Kencho-ji
Encyclopedia
Kenchō-ji is a Rinzai Zen
temple in Kamakura
, Kanagawa Prefecture
, Japan
, which ranks first among Kamakura's so-called Five Great Zen Temples (the Kamakura Gozan) and is the oldest Zen training monastery in Japan. These temples were at the top of the Five Mountain System
, a network of Zen temples started by the Hōjō
Regents
. Still very large, it originally had a full shichidō garan
and 49 subtemples.
The temple was constructed on the orders of Emperor Go-Fukakusa
and completed in 1253, fifth year of the Kenchō era, from which it takes its name. It was founded by Rankei Doryū, a Chinese Zen master who moved to Japan in 1246, spending some years in Kyushu and Kyoto before coming to Kamakura.
Kamakura Regent Hōjō Tokiyori
was the temple's main patron during its early years. The sponsorship was spiritual (he was close to a Zen master himself) as well as political: the Kamakura Gozan, organization of which this temple was head, had an important role in the shogunate
's organization. The system, to which the Ashikaga
added a series of five temples in Kyoto called the Kyoto Gozan, was adopted to promote Zen in Japan however, there as it had already happened in China, it was soon controlled and used by the country's ruling classes for their own administrative and political ends. The Gozan system allowed the temples at the top to function as de facto ministries, using their nationwide network of temples for the distribution of government laws and norms, and for the monitoring of local conditions for their military superiors. The Hōjō first, and the Ashikaga later were therefore able to disguise their power under a religious mask, while monks and priests worked for the government as translators, diplomats and advisers.
Under their masters' patronage, Kenchō-ji and the Five Mountain temples gradually became centers of learning and developed a characteristic literature called the Japanese Literature of the Five Mountains
. During the Japanese Middle Ages
, its scholars exerted a far-reaching influence on the internal political affairs of the country.
The Gozan system finally declined with the dissolution of the Ashikaga shogunate which had sponsored it. Kenchō-ji's own renaissance came in the 19th century under the guidance of Zen master Aozora Kandō.
Kenchō-ji originally consisted of a shichidō garan with 49 subtemples, but most of these were lost in fires in the 14th and 15th centuries. It still is a classic example of a Zen garan with its buildings aligned north to south. The complex currently consists of ten subtemples. Its most important structures include (in order from the first gate):
In front of the Butsuden stand some great Chinese juniper trees which have been designated Natural Treasures. At the time of the founding of the temple, these big trees were simple saplings brought from China by the founder Doryū. Underneath the biggest a great stone monument surrounded by chains commemorates those of Kamakura's citizens who died during the Russo-Japanese war
of 1904-5.
. The gongen was originally the tutelary spirit of Hōkō-ji in Shizuoka and was brought here
in 1890 by Aozora Kandō. The statues on the stairs leading to the shrine represent Tengu
, entities similar to goblins which accompany the gongen. Some of the creatures have wings and a beak: they are a type of tengu called Karasu-tengu (crow tengu) because of the way they look. On a clear day, from the shrine one can see Mount Fuji to the west, and Sagami bay and Izu Ōshima
to the south. The stones in the garden are full of names: they are those of the faithful who donated to the temple, and which belong to over 100 different religious organizations. This area used to be the temple's Inner Sanctuary, which still stands among the trees at the very top of the hill and which can be reached going up the steep stairs that begin on the right of the shrine, in front of the Jizō-dō.. Next to the sanctuary there's an observation deck from which, on clear days, are visible Kamakura, Yuigahama
and Mount Fuji.
At the very end of the garden, next to the Hansōbō, on a small hill overlooking a lake stands the Kaishun-in. This remote temple was built in 1334 and enshrines a statue of Monju Bosatsu.
On the 15th of July (Obon
, or the festival of the dead) Kenchō-ji celebrates the famous funerary ceremony. The normal funeral rites take place early in the morning under the Sanmon gate. Only at Kenchō-ji, they are later repeated expressly for the soul of Kajiwara Kagetoki
, a Kamakura period
samurai who died during the political turmoil that followed the death of Minamoto no Sanetomo
.
