Daitoku-ji
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is a Buddhist temple, one of fourteen autonomous branches of the
Rinzai The Rinzai school ( ja, , Rinzai-shū, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (along with Sōtō and Ōbaku). The Chinese Linji school of Chan was first transmitted to Japan by Myōan ...
school of
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese
Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...
. It is located in Kita-ku,
Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...
,
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. The "mountain name" ('' sangō'') by which it is known is . The Daitoku-ji temple complex today covers more than .


History

Daitoku-ji originated as a small monastery founded in 1315 or 1319 by the monk , who is known by the title ''Daitō Kokushi'' ("National Teacher of the Great Lamp") given by
Emperor Go-Daigo Emperor Go-Daigo (後醍醐天皇 ''Go-Daigo-tennō'') (26 November 1288 – 19 September 1339) was the 96th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')後醍醐天皇 (96) retrieved 2013-8-28. according to the traditional order ...
. In 1325, the monastery was converted into a
supplication Supplication (also known as petitioning) is a form of prayer, wherein one party humbly or earnestly asks another party to provide something, either for the party who is doing the supplicating (e.g., "Please spare my life.") or on behalf of someon ...
hall for the imperial court at the request of the retired
Emperor Hanazono was the 95th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1308 through 1318. Genealogy Before his ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name (his ''imina'') was Tomihito''-s ...
. The dedication ceremony for the imperial supplication hall, with its newly added dharma hall and abbot's living quarters, was held in 1326, and this is generally recognized as the true founding of the temple.Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan, entry "Daitokuji." Like many other temples in Kyoto during that time, the temple's buildings were destroyed by fire. In 1474, which was when Kyoto was the scene of the
Ōnin War The , also known as the Upheaval of Ōnin and Ōnin-Bunmei war, was a civil war that lasted from 1467 to 1477, during the Muromachi period in Japan. '' Ōnin'' refers to the Japanese era during which the war started; the war ended during the Bun ...
,
Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado (July 3, 1442 – October 21, 1500) was the 103rd emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')後土御門天皇 (103) retrieved 2013-8-28. according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1464 thro ...
designated
Ikkyū Sōjun was an eccentric, iconoclastic Japanese Zen Buddhist monk and poet. He had a great impact on the infusion of Japanese art and literature with Zen attitudes and ideals,Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan, entry "Ikkyū" by James H. Sanford as well ...
as the head priest. With the help of merchants of the city of
Sakai is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the medieval era. Sakai is known for its keyhole-shaped burial mounds, or kofun, which date from the fifth century and inclu ...
, Ikkyū contributed significantly to the temple's rehabilitation. From its earliest days, the temple experienced alternating periods of fortune and decline. This can be attributed to the rivalries and conflicts between Daitoku-ji and other well-known Zen temples, as well as between Daitoku-ji and the political authorities. Daitoku-ji became particularly important from the sixteenth century, when it was predominantly supported by members of the military establishment, who sponsored the building of subsidiary temples as prayers for their ancestors or in preparation for their own demise. In 1582,
Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...
buried his predecessor, Oda Nobunaga, at Daitoku-ji. He also contributed land and built the Sōken-in. Around this period in history, Daitoku-ji became closely linked to the master of the
Japanese tea ceremony The Japanese tea ceremony (known as or ) is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of , powdered green tea, the procedure of which is called . While in the West it is known as "tea ceremony", it is se ...
,
Sen no Rikyū , also known simply as Rikyū, is considered the historical figure with the most profound influence on ''chanoyu,'' the Japanese "Way of Tea", particularly the tradition of '' wabi-cha''. He was also the first to emphasize several key aspects ...
, and consequently to the realm of the Japanese tea ceremony. After the era of Sen no Rikyū, another famous figure in the history of the Japanese tea ceremony who left his mark at this temple was
Kobori Enshū was a notable Japanese artist and aristocrat in the reign of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Biography His personal name was Masakazu (政一). In 1604, he received as inheritance a 12,000-''koku'' fief in Ōmi Province at Komuro, present Nagahama, Shiga. ...
.


