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Ōbaku Zen or the Ōbaku school () is one of three main schools of Japanese
Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...
Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
, in addition to the Sōtō and
Rinzai The Rinzai school (, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng), named after Linji Yixuan (Romaji: Rinzai Gigen, died 866 CE) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism, along with Sōtō and Ōbaku. The Chinese Linji school of ...
schools. The school was founded in Japan by the Chinese monk Ingen Ryūki, who immigrated to Japan during the
Manchu conquest of China The transition from Ming to Qing (or simply the Ming-Qing transition) or the Manchu conquest of China from 1618 to 1683 saw the transition between two major Dynasties in Chinese history, dynasties in Chinese history. It was a decades-long conf ...
in the 17th century. It had a strong influence on Japanese Rinzai, which partly adopted Ōbaku practices, and partly renewed older practices in response to the Ōbaku school.


History

The development of the Ōbaku-shū in Japan began somewhere around 1620, a period when Chinese emigrants were coming to
Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...
due to a decree by the
shogunate , officially , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamak ...
allowing Chinese traders to conduct business there. The Chinese traders, in turn, began to request that monks from China come to Nagasaki "to serve the religious needs of their community and build monasteries in the late-Ming style with which they were familiar." The Chinese community was therefore thrilled when the founder of the Ōbaku, a master of the Linji school/sect named Yinyuan Longqi (J. ''Ingen Ryūki''), arrived from China in Nagasaki in 1654 with a small group of his Chinese students. Furthermore, Yinyuan himself was happy to get away from China, which was then amidst a terrible war. Yinyuan was there with the explicit purpose of helping three underdeveloped temples founded by Chinese emigrants grow in the city. These Nagasaki temples were known as the three "temples of good fortune," respectively Kōfuku-ji, Fukusai-ji and Sōfuku-ji.Dumoulin, 299-356 In time many Japanese heard of his teachings and traveled to Nagasaki to see him, while some came to join his community and become students.Iron Eyes; 5-6 Having planned to stay in Japan for a short period of time, Yinyuan was persuaded by a group of his Japanese students to remain in Japan; this group secured him governmental permission to relocate to
Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...
, where his student Ryūkai Shōsen wished he would then become abbot of the
Rinzai The Rinzai school (, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng), named after Linji Yixuan (Romaji: Rinzai Gigen, died 866 CE) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism, along with Sōtō and Ōbaku. The Chinese Linji school of ...
temple Myoshin-ji. Authorities within the Rinzai organization were not keen on this idea, due primarily to a disagreement within the congregation as to whether or not Yinyuan presented a take on Zen that was too distinctly Chinese for Japanese tastes. As a consequence, Yinyuan began construction of the modern day head temple of the Ōbaku known as Ōbaku-san Manpuku-ji in 1661 in Uji of
Kyoto prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Kyoto Prefecture has a population of 2,561,358 () and has a geographic area of . Kyoto Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the northeast, Shiga Prefecture ...
(Ōbaku-san being the mountain name). This marks the emergence of the Ōbaku school/sect of Zen Buddhism in Japan. Construction was completed in 1669, the
architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...
done in the Chinese
Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
style. By authorization of the local
bakufu , officially , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamak ...
