Tenryu-ji
Encyclopedia
—more formally known as —is the head temple of the Tenryū branch of Rinzai Zen
Buddhism
, located in Susukinobaba-chō, Ukyō Ward, Kyoto
, Japan
. The temple was founded by Ashikaga Takauji
in 1339, primarily to venerate Gautama Buddha
, and its first chief priest was Musō Soseki
. Construction was completed in 1345. As a temple related to both the Ashikaga family and Emperor Go-Daigo
, the temple is held in high esteem, and is ranked number one among Kyoto's so-called Five Mountains
. In 1994, it was registered as a UNESCO
World Heritage Site
, as part of the "Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto
".
, Empress Tachibana no Kachiko
, wife of Emperor Saga
, founded a temple called Danrin-ji
on the site of present-day Tenryū-ji. The temple fell into disrepair over the next four hundred years.
In the mid-thirteenth century, Emperor Go-Saga
and his son Emperor Kameyama
turned the area into an imperial villa which they called . The name "Kameyama", which literally means "turtle mountain", was selected due to the shape of Mt. Ogura, which lies to the west of Tenryū-ji—it is said to be similar to the shape of a turtle's shell. All Japanese temples constructed after the Nara period have a sangō, a mountain name used as an honorary prefix. Tenryū-ji's sangō, , was also selected due to the shape of Mt. Ogura.
The palace was converted into a temple in the middle of the Muromachi period
at the behest of Ashikaga Takauji
, who wished to use the temple to hold a memorial service for Emperor Go-Daigo
. Ashikaga became the shogun
in 1338, and Go-Daigo died in Yoshino
the following year. Ashikaga opposed the failed Kemmu Restoration
, which was started by Emperor Go-Daigo, and the emperor decreed that Ashikaga should be hunted down and executed. When his former-friend-turned-enemy died, Ashikaga recommended that Zen monk Musō Soseki construct a temple for his memorial service. It is said that the temple was originally going to be named , Ryakuō
being the name of the reign of the emperor of the northern court at that time. However, Ashikaga Takauji's younger brother, Tadayoshi
supposedly had a dream about a golden dragon flitting about the Ōi River (also known as the Hozu River), which lies south of the temple, and the temple was instead named Tenryū Shiseizen-ji—the term "Tenryū" literally means "dragon of the sky" . In order to raise the funds to build the temple, two trading vessels called Tenryūji-bune
were launched in 1342. A ceremony was held on the seventh anniversary of Emperor Go-Daigo's death in 1345, which functioned as both a celebration of the completion of the temple, and as Go-Daigo's memorial.
During the 1430s, the temple entered into a tributary
relationship with the Imperial Court of Ming Dynasty
China. Chinese imperial policy at the time forbade formal trade outside of the Sinocentric world order, and both the Japanese imperial court and Ashikaga shogunate
refused to submit to Chinese suzerainty
. This arrangement with the Tenryū-ji allowed for formal trade to be undertaken between the two countries, in exchange for China's control over the succession of chief abbot of the temple. This arrangement gave the Zen sect, and Tenryū-ji more specifically, a near monopoly on Japan's legitimate trade with China. In conjunction with the temple of the same name in Okinawa, as well as other Zen temples there, Tenryū-ji priests and monks played major roles in coordinating the China-Okinawa-Japan trade through to the 19th century.
The temple prospered as the most important Rinzai temple in Kyoto, and the temple grounds grew to roughly 330,000 square meters in size, extending all the way to present-day Katabira-no-Tsuji station on the Keifuku Railway. At one time, the massive grounds were said to contain some 150 sub-temples, however, the temple was plagued with numerous fires, and all of the original buildings have been destroyed. During the Middle Ages, the temple met with fire six times: in 1358, 1367, 1373, 1380, 1447 and 1467. The temple was destroyed again during the Ōnin War
and subsequently rebuilt, but in 1815 it was lost to yet another fire. The temple was severely damaged during the Hamaguri Rebellion
in 1864, and most of the buildings as we see them today are reconstructions from the latter half of the Meiji period
. The garden to the west of the abbey, created by Musō Soseki, shows only traces of its original design.
The tombs of Emperor Go-Saga and Emperor Kageyama also lie within the temple grounds.
File:Tenryuji Kyoto37n4380.jpg|Chokushi gate
File:Tenryuji Kyoto36n4500.jpg|The teaching hall
File:Tenryuji Kyoto02s3s4500.jpg|Ōhōjō
File:Tenryuji Kyoto08n4592.jpg|Tahō-den
of Tenryū-ji include:
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...
Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
, located in Susukinobaba-chō, Ukyō Ward, Kyoto
Kyoto
is 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:...
, 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...
. The temple was founded by Ashikaga Takauji
Ashikaga Takauji
was the founder and first shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate. His rule began in 1338, beginning the Muromachi period of Japan, and ended with his death in 1358...
in 1339, primarily to venerate Gautama Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
, and its first chief priest was Musō Soseki
Muso Soseki
was 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...