Buildings

There are several buildings in the complex: *
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 de ...
(Mountain Gate) *
Butsuden Main hall is the building within a Japanese Buddhist temple compound ('' garan'') which enshrines the main object of veneration.Kōjien Japanese dictionary Because the various denominations deliberately use different terms, this single English ...
(Buddha Hall) *Hattō (Dharma Hall) *Hōjō (Abbot's Quarters) *Yokushitsu (Bath House) *
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 ex ...
(Sutra Library)


Treasures

Daitoku-ji is home to some works by the 13th-century Chinese artist-monk
Mu Qi Muqi or Muxi (; Japanese: Mokkei; 1210?–1269?), also known as Fachang (), was a Chinese Chan Buddhist monk and painter who lived in the 13th century, around the end of the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279). Today, he is considered to be one o ...
: * the acclaimed painting ''
Six Persimmons ''Six Persimmons'' () is a 13th-century Chinese painting by the monk Muqi Fachang. It was painted during the Song dynasty. Muqi was one of the two great exponents of the ''spontaneous mode'' of Chinese painting (the other being Liang Kai). It feat ...
'' (housed in Ryūkō-in, the painting is hardly ever put on display) * the


Sub-temples

Daitoku-ji operates some twenty-two sub-temples, the most significant being
Daisen-in The is a sub-temple of Daitoku-ji, a temple of the Rinzai school of Zen in Buddhism, one of the five most important Zen temples of Kyoto. The name means "The Academy of the Great Immortals." Daisen-in was founded by the Zen priest , and was ...
, , and . * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Shichidō garan

The '' garan'' (compound): Image:Daitokuji Kyoto07n4272.jpg, Hattō Image:Daitokuji Kyoto03ns4272.jpg, Sanmon Image:Daitokuji Kyoto02n4272.jpg, Imperial emissary gate (Chokushi-mon) Image:Japan_Kyoto_Daitoku-ji_3.jpg, Hondō Image:Main_alley,_Daitoku-ji.jpg, Main alley way


Tatchū

The : Image:Daitokuji-Zuihoin-M1836.jpg, Garden of the Cross at Zuihō-in Image:Daitokuji-Zuihoin-Zuihotei-M1827.jpg, Dokuza-tei (The Garden of Solitary Sitting), a garden at Zuiho-in Image:Go board Hideyoshi Ieyasu Ryogenin M1868.jpg, Go board used by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu at Ryogen-in, Daitoku-ji Image:Daisen-in.JPG,
Daisen-in The is a sub-temple of Daitoku-ji, a temple of the Rinzai school of Zen in Buddhism, one of the five most important Zen temples of Kyoto. The name means "The Academy of the Great Immortals." Daisen-in was founded by the Zen priest , and was ...
Image:Japan_Kyoto_Daitoku-ji_2.jpg, Image:Kōrin-in, Daitokuji 02.jpg, Kōrin-in Image:Japan_Kyoto_Daitoku-ji_Koto-in_2.jpg, Kotō-in


See also

*
Goto Zuigan GoTo (goto, GOTO, GO TO or other case combinations, depending on the programming language) is a statement found in many computer programming languages. It performs a one-way transfer of control to another line of code; in contrast a function ca ...
*
Kobori Nanrei Sohaku (1918—1992) was a Japanese Rinzai roshi and former abbot of Ryōkōin, a subtemple of Daitoku-ji in Kyoto, Japan.Levine, xliii A student of the late Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, Sōhaku was fluent in Englisand known to hold regular sesshin A '' ...
* For an explanation of terms concerning Japanese Buddhism, Japanese Buddhist art, and Japanese Buddhist temple architecture, see the
Glossary of Japanese Buddhism This is the glossary of Japanese Buddhism, including major terms the casual (or brand-new) reader might find useful in understanding articles on the subject. Words followed by an asterisk (*) are illustrated by an image in one of the photo galle ...
. *
List of National Treasures of Japan (residences) The term " National Treasure" has been used in Japan to denote cultural properties since 1897. The items are selected by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology based on their "especially high historical or artistic v ...
*
List of National Treasures of Japan (temples) A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby uni ...
*
List of National Treasures of Japan (ancient documents) The term " National Treasure" has been used in Japan to denote cultural properties since 1897. The definition and the criteria have changed since the introduction of the term. These ancient documents adhere to the current definition, and have be ...
*
List of National Treasures of Japan (paintings) The term " National Treasure" has been used in Japan to denote cultural properties since 1897. The definition and the criteria have changed since the inception of the term. These paintings adhere to the current definition, and were designated na ...
*
List of National Treasures of Japan (writings) Lists of National Treasures of Japan cover different types of National Treasure of Japan. They include buildings and fine arts and crafts. Buildings and structures * List of National Treasures of Japan (castles), for structures that are part of ...


References


Further reading


External links

*
Daitoku-ji - halls, sub-temples

Photos of Daitoku-ji
and its sub-temples {{DEFAULTSORT:Daitoku-Ji Daitoku-ji temples Zen gardens