leaders (i.e. Tokugawa Tsunayoshi), the Ōbaku-shu emerged to help revitalize Rinzai practice in Japan. The practice at Manpuku-ji was different from that in other Rinzai temples and monasteries of Japan during this period, being much more Chinese in its approach. Yinyuan brought with him aspects of esoteric Buddhism and
Pure Land Buddhism Pure Land Buddhism or the Pure Land School ( zh, c=淨土宗, p=Jìngtǔzōng) is a broad branch of Mahayana, Mahayana Buddhism focused on achieving rebirth in a Pure land, Pure Land. It is one of the most widely practiced traditions of East Asi ...
. As Heinrich Dumoulin puts it, "For Zen practice in general, seated meditation and the practice of kōan are central, while cultic ceremony is of secondary importance. Insofar as the Ōbaku belonged to the Rinzai tradition, ''
zazen ''Zazen'' is a meditative discipline that is typically the primary practice of the Zen Buddhist tradition. The generalized Japanese term for meditation is 瞑想 (''meisō''); however, ''zazen'' has been used informally to include all forms ...
'' and kōan practice were made part of daily life, but ritual was also accorded a place of considerable importance." Furthermore, Ōbaku monasteries and temples came to be governed by a doctrine known as ''Ōbaku shingi'', which both imported Chinese practices such as the recitation ( dharani) of
nembutsu file:玉里華山寺 (21)南無阿彌陀佛古碑.jpg, 250px, Chinese Nianfo carving The Nianfo ( zh, t=wikt:念佛, 念佛, p=niànfó, alternatively in Japanese language, Japanese ; ; or ) is a Buddhist practice central to East Asian Buddhism. ...
and "sought to preserve the Chinese character of the group." The Ōbaku also chanted
sutra ''Sutra'' ()Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aphorism or a collection of aphorisms in the form of a manual or, more broadly, a ...
s derived from the Pure Land Buddhist sect set to Chinese music. After Yinyuan's retirement in 1664Weidner, 293 and death in 1673, other monks who had come to
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
around the same time as he helped to carry on the tradition of practice at Manpuku-ji. The foremost of his disciples was Mokuan Shōtō, who became 2nd abbot of Manpuku-ji in 1664. During its formative years, Manpuku-ji was very popular in Japan with many adherents coming to the temple for instruction. According to the book ''Latter Days of the Law'', "For the next century, Manpuku-ji was headed by Chinese immigrant monks, and they sent their Japanese followers to found other temples. Ōbaku Zen quickly spread through the country." At least one abbot of Manpuku-ji during this period of early Ōbaku history proved to be controversial. His name was Tu-chan Hsing-jung (Dokutan Shōtei), and he served as 4th abbot of Manpuku-ji. Critics charge that he took his emphasis on
nembutsu file:玉里華山寺 (21)南無阿彌陀佛古碑.jpg, 250px, Chinese Nianfo carving The Nianfo ( zh, t=wikt:念佛, 念佛, p=niànfó, alternatively in Japanese language, Japanese ; ; or ) is a Buddhist practice central to East Asian Buddhism. ...
recitation at Manpuku-ji too far, and he is today derisively nicknamed "Nembutsu Dokutan". Perhaps the most important Ōbaku practitioner besides Yinyuan Longqi was Tetsugen Dōkō, a Japanese man who lived from 1630 to 1682. Tetsugen is remembered for having transcribed the entire Ming period Chinese Tripitaka to woodblocks—known as the ''Tetsugen-ban'' or ''Ōbaku-ban'' (''ban'' meaning edition). Raised as part of the
Jōdo Shinshū , also known as Shin Buddhism or True Pure Land Buddhism, is a school of Pure Land Buddhism founded by the former Tendai Japanese monk Shinran. Shin Buddhism is the most widely practiced branch of Buddhism in Japan. History Shinran (founder) S ...
of Japan, Tetsugen first met Yinyuan in 1655 at Kōfuku-ji in Nagasaki and eventually came to join the Ōbaku. The first Japanese abbot of Manpuku-ji assumed leadership of the Ōbaku in 1740, a man by the name of Ryūtō Gentō. From 1786 on through to the modern-day, the Ōbaku has been run and controlled by exclusively Japanese leadership. Today Manpuku-ji serves as the Ōbaku's head temple, with 420 subtemples spread throughout Japan as of 2006.