. Construction was completed in 1345. As a temple related to both the Ashikaga family and Emperor Go-Daigo
Emperor Go-Daigo
Emperor Go-Daigo was the 96th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession....
, the temple is held in high esteem, and is ranked number one among Kyoto's so-called Five Mountains
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...
. In 1994, it was registered as a UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
, as part of the "Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto
Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto
The UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto encompasses 17 locations in Japan. The locations are in three cities: Kyoto and Uji in Kyoto Prefecture; and Ōtsu in Shiga Prefecture. Of the monuments, 13 are Buddhist temples; 3 are Shinto shrines; and one is a castle...
".
History
In the early Heian periodHeian period
The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...
, Empress Tachibana no Kachiko
Tachibana no Kachiko
, also known as , was a Japanese empress. She was the chief consort of Emperor Saga. She was the daughter of .The empress was a devout Buddhist. She founded the Buddhist Danrin-ji temple complex, and for this reason, she came to be called Danrin-kōgō....
, wife of Emperor Saga
Emperor Saga
was the 52nd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Saga's reign spanned the years from 809 through 823.-Traditional narrative:...
, founded a temple called Danrin-ji
Danrin-ji
was Japan's first Zen temple, founded in Saga, Kyōto by order of Tachibana no Kachiko during the Jōwa era. The temple was destroyed by fire in 928, but was restored, and during the Muromachi period the temple was designated as one of Kyōto's five great Buddhist nunneries...
on the site of present-day Tenryū-ji. The temple fell into disrepair over the next four hundred years.
In the mid-thirteenth century, Emperor Go-Saga
Emperor Go-Saga
Emperor Go-Saga was the 88th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession...
and his son Emperor Kameyama
Emperor Kameyama
was the 90th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1259 through 1274.-Genealogy:...
turned the area into an imperial villa which they called . The name "Kameyama", which literally means "turtle mountain", was selected due to the shape of Mt. Ogura, which lies to the west of Tenryū-ji—it is said to be similar to the shape of a turtle's shell. All Japanese temples constructed after the Nara period have a sangō, a mountain name used as an honorary prefix. Tenryū-ji's sangō, , was also selected due to the shape of Mt. Ogura.
The palace was converted into a temple in the middle of the Muromachi period
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, which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi shogun, Ashikaga Takauji, two years after the brief Kemmu restoration of imperial...
at the behest of Ashikaga Takauji
Ashikaga Takauji
was the founder and first shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate. His rule began in 1338, beginning the Muromachi period of Japan, and ended with his death in 1358...
, who wished to use the temple to hold a memorial service for Emperor Go-Daigo
Emperor Go-Daigo
Emperor Go-Daigo was the 96th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession....
. Ashikaga became the shogun
Shogun
A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...
in 1338, and Go-Daigo died in Yoshino
Yoshino
Yoshino may refer to:* Somei Yoshino, a flowering cherry tree Prunus × yedoensis* Japanese cruiser Yoshino- Places :* Yoshino, Nara, a town located in Yoshino District, Nara Prefecture, Japan...
the following year. Ashikaga opposed the failed Kemmu Restoration
Kemmu restoration
The is the name given to both the three year period of Japanese history between the Kamakura period and the Muromachi period, and the political events that took place in it...
, which was started by Emperor Go-Daigo, and the emperor decreed that Ashikaga should be hunted down and executed. When his former-friend-turned-enemy died, Ashikaga recommended that Zen monk Musō Soseki construct a temple for his memorial service. It is said that the temple was originally going to be named , Ryakuō
Ryakuo
was a Japanese era of the Northern Court during the Era of Northern and Southern Courts, lasting from August 1338 to April 1342. The emperor in Kyoto was...
being the name of the reign of the emperor of the northern court at that time. However, Ashikaga Takauji's younger brother, Tadayoshi
Ashikaga Tadayoshi
was a general of the Northern and Southern Courts period of Japanese history and a close associate of his elder brother Takauji, the first Muromachi shogun. Son of Ashikaga Sadauji and of a daughter of Uesugi Yorishige, the same mother as Takauji, he was a pivotal figure of the chaotic transition...
supposedly had a dream about a golden dragon flitting about the Ōi River (also known as the Hozu River), which lies south of the temple, and the temple was instead named Tenryū Shiseizen-ji—the term "Tenryū" literally means "dragon of the sky" . In order to raise the funds to build the temple, two trading vessels called Tenryūji-bune
Tenryuji-bune
The were two Japanese–Yuan trade ships launched in 1342 in order to procure funds for the construction of Tenryū-ji. They were approved by the Muromachi shogunate, and released to the command of a Hakata merchant named under the condition that he donate 5,000 kanmon to the temple irrespective...
were launched in 1342. A ceremony was held on the seventh anniversary of Emperor Go-Daigo's death in 1345, which functioned as both a celebration of the completion of the temple, and as Go-Daigo's memorial.
