Fuke-shu

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The Fuke shū ( jap. 普化宗 ) was a more or less loose movement within the Japanese Zen - Buddhism , which until its ban in the latter half of the 19th century existed.

history

The traditional representation of the origin of the Fuke-shū mostly refers to the Tang-temporal Chan master Puhua ( Chinese  普 化 , Pinyin Pǔhuà , W.-G. P'u-hua ; Japanese Fuke ), a wandering monk who was with Bells and singing through the country and was probably a good friend of Linji Yixuan . In the 13th century, during the Kamakura period , his teaching is said to be given by Shinji Kakushi ( 心地 覺 心 ; 1207-1298; posthumously 法 燈 圓明 國 師 , Hōttō Enmyō Kokushi ), founder of the temple Kōkoku-ji ( 興国 事 ) in the Kii province (1254 under the name Saihō-ji ( 西方 寺 )), to have been brought to Japan. However, it was probably not established as an independent school until the late 17th century during the Tokugawa period . Precise information on this is extremely difficult, since in the course of the dispute for recognition on the part of the Japanese government, the Fuke-shū presented several forged documents about its own history.

The followers of the Fuke-shū were initially called komosō ( 薦 僧 , dt. About "straw mat monks"), then later komusō ( 虚無 僧 , dt. About "monks of emptiness"). The dates and reasons for this change are controversial. a. to a prominent figure within the movement named Komu; an association with traveling musicians who were also called komusō ; a reinterpretation of one's own teaching.

Since the Fuke-shū explicitly neither kept a membership register nor provided for a fixed income, as well as allowing free roaming, it was a steadily growing collection basin for lay people who for various reasons no longer had a fixed place in the social order of feudal Japan. These were almost exclusively former samurai ( rōnin ).

First attempts by the government to regulate the fuke-shū took place in the last quarter of the 17th century. The headquarters of the Fuke-shū at this time were the temples Ryōhō-ji ( 鈴 法 寺 ) in Musashi Province , Ichigatsu-ji ( 一月 寺 ) in Shimousa Province and Myōan-ji ( 明暗 寺 ) in Shirakawa ( 白 川 ), Kyoto . In 1847 the Fuke-shū was dissolved as an independent school and its followers were legally subordinated to the Rinzai-shū . After the Tokugawa shogunate ended ( Bakumatsu ), banned the new Meiji -Regierung the Fuke shū by Cabinet decision in October of 1871. The temples were closed and told the followers to lay all. A year later, the activities essential to fuke-shu, begging for alms and playing the shakuhachi for spiritual purposes, were banned.

Fonts

The Fuke-shū hardly had any of its own writings. However , the Kyotaku Denki Kokujikai ( 虚 鐸 伝 記 国 字 解 , for example "The Legend of the Empty Bell, translated and presented in Japanese"), which was published in Edo in 1795 and written by Yamamoto Morihide ( 山 本 守 秀 ), is considered to be extremely important and teachings that Fuke-shū explains in mythological-transfiguring form (the work itself is said to be the translation of a Chinese work called Kyotaku Denki ( 虚 鐸 伝 記 ) from the 13th century, but it has been considered most likely fictional for some time, the Fuke- shū should probably be given historical continuity and thus authority by recourse to ancient Chinese traditions). In addition to the description of the life of Puhua, other important personalities of the Fuke-shū are named, including Chōhaku , as well as the temple belonging to Fuke-shū at that time.

Teaching and practice

Depiction of a Fuke-shū mendicant monk from Sketches of Japanese Manners and Customs (London, 1867). The caption in the book reads: A begging criminal .

Most of the teaching of the Fuke-shū evidently hardly consisted of studying any scriptures. Music with the shakuhachi was of central importance . Many of the pieces played on it ( 本 曲 , honkyoku ) had a fixed, ritual place in the various religious activities of the Fuke-shū. The type of music practiced in this way, which, in connection with a high degree of concentration , should lead to enlightenment , was commonly called suizen ( 吹 禅 , dt. About "blow zen"). Other terms of this musical tradition were ichi on jōbutsu ( 一音成仏 , dt. About "obtaining the Buddha nature or enlightenment through a single note"), honnin no kyoku ( 本人の曲 , dt. About "own music") and Zettai no ma ( 絶 対 の 間 , dt. about "absolute timing").

Much of the practice consisted of walking as mendicant monks through the country from temple to temple and in the villages and towns from door to door, singing the nembutsu ( 念 仏 ) and practicing a meditative form of flute playing on the shakuhachi. Their sight was conspicuous because they had to wear headgear made of sedge ( 天 蓋 , tengai ) in the shape of a basket , which covered their faces. This has been a popular and recurring motif in Japanese fine arts since that time and to the present day. However, the monks also had a permanent place in some temples.

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Fuke-shū  - collection of images, videos and audio files