Characteristics and influence


Monastic practice

Monastic practices of the Ōbaku-shū were once largely informed by the ''Ōbaku shingi'' (or, ''Ōbaku codes''), composed in 1672 with ten sections outlining the practice regimen at Manpuku-ji. Steven Heine writes that, "The text reflected a few evolutionary changes that had taken place in Chinese monasteries since the Yuan, but it was squarely in the tradition of classical rules of purity such as the ''Chanyuan qingui'' and ''Chixiu baizhang qingqui''." The
Rinzai The Rinzai school (, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng), named after Linji Yixuan (Romaji: Rinzai Gigen, died 866 CE) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism, along with Sōtō and Ōbaku. The Chinese Linji school of ...
branch Myōshin-ji authored their own set of monastic regulations (penned by Mujaku Dōchū) in response to this later in 1685. To be sure, Myoshinji was worried about losing students to the Ōbaku, who were growing in popularity. The Ōbaku's "emphasis on the precepts and the strict observance of monastic regulations embodied in ''Ōbaku shingi'' seem to have stimulated and encouraged certain Japanese masters of similar bent. In the Sōtō sect, for example, the Chinese teachers influenced the monastic codes of reformers like Gesshū Sōko and Manzan Dōhaku who had studied under Ōbaku masters." Historically, the Ōbaku-shū has sometimes been referred to as "
Nembutsu file:玉里華山寺 (21)南無阿彌陀佛古碑.jpg, 250px, Chinese Nianfo carving The Nianfo ( zh, t=wikt:念佛, 念佛, p=niànfó, alternatively in Japanese language, Japanese ; ; or ) is a Buddhist practice central to East Asian Buddhism. ...
Zen"—a derogatory characterization intended to describe their use of "Zen and
Pure Land Pure Land is a Mahayana, Mahayana Buddhist concept referring to a transcendent realm emanated by a buddhahood, buddha or bodhisattva which has been purified by their activity and Other power, sustaining power. Pure lands are said to be places ...
practices." The Ōbaku-shū emphasized the taking of various precepts and also observed the
Vinaya The Vinaya (Pali and Sanskrit: विनय) refers to numerous monastic rules and ethical precepts for fully ordained monks and nuns of Buddhist Sanghas (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). These sets of ethical rules and guidelines devel ...
of the
Dharmaguptaka The Dharmaguptaka (Sanskrit: धर्मगुप्तक; ; ) are one of the eighteen or twenty early Buddhist schools from the ancient region of Gandhara, now Pakistan. They are said to have originated from another sect, the Mahīśāsakas f ...
tradition as well as
sutra ''Sutra'' ()Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aphorism or a collection of aphorisms in the form of a manual or, more broadly, a ...
translation. But perhaps most obvious to the Japanese was their use of ''
nembutsu file:玉里華山寺 (21)南無阿彌陀佛古碑.jpg, 250px, Chinese Nianfo carving The Nianfo ( zh, t=wikt:念佛, 念佛, p=niànfó, alternatively in Japanese language, Japanese ; ; or ) is a Buddhist practice central to East Asian Buddhism. ...
'' and also their use of the "''nembutsu kōan''" which entailed the practice of reciting the name of Amitabha while holding in one's mind the kōan, "Who is reciting?" While foreign to the Japanese (despite this "dual practice" being introduced in Japan as early as the late 13th century), this was very common in Ming period Ch'an, where there was no sectarian divide between
Pure Land Pure Land is a Mahayana, Mahayana Buddhist concept referring to a transcendent realm emanated by a buddhahood, buddha or bodhisattva which has been purified by their activity and Other power, sustaining power. Pure lands are said to be places ...
Buddhists and Ch'an practitioners.


Convergence with Rinzai-Zen

Heine and Wright note that: As a result of their approach, which caused a stir in Japan, many Rinzai and Sōtō masters undertook reforming and revitalizing their own monastic institutions, such as Rinzai master Ungo Kiyō who even began implementing the use of ''nembutsu'' into his training regimen at
Zuigan-ji is a Rinzai Zen Buddhism, Buddhist temple in located in the town of Matsushima, Miyagi, Matsushima, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Belonging to the Myōshin-ji branch of Rinzai Zen, it was founded in 828 during the Heian period by Ennin, Jikaku Da ...
. T. Griffith Foulk writes: Rooted in the lineage (school) of Linji, and therefore sharing a familial relationship with the Rinzai-shū of Japan, the Ōbaku's approach to practice is today tinged with a hint of Chinese influence. Helen J. Baroni writes that today, "With a few notable exceptions, such as the style of sutra chanting (which continues to be done in an approximation of
Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...
dialect), Ōbaku temples and monasteries appear very like their Rinzai neighbors." Statistically the smallest school/sect of Zen in modern-day Japan, the Ōbaku is also like the Rinzai-shū in that it is known to be more conservative and intellectually inclined than the Sōtō-shū. Ōbaku abbots are now all from the Ōtōkan lineage, the same as Rinzai, and thus practices are largely similar, though this was not the case originally. Specifically, starting under the leadership of chief abbot Ryochu Nyoryu 良忠如隆 (1793–1868), Zen practice largely became the same as Rinzai practice, but monastic and cultural differences remain. Additionally, Buddhist sutras in the Ōbaku-shū continue today to be chanted in Tō-on.


