Rozan-ji (, or Rozan Tendaikoji) is a Tendai Buddhist

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

in Kamigyō-ku, Kyoto and the head temple (''honzan'') of the Enjo (圓浄) sect. The ''sangō'' (literally, mountain name) of Rozan-ji is

Mount Lu Mountain Lu or Lushan (, Gan: Lu-san), officially named Mountain Lu National Park, is a mountain in China. It was also known as Kuanglu () in ancient times. It is situated in Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province, and is one of the most renowned mountai ...

, or Lushan, pronounced ''rozan'' in Japanese. Currently located on the eastern side of the

Kyoto Imperial Palace The is the former palace of the Emperor of Japan. Since the Meiji Restoration in 1869, the Emperors have resided at the Tokyo Imperial Palace, while the preservation of the Kyoto Imperial Palace was ordered in 1877. Today, the grounds are open t ...

, it was founded by

Ryōgen was the 18th chief abbot of Enryaku-ji in the 10th century. He is considered a restorer of the Tendai school of Mahayana Buddhism, and credited for reviving Enryaku-ji.English display at the TNM His supposed role as a precursor of the ''sōhei ...

, the abbot of

Enryaku-ji is a Tendai monastery located on Mount Hiei in Ōtsu, overlooking Kyoto. It was first founded in 788 during the early Heian period (794–1185) by Saichō was a Japanese Buddhist monk credited with founding the Tendai school of Buddhism bas ...

, in 938 in the Funaokayama neighborhood, south of

Daitoku-ji is a Buddhist temple, one of fourteen autonomous branches of the Rinzai school of Japanese Zen. It is located in Kita-ku, Kyoto, Japan. The "mountain name" ('' sangō'') by which it is known is . The Daitoku-ji temple complex today covers more ...

. It was one of four temples that had an okurodo (御黒戸), a private Buddhist chapel for the

Imperial Family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term pap ...

, originally located in the Imperial Palace. These temples, the others being

Nison-in is a Tendai Buddhist temple complex in Ukyō-ku, Kyoto, Ukyō-ku, a western Ward (country subdivision), ward in the city of Kyoto, Japan. The temple's official name is . The temple is a popular destination during the Japanese maple viewing seas ...

, Hanjū-in, and Kengō-in, belong directly to the Imperial Household. The temple was protected from destruction by a nyōbō hosho, an official document recording the orders and words of the emperor written by the female court member, '','' during

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period. He is regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. Nobunaga was head of the very powerful Oda clan, and launched a war against other ''daimyō'' to unify ...

assault on Kyoto temples, specifically the Tendai branch, and the

siege of Mount Hiei The siege of Mount Hiei was a battle of the Sengoku period of Japan fought between Oda Nobunaga and the ''sōhei'' ( warrior monks) of the monasteries of Mount Hiei near Kyoto on September 30, 1571. It is said that Oda Nobunaga killed all the m ...

. In 1573 it was moved to its present location on

Teramachi Street is a historical street in Kyoto, Japan, running north–south from Kuramaguchi Street to Gojō Street, for about 4.6 km. History Present day Teramachi Street corresponds to the Higashi Kyōgoku Ōji of the Heian-kyō. At the time the Street ...

as part of

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 ...

's reorganization of Kyoto. The reconstruction was completed under the directive of

Emperor Kōkaku was the 119th Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')光格天皇 (119)/ref> Kōkaku reigned from 16 December 1780 until his abdication on 7 May 1817 in favor of his son, Empe ...

. The reconstructed temple was devastated in the Kyoto fire in 1708 (

Hōei was a after Genroku and before Shōtoku''.'' This period spanned the years from March 1704 through April 1711. The reigning emperors were and . Change of era * 1704 : In reaction to the Great Genroku earthquake in Genroku 16, the era name w ...

5) and again in 1788 (

Tenmei is a Japanese era name (年号, ''nengō'', literally "years name") for the years between the An'ei Era and before the Kansei Era, from April 1781 through January 1789. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1781 : The new era name of Tenme ...

