Seiunji Temple Explained

Seiunji Temple
Religious Affiliation:Buddhism
Map Type:Japan#Asia#Earth
Deity:Shaka Nyorai
Country:Japan
Founded By:Nariumi Honjo
Established:1348
Year Completed:Jōwa 4th year / Shohei 3rd year (1348)

Seiunji (Seiunji, Seiunji) is a temple in Yamato-cho, Kisai, Koshu City, Yamanashi Prefecture. It is a Kenchoji sect temple of the Rinzai school, with the mountain name of Tenmokuzan and the Honzon of Shakyamuni Buddha. At the time of its founding, the temple was called Gokoku Zenji.

Overview

Seiunji Temple is located on the left bank of the upper reaches of the Nichikawa valley at an elevation of about 1,050 meters in the Tenmokuzan mountains. In Tano, another 4.6 km downstream of the Nichigawa valley, there is a Soto Zen temple, Tenmokuzan Keitokuin.

In 1348, the founder Gokkai Honjo (also known as Gokkai, 1284–1352) visited this mountain, which was then called 1284–1352) visited this mountain, which was called Mount Tokusayama In the second year of Bunpo (1318), Narihumi and five of his companions traveled to The Yuan Dynasty, where they received teachings and the Inka from the Buddhist master Zhongfeng Mingben (1263-1323) at Tianmu Mountain. He returned to Japan in 1326. After that, he traveled around the country for more than 20 years in search of a suitable place to practice the teachings of his master.

Gokkai strongly criticized the Muso Soseki sect, which was predominant at the time. He left behind a legend that he enshrined a statue of Pu'o Kokushi in a rock cave, sat in meditation under a tree, rarely interacted with the local people. After his death four years later, Mokuzai-san prospered under the patronage of the Takeda clan, the protector of Kai, and Mokuzai-san came to be known as "Tenmoku-san," and together with Zuiganzan Kogenji Temple in Tanba City, Hyogo Prefecture (whose founder, Tohkei Zuo, was one of those who traveled with Gyohai Honjo to Gen), it was also called "Higashi Tenmoku" and "Nishi Tenmoku.

In Onei 23 (1416), Takeda Nobumitsu, the protector of Kai, who was defeated by the Muromachi Shogunate for his complicity in the Uesugi Zenshu Rebellion, committed suicide in this mountain. The remains of Nobumitsu are said to have been brought to this temple for burial, and the Hokyointo of Nobumitsu and the Gorintō of his vassals who committed suicide together exist in Seiunji Temple. It is said that Takeda Shingen also dedicated a military flag, a Gunbai, and a mirror to the temple.

At the end of the Warring States Period, Tokugawa Ieyasu, who destroyed the Takeda clan, also issued a guarantee of about three kanbun of temple territory and three articles of prohibition to the temple, 1583 June 20. In addition, in 1643, the temple received a Shuin-jō from Ieyasu's grandson, the third shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu of the Edo shogunate, for the relief of the temple territory. In 1716, the Shuin-jō land according to the surveybook is said to have been about 20 koku.

According to the writings of Zen master Nariumi Honjo, there was a lake in the upper part of Mount Mokuzai, which overflowed during rainfall and flowed down the slope, and the present garden (stone garden) may have been created as a result of this. Takeda Nobumitsu was said to have been very ill and committed suicide because he was involved in the Uesugi Zen sect's rebellion.

History

The temple complex

Cultural Properties

Important Cultural Property (National Designation)

Fuo Guo Shi was a high priest of the Yuan dynasty in China and the founder of the Gensyu school of the Rinzai sect, Chufeng Mingben. He was known as a solitary recluse, and many Zen monks from Japan have returned to Japan after visiting him and receiving his teachings, including Gyohai Honjo, the founder of Tenmokuzan Seiunji Temple. He was known for his strict Zen style and influenced the Zen forests in Japan during this period. The wooden statue of Pu'ou Kokushi is a carving of him with his hair shaved, wearing a kesa over his robe, and sitting on his stomach with a Zen meditation seal. The statue is made of marquetry of Japanese cypress and is decorated with jade eyes, but most of the color has been removed. There is an inscription in red ink on the inner neck of the statue, indicating that the statue was created in 1353 by Buddhist masters Hogen Inko and Hohashi Inzun. They are also the creators of the seated statue of Shaka Nyorai, the main deity of Kounji Temple.[1]