During the 1430s, the temple entered into a tributary
Tribute
A tribute is wealth, often in kind, that one party gives to another as a sign of respect or, as was often the case in historical contexts, of submission or allegiance. Various ancient states, which could be called suzerains, exacted tribute from areas they had conquered or threatened to conquer...
relationship with the Imperial Court of Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
China. Chinese imperial policy at the time forbade formal trade outside of the Sinocentric world order, and both the Japanese imperial court and Ashikaga shogunate
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...
refused to submit to Chinese suzerainty
Suzerainty
Suzerainty occurs where a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which controls its foreign affairs while allowing the tributary vassal state some limited domestic autonomy. The dominant entity in the suzerainty relationship, or the more powerful entity itself, is called a...
. This arrangement with the Tenryū-ji allowed for formal trade to be undertaken between the two countries, in exchange for China's control over the succession of chief abbot of the temple. This arrangement gave the Zen sect, and Tenryū-ji more specifically, a near monopoly on Japan's legitimate trade with China. In conjunction with the temple of the same name in Okinawa, as well as other Zen temples there, Tenryū-ji priests and monks played major roles in coordinating the China-Okinawa-Japan trade through to the 19th century.
The temple prospered as the most important Rinzai temple in Kyoto, and the temple grounds grew to roughly 330,000 square meters in size, extending all the way to present-day Katabira-no-Tsuji station on the Keifuku Railway. At one time, the massive grounds were said to contain some 150 sub-temples, however, the temple was plagued with numerous fires, and all of the original buildings have been destroyed. During the Middle Ages, the temple met with fire six times: in 1358, 1367, 1373, 1380, 1447 and 1467. The temple was destroyed again during the Ōnin War
Onin War
The ' was a civil war that lasted 10 years during the Muromachi period in Japan. A dispute between Hosokawa Katsumoto and Yamana Sōzen escalated into a nationwide war involving the Ashikaga shogunate and a number of daimyo in many regions of Japan....
and subsequently rebuilt, but in 1815 it was lost to yet another fire. The temple was severely damaged during the Hamaguri Rebellion
Hamaguri rebellion
The rebellion at the Hamaguri Gate of the Imperial Palace in Kyōto took place on August 20, 1864 and reflected the discontent of pro-imperial and anti-alien groups...
in 1864, and most of the buildings as we see them today are reconstructions from the latter half of the Meiji period
Meiji period
The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...
. The garden to the west of the abbey, created by Musō Soseki, shows only traces of its original design.
Layout
On the eastern boundary of the temple grounds lie two gates: and , from which the path to the temple itself leads west. Generally, Zen temple grounds are designed so that they face the south, with major buildings aligned along the north-south axis. Tenryū-ji's layout is an exception to this principle. Sub-temples line both sides of the path, which leads to the lecture hall. There are numerous buildings behind the lecture hall, such as , the , the kitchen, the meditation hall, and hall, however, each of these is modern reconstruction.- Chokushi gate is a one-storey gate, constructed in yotsuashimon style. It is the oldest structure on the temple grounds and is representative of the style of the Momoyama Period.
- The teaching hall is located at the center of the temple grounds, which is unusual for a Zen temple. The extant version is a 1900 reconstruction. It contains an image of Gautama Buddha, flanked by two guardians. The decorative painting of a dragon on the ceiling called is the work of Suzuki Shōnen.
- Ōhōjō was constructed in 1899.
- Kohōjō constructed in 1924.
- Tahō-den was constructed in 1934. Although it is a modern building, it was constructed in Kamakura PeriodKamakura periodThe 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....
style. It contains a wooden image of Emperor Go-Daigo. - Kuri
The tombs of Emperor Go-Saga and Emperor Kageyama also lie within the temple grounds.
File:Tenryuji Kyoto37n4380.jpg|Chokushi gate
File:Tenryuji Kyoto36n4500.jpg|The teaching hall
File:Tenryuji Kyoto02s3s4500.jpg|Ōhōjō
File:Tenryuji Kyoto08n4592.jpg|Tahō-den
Cultural Properties
The Important Cultural PropertiesImportant Cultural Properties of Japan
The 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....
of Tenryū-ji include:
- Three portraits of Musō Soseki, and paintings of AvalokitesvaraAvalokitesvaraAvalokiteśvara is a bodhisattva who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas. He is one of the more widely revered bodhisattvas in mainstream Mahayana Buddhism....
and Seiryō Hōgen Zenji/Yunmen Daishi - The wooden carving of Gautama Buddha.
- Various illustrations and writings in the document archive, such as , , , , and various writings of Kitabatake ChikafusaKitabatake Chikafusawas a Japanese court noble and writer of the 14th century who supported the Southern Court in the Nanboku-cho period, serving as advisor to five Emperors. Some of his greatest and most famous work was performed during the reign of Emperor Go-Daigo, under whom he proposed a series of reforms,...
- The garden, created by Musō Soseki, features a circular promenade around , and is registered as both a special place of scenic beauty and a historical landmark.
See also
- List of Special Places of Scenic Beauty, Special Historic Sites and Special Natural Monuments
- List of Buddhist temples in Kyoto
- 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...
. - Japanese gardenJapanese garden, that is, gardens in traditional Japanese style, can be found at private homes, in neighborhood or city parks, and at historical landmarks such as Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines and old castles....
