Kozan-ji
Encyclopedia
, or , is an Omuro Buddhist temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...

 located in Ume-ga-hata Toganoo-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 famous monk Myōe
Myoe
Myōe was a Japanese Buddhist monk active during the Kamakura period who also went by the name Kōben , and contemporary of Jōkei and Honen. Born into the Yuasa family , allegedly descended from a branch of the Fujiwara clan, he came to be ordained in both the Shingon school of Buddhism and the...

 and is renowned for its numerous national treasures and important cultural properties, in particular the famous picture scroll called Chōjū-giga
Choju-giga
, commonly shortened to is a famous set of four picture scrolls, or emakimono, belonging to Kōzan-ji temple in Kyoto, Japan. The Chōjū-giga scrolls are also referred to as Scrolls of Frolicking Animals and Scrolls of Frolicking Animals and Humans in English. Some think that Toba Sōjō created the...

. The temple celebrates Biyakkōshin, Zenmyōshin and Kasuga Myōjin, as well as the temple's tutelary Shintō deity. In 1994, it was registered as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "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

Togano, located deep in the mountains behind Jingo-ji
Jingo-ji
is a Buddhist temple in Kyoto. It stands on Mount Takao to the northwest of the center of the city. The temple adheres to Shingon Buddhism. Its honzon is a statue of Yakushi Nyorai, the Buddha of Healing or "Medicine Buddha"....

 temple, which are famous for their autumn foliage, is considered an ideal location for mountain asceticism, and there have long been many small temples in this location. In addition to Kozan-ji, there have been other temples in the area, such as and . According to legend, these were said to have been established by the imperial orders of Emperor Kōnin
Emperor Konin
was the 49th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Kōnin's reign lasted from 770 to 781.-Traditional narrative:The personal name of Emperor Kōnin was given was As a son of Imperial Prince Shiki and a grandson of Emperor Tenji., his formal style was Prince Shirakabe...

 in 774, however, the accuracy of these claims is not clear.

In 1206, Myōe
Myoe
Myōe was a Japanese Buddhist monk active during the Kamakura period who also went by the name Kōben , and contemporary of Jōkei and Honen. Born into the Yuasa family , allegedly descended from a branch of the Fujiwara clan, he came to be ordained in both the Shingon school of Buddhism and the...

, a Kegon Buddhist priest who had been serving at nearby Jingo-ji, was granted the land to construct a temple by Emperor Go-Toba
Emperor Go-Toba
was the 82nd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1183 through 1198....

. He selected the name . The temple's name was taken from a line in the Avatamsaka sutra: .

The temple was destroyed numerous times by fire and war. The oldest extant building is , which dates from the Kamakura Period.

Layout

Jingo-ji houses a diagram of Kōzan-ji that was drawn in 1230, some 20 years after it was constructed. The diagram is registered as an important cultural property, because it shows the original layout of the temple. From the diagram, we know that Kōzan-ji originally consisted of a large gate, a main hall, a three-storied pagoda, a hall dedicated to Amitabha
Amitabha
Amitābha is a celestial buddha described in the scriptures of the Mahāyāna school of Buddhism...

, a hall dedicated to Lohan
Lohan
Lohan from the Irish name Ó Leocháin. It can refer to:People* Aliana Lohan, American actress/singer/model, younger sister of Lindsay Lohan* Brian and Frank Lohan, Irish hurlers with Clare and Wolfe Tones na Sionna...

, a bell tower, a scripture hall, and a Shinto
Shinto
or Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...

 shrine dedicated to the tutelary deity of the area. However, all of these buildings have since been destroyed, save for the scripture hall, which is now known as Sekisui-in.

In addition to Sekisui-in, today's Kōzan-ji also contains a main hall (originally part of Ninna-ji
Ninna-ji
is the head temple of the Omuro school of the Shingon Sect of Buddhism. Located in western Kyoto, Japan, it was founded in AD 888 by the retired Emperor Uda. It is part of the "Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto", a UNESCO World Heritage Site.-History:...

, relocated to Kōzan-ji) and a hall dedicated to the founding of the temple, which houses an important carved wooden bust of Myōe. Both of these buildings, however, are modern reconstructions.

Cultural Properties

The temple possesses numerous National Treasures
National treasures of Japan
National Treasures are the most precious of Japan's Tangible Cultural Properties, as determined and designated by the Agency for Cultural Affairs...

 and Important Cultural Properties
Important 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....

, however, the majority of them are currently on loan to national museums in Kyoto and Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; 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...

.

National Treasures

  • Sekisui-in - Built in the Kamakura Period. Irimoyazukuri style, having a gabled, hipped, shingled roof.
  • Chōjū-giga
    Choju-giga
    , commonly shortened to is a famous set of four picture scrolls, or emakimono, belonging to Kōzan-ji temple in Kyoto, Japan. The Chōjū-giga scrolls are also referred to as Scrolls of Frolicking Animals and Scrolls of Frolicking Animals and Humans in English. Some think that Toba Sōjō created the...

