, formally identified as , is a Buddhist temple in northern Kyoto, first founded in 1382 by

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 ...

, 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 The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by t ...

. 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 Meitoku (明徳) was a Japanese era name (年号 ''nengō'', "year name") of the Northern Court during the Era of Northern and Southern Courts after '' Kōō'' and before ''Ōei''. This period spanned the years from March 1390 to July 1394. After ...

'', 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 was a Rinzai Zen, Zen Buddhist monk and teacher, and a calligraphist, poet and garden designer. The most famous monk of his time, he is also known as ("national Zen teacher"), an honorific conferred on him by Emperor Go-Daigo.''Musō Soseki'' ...

. Joint Council for Japanese Rinzai and Obaku Zen
/ref> The formal decision to grant this posthumous honor was proclaimed in 1385. The entire temple complex was destroyed by fire in 1394; but reconstruction financed by Yoshimitsu followed soon after. The temple complex has been rebuilt many times over the centuries, notably during the

Onin War Onin may refer to: * Ōnin, a Japanese era ** Ōnin War * Onin peninsula, on the Bomberai Peninsula of Indonesian Papua * Onin language Onin is a minor Austronesian language of the Onin Peninsula Onin may refer to: * Ōnin, a Japanese era ** � ...

. After the

, Shōkoku-ji was supported by several national leaders such as

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 ...

, his son

Toyotomi Hideyori was the son and designated successor of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the general who first united all of Japan. His mother, Yodo-dono, was the niece of Oda Nobunaga. Early life Born in 1593, he was Hideyoshi's second son. The birth of Hideyori cre ...

, and

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...

, all of whom helped finance the temple’s various reconstruction projects. * Hideyori financed the 1605 reconstruction of the ''Hattō'' (Dharma Hall); and this structure, designated as an Important Cultural Property, is presently the oldest building of its type in Japan. * Ieyasu donated the ''

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) in 1609. *

Emperor Go-Mizunoo was the 108th Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Go-Mizunoo's reign spanned the years from 1611 through 1629, and was the first emperor to reign entirely during the Edo period. This 17th-century sovereign was n ...

donated an imperial palace building to serve as the ''Kaisando'' (Founder’s Hall). Other buildings were reconstructed during this period, but, with the notable exception of the 17th-century hatto, the temple complex was largely devastated during the conflagration of 1788. Some structures, including the ''Hojo'' and the ''Kuri'', were later rebuilt in the 19th century.

Dragon

The ''Hattō'' hall (法堂) has on its slightly domed ceiling a large painting of a dragon. The painting was done by

Kanō Mitsunobu Kanō Mitsunobu (, 1565–1608) was a son of Kanō Eitoku and an influential artist of the Kanō school of Japanese painting. Biography Scholars disagree on the year of Mitsunobu's birth, placing it in either 1561 or 1565. The earliest record of ...

(1565–1608). The dragon symbolises the rain of Buddhist teachings. When clapping the hands together, the sound reverberates between the slightly domed ceiling and the paved stone floor, echoing throughout the hall as if it was the thunder of the dragon. The main hall of

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 ...

in Kyoto also has a large dragon on its ceiling.

Buddhist center

Shōkoku-ji is considered to be one of the so-called Kyoto ''Gozan'' or "five great Zen temples of Kyoto". It was ranked the second of the Kyoto during the medieval period.Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). ''Annales des empereurs du japon'', p. 317. For a short time in 1392, Shōkoku-ji was considered first amongst the ''Gozan.''Dumoulin
p. 174.
/ref> Shōkoku-ji is 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 E ...

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 ...

. Today the temple is headquarters for the Shōkoku-ji branch of Rinzai Zen, with over ninety affiliated temples, including the famous Golden Pavilion and the

Silver Pavilion __NOTOC__ , officially named , is a Zen temple in the Sakyo ward of Kyoto, Japan. It is one of the constructions that represents the Higashiyama Culture of the Muromachi period. History Ashikaga Yoshimasa initiated plans for creating a retire ...

temples in Kyoto. The Jotenkaku Museum is located in the premises of the temple.

Notes

References

* Baroni, Helen Josephine. (2002)
''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Zen Buddhism.''
New York: Rosen Publishing Group.
OCLC 42680558
* Dumoulin, Heinrich. (2005)
''Zen Buddhism: a History.''
Bloomington, Indiana:

World Wisdom World Wisdom is an independent American publishing company established in 1980 in Bloomington, Indiana. World Wisdom publishes religious and philosophical texts, including the work of authors such as Frithjof Schuon, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Titus Bu ...

. (paper) * Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1956). ''Kyoto: The Old Capital of Japan, 794-1869.'' Kyoto: The Ponsonby Memorial Society. * Titsingh, Isaac, ed. (1834). iyun-sai_Rin-siyo/Hayashi_Gahō,_1652.html" ;"title="Hayashi_Gahō.html" ;"title="iyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō">iyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652">Hayashi_Gahō.html" ;"title="iyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō">iyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652 ''Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou
Annales des empereurs du Japon.
' Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. * Snyder, Gary. (1969).
''Earth House Hold: Technical Notes & Queries to Fellow Dharma Revolutionaries.''
New York :New Directions Publishing. ;

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