for the ten temples at the top and for the Five M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tenryū-ji
, formally known as , is the head temple of the Tenryū-ji branch of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism, located in Susukinobaba-chō, Ukyō Ward, Kyoto, Japan. The temple was founded by Ashikaga Takauji in 1339, primarily to venerate Gautama Buddha, and its first chief priest was Musō Soseki. Construction was completed in 1345. As a temple related to both the Ashikaga family and Emperor Go-Daigo, the temple is held in high esteem, and is ranked number one among Kyoto's so-called Five Mountain System, Five Mountains. In 1994, it was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as part of the "Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto". History 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 c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