The origins of the ceremony are said to go back to the days of Doryū. The legend says that one day, right after the end of a segaki
, (a Buddhist service in favor of suffering spirits) a ghostly figure appeared. Having discovered that the segaki was already over, the warrior seemed so sad that the priest repeated the ceremony just for him. Afterwards, the man revealed he was the ghost of Kajiwara Kagetoki.
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
temple in Kamakura
Kamakura, Kanagawa
is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, about south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called .Although Kamakura proper is today rather small, it is often described in history books as a former de facto capital of Japan as the seat of the Shogunate and of the Regency during the...
, Kanagawa Prefecture
Kanagawa Prefecture
is a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Japan. The capital is Yokohama. Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.-History:The prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, which ranks first among Kamakura's so-called Five Great Zen Temples (the Kamakura Gozan) and is the oldest Zen training monastery in Japan. These temples were at the top of the Five Mountain System
Five Mountain System
The system, more commonly called simply Five Mountain System, was a network of state-sponsored Zen Buddhist temples created in China during the Southern Song Dynasty . The term "mountain" in this context means "temple" or "monastery", and was adopted because many monasteries were built on isolated...
, a network of Zen temples started by the Hōjō
Hojo
Hōjō may refer to:*Hōjō clan, a family of regents of the Kamakura Shogunate*Late Hōjō clan, daimyo in the Sengoku Period*Hōjō, Ehime, a city in Japan*Hōjō, one of the five kata of Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-ryū...
Regents
Shikken
The was the regent for the shogun in the Kamakura shogunate in Japan. The post was monopolized by the Hōjō clan, and this system only existed once in Japanese history, between 1203 and 1333...
. Still very large, it originally had a full shichidō garan
Shichidō garan
is a Japanese Buddhist term indicating the seven halls composing the ideal Buddhist temple compound. This compound word is composed by the word , literally meaning "seven halls", and , meaning "temple". The term is often shortened to just garan. To which seven halls the term refers to varies, and...
and 49 subtemples.
The temple was constructed on the orders of Emperor Go-Fukakusa
Emperor Go-Fukakusa
was the 89th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. This reign spanned the years 1246 through 1260....
and completed in 1253, fifth year of the Kenchō era, from which it takes its name. It was founded by Rankei Doryū, a Chinese Zen master who moved to Japan in 1246, spending some years in Kyushu and Kyoto before coming to Kamakura.
Kenchō-ji and the shogunate
Hojo Tokiyori
Hōjō Tokiyori was the fifth shikken of the Kamakura shogunate in Japan. He was born to Hōjō Tokiuji and a daughter of Adachi Kagemori....
was the temple's main patron during its early years. The sponsorship was spiritual (he was close to a Zen master himself) as well as political: the Kamakura Gozan, organization of which this temple was head, had an important role in the shogunate
Kamakura shogunate
The Kamakura shogunate was a military dictatorship in Japan headed by the shoguns from 1185 to 1333. It was based in Kamakura. The Kamakura period draws its name from the capital of the shogunate...
's organization. The system, to which the Ashikaga
Ashikaga shogunate
The , also known as the , was a Japanese feudal military regime, ruled by the shoguns of the Ashikaga clan.This period is also known as the Muromachi period and gets its name from Muromachi Street of Kyoto where the third shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu established his residence...
added a series of five temples in Kyoto called the Kyoto Gozan, was adopted to promote Zen in Japan however, there as it had already happened in China, it was soon controlled and used by the country's ruling classes for their own administrative and political ends. The Gozan system allowed the temples at the top to function as de facto ministries, using their nationwide network of temples for the distribution of government laws and norms, and for the monitoring of local conditions for their military superiors. The Hōjō first, and the Ashikaga later were therefore able to disguise their power under a religious mask, while monks and priests worked for the government as translators, diplomats and advisers.
Under their masters' patronage, Kenchō-ji and the Five Mountain temples gradually became centers of learning and developed a characteristic literature called the Japanese Literature of the Five Mountains
Japanese Literature of the Five Mountains
The literature of the Five Mountains is the literature produced by the principal Zen monastic centers of the Rinzai sect in Kyoto and Kamakura, Japan. The term also refers to five Zen centers in China in Hangzhou and Ningpo that inspired zen in Japan. The term "mountain" refers to Buddhist monastery...
