was a former
Buddhist monastery in northeastern
Kyoto,
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 ...
, endowed by
Emperor Sutoku in fulfillment of a sacred vow. It is known as one of the ,
[Adophson, Mikael S. (2000)]
''The Gates of Power: Monks, Courtiers, and Warriors in Premodern Japan,'' p. 388 n99.
/ref> which encompass monastery complexes which enjoyed extravagant Imperial patronage from their inception. They are sometimes identified as the "Superlative Temples" or the "''Shō'' Temples" because of the middle syllable of the temple name.
History
This temple and the other Rokushō-ji is a collective name for six related Buddhist temples in northeastern Kyoto, Japan.
Six independently constructed and endowed temples have come to be known collectively as the "Six Victorious Temples",Adophson, Mikael S. (2000) ''The Gates of Powe ...
establishments had a particular function within the Imperial . The Rokushō-ji were "sacred vow temples" (''gogan-ji'') built by imperial command following a precedent established by Emperor Shirakawa's
Hosshō-ji.kuge
The was a Japanese aristocratic class that dominated the Japanese Imperial Court in Kyoto. The ''kuge'' were important from the establishment of Kyoto as the capital during the Heian period in the late 8th century until the rise of the Kamakur ...
'' families and to justify the use of public taxes for the benefit of members of the imperial-house, the religious intent giving support to the political interest.[Hall, John '' et al.'' (1974). ''Medieval Japan: Essays in Institutional History,'' p. 21.]
The Rokushō-ji were also called the six "Superiority Temples;" and each were uniquely dedicated to an aspect of esoteric Buddhist ontology, as in
* the "Superiority of Buddhist Law"[Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Kitabatake Chikafusa, 1359">Kitabatake_Chikafusa.html" ;"title="Kitabatake Chikafusa">Kitabatake Chikafusa, 1359 ''Jinnō Shōtōki ("A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa" translated by H. Paul Varley),'' p. 200.] --
: , founded by Emperor Shirakawa in 1077.[Takagaki, Cary Shinji. (1999)]
"The Rokusho-ji, the six superiority temples of Heian Japan," p. 2.
/ref>
* the "Superiority of Worship"
See also
* 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.
Notes
References
* Hall
In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gr ...
, John Whitney and Jeffrey P. Mass, eds. (1974)
''Medieval Japan: Essays in Institutional History.''
New Haven: Yale University Press
OCLC 50635949
eprinted by Stanford University Press, Stanford, 1988.
OCLC 18576991
* Iwao, Seiichi, Teizō Iyanaga, Susumu Ishii, Shōichirō Yoshida, ''et al.'' (2002)
''Dictionnaire historique du Japon.''
Paris: Maisonneuve & Larose.
OCLC 51096469
* Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1956)
''Kyoto: The Old Capital of Japan, 794-1869.''
Kyoto: The Ponsonby Memorial Society
OCLC 36644
* Takagaki, Cary Shinji. (1999)
"The Rokusho-ji, the six superiority temples of Heian Japan."
(University of Toronto PhD thesis, http://hdl.handle.net/1807/13266). Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada">National Library of Canada
Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is t ...
/Bibliothèque nationale du Canada.
* Varley, H. Paul, ed. (1980).
, 1359">Kitabatake_Chikafusa.html" ;"title="Kitabatake Chikafusa">Kitabatake Chikafusa, 1359 ''Jinnō Shōtōki ("A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa" translated by H. Paul Varley).'' New York: Columbia University Press.