Shōkoku-ji

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Shōkoku-ji 相国寺



Information
Denomination:	Rinzai
Founded:	1382

Founder(s):	Ashikaga Yoshimitsu Muso Soseki







Address:	701 Shokokuji Monzen-chō, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, 602-0898
Country:	Kyoto, Japan
Phone:	075-231-0301
Website
Website:	http://www.shokoku-ji.or.jp
Portal:Buddhism

Shōkoku-ji (相国寺, Shōkoku-ji^?), more fully entitled the Mannen-zan Shōkoku Shōten Zenji, is a Buddhist temple in northern Kyoto, founded in 1382 by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.^[1]

1 Buddhist center
2 History
3 Notes
4 References
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Buddhist center

In 1383, the Zen master Shun’oku Myoha (春屋妙葩, Shun’oku Myoha^?) (1311–1388) was designated by Yoshimitsu as founding abbot,^[2] however, Myoha insisted that the official honor be posthumously accorded to his own teacher, Muso Soseki (夢窓疎石, Muso Soseki^?) (1275–1351).^[3] This temple was the second of the Kyoto Gozan, the five leading Rinzai Zen temples in Kyoto during the medieval period, established by Yoshimitsu in 1386.^[2] For a short time in 1392, Shōkoku-ji was considered first amongst the Gozan.^[4]

Shōkoku-ji is one of fourteen autonomous branches of the Rinzai school of Japanese Zen. 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 temples in Kyoto.^[3]

[edit] History

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, 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.^[5]

The entire temple complex was destroyed by fire in 1394; but reconstruction financed by Yoshimitsu followed soon after. This process of damage and rebuilding has been repeated many times over the centuries, notably during the Onin War (1467–1477). ^[6]

After the Muromachi period, Shōkoku-ji was suported by several national leaders such as Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598), his son Toyotomi Hideyori (1593–1615), and Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616), all of whom helped finance the temple’s various reconstruction projects.

Hideyori financed the 1605 reconstruction of the Hatto (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 (Mountain Gate) in 1609.
Emperor Go-Mizunoo (r. 1611–1629) 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.^[3]

[edit] Notes

^ Ponsonby-Fane, R. (1956). Kyoto: the Old Capital of Japan, 794-1869, pp. 200-207.
^ ^a ^b Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, p. 317.
^ ^a ^b ^c Joint Council for Japanese Rinzai and Obaku Zen. Head Temples: Shōkoku-ji
^ Desmoulin, Heinrich. (2005). Zen Buddhism: a History, p. 174.
^ Titsingh, p. 320.
^ Shōkoku-ji web site: Fire and Reconstruction