. During the Japanese Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, its scholars exerted a far-reaching influence on the internal political affairs of the country.
The Gozan system finally declined with the dissolution of the Ashikaga shogunate which had sponsored it. Kenchō-ji's own renaissance came in the 19th century under the guidance of Zen master Aozora Kandō.
Buildings and points of interest
- The SōmonSōmonThe is the gate at the entrance of a Buddhist temple in Japan.. It often precedes the bigger and more important sanmon....
(outer gate), where the ticket booths are, which was moved here from the Hanju Zanmai-in temple in KyotoKyotois a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
. - The SanmonSanmonA , 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. It can be however often found in temples of other denominations too...
(Main Gate), built in 1754 with donations from all over the Kantō regionKanto regionThe is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. The region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba, and Kanagawa. Within its boundaries, slightly more than 40 percent of the land area is the Kantō Plain....
. According to a popular legend, a raccoon dog (a tanukiTanukiis the common Japanese name for the Japanese raccoon dog . They have been part of Japanese folklore since ancient times...
) helped raise the money transforming himself into a monk to repay the kindness of the temple's priests. For this reason, even today the sanmon is often called . - The Bonshō (Temple Bell), cast in 1255, which is a National TreasureNational treasures of JapanNational Treasures are the most precious of Japan's Tangible Cultural Properties, as determined and designated by the Agency for Cultural Affairs...
. - The Butsuden (lit. Buddha Hall), an Important Cultural PropertyImportant Cultural Properties of JapanThe term is often shortened into just are items officially already classified as Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan by the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs and judged to be of particular importance to the Japanese people....
which was moved to Kamakura from Zōjō-jiZojo-jiSan'en-zan is a Buddhist temple in the Shiba neighborhood of Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It is the Great Main Temple of the Chinzai sect of the Shingon school. The main image is of Amida Buddha...
in TokyoTokyo, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
in 1647. - The Hattō (Dharma Hall), built in 1814, where public ceremonies are held. It is the largest Buddhist wooden structure in Eastern Japan.
- The KaramonKaramonThe is a type of gate seen in Japanese architecture. It is characterized by the usage of karahafu, an undulating bargeboard peculiar to Japan. Karamon are often used at the entrances of Japanese castles, Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, and have historically been a symbol of...
(Grand Gate), another Important Cultural Property, was brought here from Zōjō-ji together with the Butsuden. - The Hōjō (the head priest's living quarters), also moved from the Hanju Zanmai-in in Kyoto, used for religious ceremonies.
- The Monastery, where monks are trained in meditation, which is however permanently closed to the public. It consists of a Zen-dō (meditation hall), of a kaisan-dō (founder's hall, a hall enshrining the temple's founder) and of the administrative offices.
- The large Zen garden behind the Hōjō called and which is shaped like the Chinese character for , was designed by famous Zen teacher, scholar, poet, and garden designer Musō SosekiMuso Sosekiwas a Rinzai Zen Buddhist monk and teacher, and a calligraphist, poet and garden designer. The most famous monk of his time, he is also known as , a posthumous name given him by Emperor Go-Daigo...
. - A recent ceiling painting by Koizumi JunsakuKoizumi Junsakuis a noted Japanese painter and pottery artist.Koizumi was born in Kamakura, Kanagawa in 1924, and in 1952 graduated from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music . He has held a number of gallery shows in Japan, and has painted remarkable images on the ceilings of the Kennin-ji temple in...
(2003) portraying a dragon decorates the ceiling of the Hattō, the building behind the Butsuden. For this reason, the Hattō is often called .
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
of 1904-5.
The Hansōbō
Near the end of the temple's garden, over a hill stands the Hansōbō, the temple's large tutelary Shinto shrine. The enshrined spirit is the Hansōbō DaigongenGongen
During the era of shinbutsu shūgō , in Japan a During the era of shinbutsu shūgō (religious syncretism of kami and buddhas), in Japan a During the era of shinbutsu shūgō (religious syncretism of kami and buddhas), in Japan a ( was believed to be a Japanese kami which was really just the local...
