is a

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 ...

temple of the

Sōtō Sōtō Zen or is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (the others being Rinzai and Ōbaku). It is the Japanese line of the Chinese Cáodòng school, which was founded during the Tang dynasty by Dòngsh� ...

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 ...

sect in

Sakyō-ku, Kyoto is one of the eleven wards in the city of Kyoto, in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It is located in the northeastern part of the city. History The meaning of ''sakyō'' (左京) is "on the Emperor's left." When residing in the Kyoto Imperial Pa ...

, Japan. It is registered as a historic site of Japan. It stands on the grounds of its founder, the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...

intellectual Ishikawa Jōzan (1583–1672), who established the temple in 1641. A room in the main temple displays portraits of thirty-six Chinese poets. The selection of the poets was based on the opinion of

Hayashi Razan , also known as Hayashi Dōshun, was a Japanese Neo-Confucian philosopher and writer, serving as a tutor and an advisor to the first four ''shōguns'' of the Tokugawa ''bakufu''. He is also attributed with first listing the Three Views of Japa ...

. The portraits were executed by

Kanō Tan'yū was a Japanese painter of the Kanō school. One of the foremost Kanō painters, many of the best known Kanō works today are by Tan'yū. Biography His original given name was Morinobu; he was the eldest son of Kanō Takanobu and grandson ...

. This and some other parts of the building date to the time of Ishikawa Jōzan. The temple's gardens are considered masterworks of

Japanese garden are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desi ...

s.JNTO flyer on Kyoto
Retrieved on January 10, 2009 One of them includes a device called a ''sōzu'', a type of ''

shishi-odoshi (literally, "deer-frightening" or "boar-frightening"), in a wide sense, refers to Japanese devices made to frighten away animals that pose a threat to agriculture, including ''kakashi'' (scarecrows), ''naruko'' (clappers) and ''sōzu''. In a n ...

'' designed to scare away wild animals such as deer by making a loud noise. Water trickles into a bamboo tube, and when it reaches a certain level, it upsets the balance of the tube. The tube tips over on a pivot, discharging the water, and turns upright, striking a rock and emitting a loud clapping noise. plays a recording of the ''sōzu'' at Shisen-dō.

References

Sources

This article incorporates material translated from 詩仙堂 (''Shisen-dō'') in the Japanese Wikipedia, retrieved on January 10, 2009.

External links

Shisen-dō Homepage

Photos of Shisen-dō
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shisen-do 1641 establishments in Japan Buddhist temples in Kyoto Soto temples Historic Sites of Japan

See also

References

Sources

External links