8) during the Great Fire of Kyoto. The present structure was rebuilt in 1794 (

Kansei was a after ''Tenmei'' and before ''Kyōwa''. This period spanned the years from January 1789 through February 1801. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1789 : The new era name of '' Kansei'' (meaning "Tolerant Government" or "Broad-min ...

6) from a portion of the

Sentō Imperial Palace In Japan, the traditionally does not refer to a single location, but to any residence of retired emperors. Before Akihito abdicated in 2019, the last Emperor to retire did so in 1817, so the designation commonly refers to the historical . Kyot ...

. The rock garden of the temple is known as the Genji Garden (源氏庭), after the titular character in the

Tale of Genji Tale may refer to: * Narrative, or story, a report of real or imaginary connected events * TAL effector (TALE), a type of DNA binding protein * Tale, Albania, a resort town * Tale, Iran, a village * Tale, Maharashtra, a village in Ratnagiri distri ...

, and is noted for its Japanese bellflowers.

Importance

Rozan-ji's temple grounds built on the former mansion of

Fujiwara no Kanesuke , also known as the , was a middle Heian-period ''waka'' poet and Japanese nobleman. He is designated as a member of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals. His great-granddaughter was Murasaki Shikibu, author of the well-known monogatari the ''Tale of ...

, the great-grandfather of

Murasaki Shikibu was a Japanese novelist, poet and lady-in-waiting at the Imperial court in the Heian period. She is best known as the author of '' The Tale of Genji,'' widely considered to be one of the world's first novels, written in Japanese between abou ...

, and is notable as the place where she was born, raised, married, and gave birth to her daughter. Murasaki's residence in Rozan-ji was confirmed and identified in 1965 by the Japanese historian , and Rozan-ji has since become popular with Genji enthusiasts, although nothing of the villa remains and the present site is not where the mansion originally stood. There are a number of imperial and other important mausoleums on the temple grounds, including the sculptor

Jōchō Jōchō (定朝; died 1057 AD), also known as Jōchō Busshi, was a Japanese sculptor of the Heian period. He popularized the ''yosegi'' technique of sculpting a single figure out of many pieces of wood, and he redefined the canon of body propor ...

and Emperor K ōkaku's father, posthumously recognized as Emperor Ky ōk ō. One of the

National Treasures of Japan Some of the National Treasures of Japan A is the most precious of Japan's Tangible Cultural Properties, as determined and designated by the Agency for Cultural Affairs (a special body of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Scien ...

, the testament of Ryōgen to his pupil Jinzen, from 972, is held at Rozan-ji.

Festivals

Rozan-ji is known for its

Setsubun is the day before the beginning of spring in the old calendar in Japan. The name literally means 'seasonal division', referring to the day just before the first day of spring in the traditional calendar, known as ; though previously referri ...

festivities, particularly the ''oni-odori'', or demon dance, more formally known as (), demon exorcising ritual celebration. The ceremony begins on the afternoon of Setsubun with red, green, and black

oni An is a kind of ''yōkai'', demon, orc, ogre, or troll in Japanese folklore. Oni are mostly known for their fierce and evil nature manifested in their propensity for murder and cannibalism. Notwithstanding their evil reputation, oni possess i ...

representing the three poisons of Buddhism (greed, hatred, and ignorance) dancing on a stage with

taiko are a broad range of Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various Japanese drums called and to the form of ensemble drumming m ...

and

horagai ''Horagai'' () (or ''jinkai'' ) are large conch shells, usually from ''Charonia tritonis'', that have been used as trumpets in Japan for many centuries. The instrument, which has served a number of purposes throughout Japanese history, has been ...

playing. They then interfere with the prayers of the audience but are ultimately defeated by the priests'

goma Goma is the capital of North Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, next to the Rwandan city of Gisenyi. The lake and the two cities are in the Albertine Rift, the weste ...

ritual and the ''tsuinashi'', the priest conducting the exorcisms. There is also a demon healing ceremony, where audience members tell the now white demon, which has been exorcised, which parts of their bodies need healing. The demon then lays a sacred sword on the person's shoulder and prays for them to be healed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rozan-ji Buddhist temples in Kyoto Gardens in Kyoto Prefecture Tendai temples