Tangible Cultural Property designated by the prefecture

In 1318, Gyohae traveled to Yuan in Wenpo 2, studied under Master Pu'ou at Tenmoku Mountain in Hangzhou, and established Tenmoku Mountain Seiunji upon his return. After returning to Japan, he established Tenmoku-zan Qingyunji Temple, which is also called "East Tenmoku," in contrast to Tamba Saji, which was established by Tohjian Seo, who returned to Japan with Gyoukai, and is called "West Tenmoku. Nariumi stayed in the mountains and led a hard life of Zen meditation day and night, following his master's secluded nature and the philosophy of Zen unity, until he died on July 27, 1352. The statue is made of marquetry and is a colored carving of the head of a Buddhist monk. It is made of marquetry and has a height of 61.0 cm, and on the inner surface of the pivot is inked the inscription "Shogun's Grand Buddhist Priest Hakuro Hoken Kei", which indicates that this statue was made just after the death of Gyohai.

At first glance, this statue looks like a Buddhist painting, but there are various theories about the dignity of this statue, as it has different expressions from Buddhist paintings, such as a cross on the handle. There are several theories about the dignity of the statue, since the cross on the armor is a Greek cross that has been transformed into a Chinese style, suggesting that it is a Nestorian Christian (Jing) holy statue that was spread in the Jiangnan region. Supplemented and collected in "Dignified Expression in Buddhist Painting", Chuokoron Bijutsu Shuppan, October 2010, ISBN 978-4-8055-0635-6. The white upper garment with gold and red borders and the seal-shaped ornaments depicting the upper part of the figure on the chest and both sides of the knees represent the head of the "Maiden of Light" in Manichaean mythology. Manichaean paintings in the Daiwa Bunkakan collection and the Manichaean statue of Jesus in Chuanan in Senshu. It is difficult to judge from the external appearance, since several foreign religions seemed to be trying to keep their faith alive in Jiangnan at that time, mixing syncretism with Buddhism and Taoism. At present, it is difficult to imagine that Jingism, a powerful sect in the Yuan dynasty, would go to the trouble of creating a statue that resembles a Buddhist painting, and it is also unclear whether Jingism had the custom of painting portraits of Jesus. However, Manichaeism, which was persecuted, has the probability of mimicking Buddhist paintings, and Jesus is also an object of worship in Manichaeism. In the case of Manichaeism, where Jesus was persecuted, there is a probability that it mimics Buddhist paintings, and since Jesus is an object of worship in Manichaeism as well, it is plausible that this painting is an image of Jesus in Manichaeism[3]

The garden is a 1.413-hectare area of granodiorite on a steep slope behind the storehouse, built of overlapping huge rocks that follow the topography of the valley. The garden is said to have been created by Kaizan Gyohae, as evidenced by the year inscribed on the rocks. It is not a mere garden, but a sacred place where one can practice Zen meditation, and is a uniquely Japanese Zen garden. It is a unique Japanese Zen garden, with the words "Reihseoksenn" (sacred stone spring) engraved on a huge rock, and the rubbings of the year and the name of the stonecutter on both sides, "Doseishi engraved", which was engraved by Doseishi in 1353

Koji Ohara "Restoration of Seiunji Temple in Tenmeyama"

Like the statue of Jizo Bosatsu, this statue is said to have been created by Gyohai Honjo, the founder of the temple, and is carved in a thin, almost linear style on a huge, 4.5m wide and 3.0m high vertical bank of granodiorite. The total height of the statue is 90cm, the edge of the robe 70cm, and the diameter of the halo of the head of the circular phase 40cm. Monju Bodhisattva is said to be not only wise, but also pure and unattached like a child, and is often depicted as a child. This statue is reminiscent of "Monju the Younger". The figure of Monju the Younger, carved with its face halfway to the left, is a Buddha with high artistic value.

Tangible cultural property designated by the city

Holding of the exhibition of wind vases for treasures of Seiunji Temple

Held every year in mid-November (for two days on Saturday and Sunday), this is a special annual exhibition of the treasures of Seiunji Temple (Buddhist statues, paintings, crafts, etc.) that are not normally seen.

Transportation

References

Related items

External links

Notes and References

  1. "Commentary on Newly Designated Important Cultural Properties 3: Sculpture", Mainichi Shimbun, 1981, p.292
  2. Takeo Izumi, "Seiunji Image wo Megutte" (in Yutaka Yoshida, ed. by Setsuichi Furukawa, Studies on Manichaean Manichaean Paintings in China, Rinkawa Shoten, April 7, 2015, pp. 183-195, ISBN 978-4-653-04117-7).
  3. [Takao Moriyasu]
  4. Web site: 2017-01-05. [栖雲寺]宝篋印塔]. 2021-10-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20170105070009/http://www.tenmokusan.or.jp/gdetail_hjin.html. 2017-01-05.

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