Jion-ji (Saitama)

Main hall

Plan of the temple (see text)

13-story stone pagoda

The Jion-ji ( Japanese 慈恩寺 ) with the mountain name Karin-san ( 華林山 ) and the sub-temple name Saijō-in ( 最上院 ), is a temple that belongs to the Tendai direction of Buddhism. It is located in the Iwatsuki ( 岩槻区 ) district of Saitama City , Japan. In the traditional count it is the 12th of the 33 temples in the Kantō region .

history

The temple was founded in the year Tenchō 1 (824) by priest Ennin , where he derived his name from the Daci'en temple ( Chinese 大慈恩寺 , Pinyin Dàcí'ēn Sì ) the capital of the Tang dynasty Xi'an , which he derived had visited himself at the beginning of the Heian period . In his opinion, the surrounding landscape is also similar to that in China.

In 1589, the then lord of Iwatsuki Castle , Ōta Sukemasa ( 太田資正 ; 1522–1591), wrote: “The Jionji with its 43 clauses was added to 24.” This proves that it was an important temple at that time. At the beginning of the Edo period , the temple received a grant from Tokugawa Ieyasu of 100 koku and continues to flourish to this day.

investment

Lantern

The temple grounds are fairly open to the southeast. There, on the edge, is the simple temple gate ( Plan Sammon ; 1 in the plan). Further east, next to a free entrance, there is the bell tower ( 鐘楼 Shōrō ; 3). The main hall ( 本堂 Hondō ; 2) shows the style of the late Edo period, with the Chinese gable section ( 唐破風 Karahafu ) above the entrance. A noteworthy iron lantern in the western style ( 南蛮鉄灯篭 Namban tetsu-dōrō ; 4) in front of the main hall, which was donated by the caretaker of the Ōta, Date Fusazane ( 伊達房実 ) in 1589. The lantern, as the Namban prefix suggests, was made by the Dutch.

400 m south of the actual temple area stands a "13-story stone pagoda" ( 十三重塔 Jūsanjū-no-tō ) on a hill . It is one of the pagodas dedicated to Genjō Sanzō , the main character in the story The Journey to the West . The pagoda was accidentally discovered by the Japanese during their occupation in China in 1942 when a shrine was being built in Nanking . The Nanking government donated them to the Japanese state.

literature

Saitama-ken kotogakko shakaika kyoiku kenkyukai rekishi bukai (Ed.): Jion-ji . In: Saitama-ken no rekishi sampo. Yamakawa Shuppan, 2005. ISBN 978-4-634-24611-9 . P. 261.

Web links

35.979444 139.710778Coordinates: 35 ° 58 ′ 46 " N , 139 ° 42 ′ 38.8" E