Hongan-ji

nihongo|Hongan-ji|本願寺|literally temple of the Primal Vow, also archaically romanized as Hongwanji, is the title of the major Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist sub-sect (itself now further sub-divided).

History

The Hongan-ji was established as a temple in 1321, on the site of the Otani Mausoleum, where Shinran, the founder of the Jōdo Shinshū (True Pure Land) sect was buried. Kakunyo, Shinran's great-grandson and 3rd Monshu, became the first chief priest of the Hongan-ji, and dedicated it to the worship of Amida Buddha. The Hongan-ji first gained power and importance in the 15th century, when Rennyo became its eighth chief priest, or Monshu. However, the Tendai sect, based on Mount Hiei, saw this expansion as a threat and attacked the Hongan-ji three times with their army of warrior monks. Rennyo fled to Yoshizaki, where he established a new temple compound.

During the Sengoku period, fearing the power of the monks of the Hongan-ji, Oda Nobunaga tried to destroy it. For ten years, he laid siege to the Ishiyama Hongan-ji in Osaka, one of the two primary temple fortresses of the Ikko sect.

In 1602, just after Tokugawa Ieyasu became Shogun, he declared that the Hongan-ji be split in two. Kyonyo, the 12th chief priest, or monshu, of Hongan-ji became the first of the new Higashi Honganji (or, 'The Eastern Temple of the Original Vow'), while his younger brother Junnyo became the 12th chief priest of the original Hompa-Honganji (or, Nishi-Honganji : 'The Western Temple of the Original Vow'). [http://www.japanaddicted.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=503]

During the Meiji Restoration in the 1860s, the government set down new guidelines for the management of religious organizations. An organization called Shinshū Otani was put in control of the Higashi Hongan-ji. In 1987, this temple was renamed "Shinshū Honbyō", or Shinshū Mausoleum. While the temple is therefore, officially, no longer "Higashi Hongan-ji," most still regard it as such. The buildings have not been changed or moved, and of course the historical cultural and religious significance of the place cannot be changed. Due to opposition to the creation of the Shinshū Otani, and a number of other controversies, several new Higashi Honganji branches came into existence such as the Higashiyama Honganji founded in Kyoto in 1996 by Otani Korin, and the Tokyo Higashi Honganji whose current leader is Otani Koken.

Nishi Hongan-ji

The Nishi Hongan-ji (西本願寺), like the Higashi Hongan-ji, features a huge Goei-dō　(御影堂), Founder's hall and a smaller Amida-do　(阿弥陀堂), or Buddha hall, housing an image of the Amida Buddha. The Nishi Hongan-ji's "Kura"(倉), or storehouse, houses many National Treasures, most of which are not on view for the public. The "shoin"(書院), or study hall, is also quite famous; it is split into two sections, the "shiroshoin"(白書院), or white study hall, and the "kuroshoin"(黒書院), or black study hall. The Kuroshoin is never opened to the public, but the Shiroshoin opens twice a month.

Nishi Hongan-ji also contains Hiunkaku (飛雲閣), a large tea pavilion, and two noh stages, one of which claims to be the oldest in existence, and the Kokei no Niwa (虎渓の庭) garden.

Some medieval parts of Nishi Hongan-ji are now independent organizations: Ryukoku University and Kōshō-ji.

Higashi Hongan-ji

The massive Mie-dō (founders' hall) Gate of Higashi Hongan-ji (東本願寺) is often one of the first things one sees walking north from JR Kyoto Station. Nearly identical to Nishi Hongan-ji in layout, it too features an Amida-dō, and a larger Mie-dō. The Mie-dō at Higashi Hongan-ji dates from 1895 and vies with a number of other structures for the claim of largest wooden building in the world.

A few blocks from the main grounds of the Higashi Hongan-ji is the Shosei-en garden, owned by the temple. Poet-scholar Ishikawa Jozan and landscape architect Kobori Enshu are said to have contributed to its design in the 17th century.

Other temples of the name

*Tsukiji Hongan-ji, Tokyo
*Ishiyama Hongan-ji, destroyed 1580, now the site of Osaka Castle
*Yamashina Hongan-ji

ee also

*Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities)

References

* [http://www.honganji.net/emaki/e-emaki/index.html History of the Honganji Temple] , Honganji Otani Web, 2002. (Accessed 12 April 2005).
* Ducor, Jérôme : "Terre Pure, Zen et autorité : La Dispute de l'ère Jôô et la Réfutation du Mémorandum sur des contradictions de la foi par Ryônyo du Honganji, avec une traduction annotée du Ha Anjin-sôi-no-oboegaki" (Collège de France, Bibliothèque de l'Institut des Hautes Etudes Japonaises); Paris, De Boccard, 2007 (ISBN 978-2-913217-18-8).
*Popular Buddhism In Japan: Shin Buddhist Religion & Culture by Esben Andreasen, p. 11 University of Hawaii Press 1998, ISBN 0-8248-2028-2