. The gongen was originally the tutelary spirit of Hōkō-ji in Shizuoka and was brought here
Kanjo
in Shinto terminology indicates a propagation process through which a kami, previously divided through a process called bunrei, is invited to another location and there reenshrined.- Evolution of the kanjō process :...
in 1890 by Aozora Kandō. The statues on the stairs leading to the shrine represent Tengu
Tengu
are a class of supernatural creatures found in Japanese folklore, art, theater, and literature. They are one of the best known yōkai and are sometimes worshipped as Shinto kami...
, entities similar to goblins which accompany the gongen. Some of the creatures have wings and a beak: they are a type of tengu called Karasu-tengu (crow tengu) because of the way they look. On a clear day, from the shrine one can see Mount Fuji to the west, and Sagami bay and Izu Ōshima
Izu Oshima
is a volcanic island in the Izu Islands and administered by the Tokyo Metropolitan government, Japan, lies about 100 km south of Tokyo, 22 km east of the Izu Peninsula and 36 km southwest of Bōsō Peninsula. serves as the local government of the island...
to the south. The stones in the garden are full of names: they are those of the faithful who donated to the temple, and which belong to over 100 different religious organizations. This area used to be the temple's Inner Sanctuary, which still stands among the trees at the very top of the hill and which can be reached going up the steep stairs that begin on the right of the shrine, in front of the Jizō-dō.. Next to the sanctuary there's an observation deck from which, on clear days, are visible Kamakura, Yuigahama
Yuigahama
is a beach near Kamakura, a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The relation between the beach and its neighboring areas is complex. Although Yuigahama is in fact the entire 3.2 km beach that goes from Inamuragasaki, which separates it from Shichirigahama, to Zaimokuza's Iijima cape, which...
and Mount Fuji.
At the very end of the garden, next to the Hansōbō, on a small hill overlooking a lake stands the Kaishun-in. This remote temple was built in 1334 and enshrines a statue of Monju Bosatsu.
The Sanmon Kajiwara Segaki-e
Obón
Obón is a municipality located in the province of Teruel, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 75 inhabitants....
, or the festival of the dead) Kenchō-ji celebrates the famous funerary ceremony. The normal funeral rites take place early in the morning under the Sanmon gate. Only at Kenchō-ji, they are later repeated expressly for the soul of Kajiwara Kagetoki
Kajiwara Kagetoki
was a spy for Minamoto no Yoritomo in the Genpei War, and a warrior against the Taira. He came to be known for his greed and treachery.Originally from Suruga province, Kajiwara entered the Genpei War fighting under Oba Kagechika, against the Minamoto. After the Taira victory at Ishibashiyama in...
, a Kamakura period
Kamakura period
The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....
samurai who died during the political turmoil that followed the death of Minamoto no Sanetomo
Minamoto no Sanetomo
Minamoto no Sanetomo was the third shogun of the Kamakura shogunate Sanetomo was the second son of the founder of the Kamakura shogunate Minamoto no Yoritomo, his mother was Hōjō Masako, and his older brother was the second Kamakura shogun Minamoto no Yoriie.His childhood name was...
.
The origins of the ceremony are said to go back to the days of Doryū. The legend says that one day, right after the end of a segaki
Segaki
The is a ritual of Japanese Buddhism, traditionally performed to stop the suffering of the gaki, ghosts tormented by insatiable hunger. Alternatively, the ritual forces the gaki to return to their portion of hell or keeps the spirits of the dead from falling into the realm of the gaki...
, (a Buddhist service in favor of suffering spirits) a ghostly figure appeared. Having discovered that the segaki was already over, the warrior seemed so sad that the priest repeated the ceremony just for him. Afterwards, the man revealed he was the ghost of Kajiwara Kagetoki.
See also
- For an explanation of terms concerning Japanese Buddhism, Japanese Buddhist art, and Japanese Buddhist temple architecture, see the Glossary of Japanese BuddhismGlossary of Japanese BuddhismThis is the glossary of Japanese Buddhism, including major terms the casual reader might find useful in understanding articles on the subject. Words followed by an asterisk are illustrated by an image in one of the photo galleries...
. - List of National Treasures of Japan (writings)
- List of National Treasures of Japan (crafts-others)
External links
- Official website
- Kenchō-ji, Rinzai-Obaku Zen site
- Ohka Monument