Culture

In addition to their contribution to Zen in Japan, the Ōbaku also "disseminated many aspects of Ming-period culture" in the country. Many of the monks who came from China were accomplished calligraphers, and Obaku's founder Yinyuan Longqi and two other Ōbaku masters, Mokuan Shōtō and Sokuhi Nyoitsu, became known as the Ōbaku no Sanpitsu (or, the "Three Brushes of Ōbaku"). Author Steven Heine writes, "Areas where the influence of — or the reaction to — Ōbaku left an imprint on
Japanese Buddhism Buddhism was first established in Japan in the 6th century CE. Most of the Japanese Buddhists belong to new schools of Buddhism which were established in the Kamakura period (1185-1333). During the Edo period (1603–1868), Buddhism was cont ...
is manifold, and its impact even reached the fields of Japanese cultural techniques, such as printing and painting.Heine, 255 Chinese medicine and architecture were also introduced, as was the practice of " spirit writing", the latter practiced by Ōbaku monks who were said to communicate with Chen Tuan.Haskel, 37-38 The Ōbaku school is also well known for its style of
vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...
cooking known as , its version of
Buddhist cuisine Buddhist cuisine is an Asian cuisine that is followed by Bhikkhu, monks and many believers from areas historically influenced by Mahayana Buddhism. It is vegetarian or vegan, and it is based on the Dharmic concept of ahimsa (non-violence). Vege ...
(in Japan known as ). This is similar to usual ''shōjin ryōri,'' but with more Chinese influence. It was introduced by Yinyuan and his group, and served at the main temple of Manpuku-ji, along with various subtemples such as Kanga-an. The Ōbaku school also introduced
Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
tea culture to Japan, including the steeping of loose-leaf teas (
sencha is a type of Japanese green tea (, ) which is prepared by infusing the processed whole tea leaves in hot water. This is as opposed to matcha (), powdered Japanese green tea, where the green tea powder is mixed with hot water and therefore the ...
) rather than the powdered
matcha is a finely ground powder of green tea specially processed from shade-grown tea leaves. Shade growing gives matcha its characteristic bright green color and strong umami flavor. Matcha is typically consumed suspended in hot water. Matcha ori ...
used in chanoyu. Ōbaku monks and intellectuals such as Baisao opposed the rigid, elaborate formalism of chanoyu and promoted a carefree, informal approach inspired by ancient Chinese sages. This would later produce a new type of tea ceremony called senchado, and sencha would eventually become the most popular form of tea consumed in Japan.


Notable temples


Head temple

* Manpuku-ji – Construction began in 1661 and concluded in 1669. Located in
Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...
, Manpuku-ji serves as the head temple of the Ōbaku school. It provides a "rare example" of a temple built in a purely Chinese Ming period architectural style in
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
.Rowthorn, 89


Subtemples

* Fukusai-ji – Founded in 1628 in
Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...
and later destroyed in 1945, Fukusai-ji has since been reconstructed in the shape of a turtle with an 18-metre high aluminum alloy statue of Kannon, the
Bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, '' bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or ''bodhi'' in ...
of compassion. The interior is famous for the 25-metre
Foucault Pendulum The Foucault pendulum or Foucault's pendulum is a simple device named after French physicist Léon Foucault, conceived as an experiment to demonstrate the Earth's rotation. If a long and heavy pendulum suspended from the high roof above a circu ...
which swings over the remains of 16,500 Japanese killed during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.Dodd, 722 * Fukugon-ji (Yanagawa) * Fukuju-ji (Kitakyushu) * Kōfuku-ji (Nagasaki) * Ryūshin-ji * Shōhō-ji (Gifu) * Sōfuku-ji (Nagasaki) * Toko-ji * Zuishō-ji


See also

*
Buddhism in Japan Buddhism was first established in Japan in the 6th century CE. Most of the Japanese Buddhists belong to new schools of Buddhism which were established in the Kamakura period (1185-1333). During the Edo period (1603–1868), Buddhism was cont ...
* Mount Huangbo *
Religion in Japan Religion in Japan is manifested primarily in Shinto and in Buddhism, the two main faiths, which Japanese people often practice simultaneously. Syncretic combinations of both, known generally as , are common; they represented Japan's dominant ...
*
Rinzai The Rinzai school (, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng), named after Linji Yixuan (Romaji: Rinzai Gigen, died 866 CE) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism, along with Sōtō and Ōbaku. The Chinese Linji school of ...
* Sōtō


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* Addiss, Stephen (1978). Obaku: Zen Painting and Calligraphy, Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas * Linhartová, Vĕra (2002)
La culture Ōbaku et le renouveau de l'art bouddhique au Japon à l'époque des Tokugawa
Arts asiatiques 57, 114-136 * Moss, Paul et al. (2014). "Eat this and Drink Some Tea:" Chinese and Japanese Calligraphy and Painting of the Obaku School. London: Sydney L. Moss Gallery


External links


Mampukuji Official WebsiteJoint Council for Japanese Rinzai and Obaku Zen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obaku Zen sects Obaku 1661 establishments in Japan