     - Sometimes consider as the first manga
    Manga
    Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

    . - created in the Kamakura period, this picture scroll portrays the lives of Korean Kegon founders Uisang
    Uisang
    Uisang was one of the most eminent early Silla Korean scholar-monks, a close friend of Wonhyo .He traveled to China, studying at Mount Zhongnan as a student of the influential Huayan master Zhiyan and as a senior colleague of Fazang , with whom he established a lifelong correspondence...

     and Wonhyo
    Wonhyo
    Wonhyo was one of the leading thinkers, writers and commentators of the Korean Buddhist tradition. Essence-Function , a key concept in East Asian Buddhism and particularly that of Korean Buddhism, was refined in the syncretic philosophy and worldview of Wonhyo.As one of the most eminent...

    . - A portrait of Myōe also known as and created during the Kamakura period. In contrast to the standard image of a Buddhist monk, this picture features a tiny Myōe surrounded by mountains. - A portrait created in the Kamakura Period at the end of the 12th century. - a Tang period
    Tang Dynasty
    The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...

     copy of a Chinese
    Chinese character
    Chinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and Japanese , less frequently Korean , formerly Vietnamese , or other languages...

     dictionary created during the Liang Dynasty
    Liang Dynasty
    The Liang Dynasty , also known as the Southern Liang Dynasty , was the third of the Southern dynasties in China and was followed by the Chen Dynasty...

    . This is the oldest Chinese character dictionary in Japan. - valued as the only remaining copy of an old kanji dictionary compiled by Kūkai
    Kukai
    Kūkai , also known posthumously as , 774–835, was a Japanese monk, civil servant, scholar, poet, and artist, founder of the Shingon or "True Word" school of Buddhism. Shingon followers usually refer to him by the honorific titles of and ....

    . It was copied in 1114. - A Tang period manuscript of Buddhist tales. Now disappeared from China, this is the oldest extant copy of this work.

Important Cultural Properties

An incredible number of buildings, picture scrolls, carvings, furnishings and old writings have been registered as important cultural properties. The most significant among these include:
  • Founders Hall (Kaizandō)
  • A lacquered wooden statue of Bhaisajyaguru in seated posture created towards the end of the Nara period. Originally the center of a sanzonzō (a trio of Buddhist statues with the primary image in the center and flanked by two attendants), the attendant images were removed during the Meiji period. The image of Suryaprabha now rests in the Tokyo National Museum, and the image of the Chandraprabha
    Chandraprabha
    In Jainism, Chandraprabha was the eighth Tirthankara of the present age or Avasarpini. According to Jain beliefs, he became a siddha, a liberated soul which has destroyed all of its karma. Chandraprabha was born to King Mahasena and Queen Lakshmana Devi at Chandrapuri to the Ikshvaku dynasty...

     in the university museum of the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music
    Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music
    or is one of the oldest and most prestigious art schools in Japan. Located in Ueno Park, it also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, and Kitasenju, Adachi, Tokyo...

    .
  • A wooden statue of Myoe in sitting posture created in the Kamakura Period and located in the hall dedicated to the founding of the temple.
  • A pair of wooden deer statues created in the Kamakura period. These statues, of a buck and a doe, were uniquely constructed to look like komainu
    Komainu
    , often called lion-dogs in English, are statue pairs of lion-like creatures either guarding the entrance or the inner shrine of many Japanese Shinto shrines or kept inside the inner shrine itself, where they are not visible to the public. The first type, born during the Edo period, is called , the...

    , the lion statues that guard the entrance to a Shinto shrine. Deer are messengers of Kasuga Myōjin, the temple god, and as such, it is believed that these statues were placed in front of Kasuga Myōjin's altar.
  • A statue of Byakkoshin in standing posture, constructed in the early Kamakura period. As the name indicates, the statue is painted white in its entirety—from its clothes to the pedestal. This is said to represent the snow of the Himalayas.
  • A wooden statue of Zenmyōshin constructed in the early 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....

    . Much of the vivid paint still remains, and this statue, along with Biyakkō-shin, is said to be the work of famed Buddhist sculptor Tankei
    Tankei
    Tankei was a Japanese sculptor of the Kei school, which flourished in the Kamakura period. He was the student of and son of the master sculptor Unkei.-Famous Works:...

    .
  • The Kōzan-ji document archive, which contains thousands of scriptures and records, some of which date back to the Heian Period. - a record of Myōe's dreams from 1196 to 1223. His dreams are said to have exerted a great deal of influence on his religious thinking.

See also

- Jingo-ji
Jingo-ji
is a Buddhist temple in Kyoto. It stands on Mount Takao to the northwest of the center of the city. The temple adheres to Shingon Buddhism. Its honzon is a statue of Yakushi Nyorai, the Buddha of Healing or "Medicine Buddha"....

, Kōzan-ji
Kozan-ji
, or , is an Omuro Buddhist temple located in Ume-ga-hata Toganoo-chō, Ukyō Ward, Kyoto, Japan. The temple was founded by famous monk Myōe and is renowned for its numerous national treasures and important cultural properties, in particular the famous picture scroll called Chōjū-giga. The temple...

 and Saimyō-ji

External links

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