Tōkō-ji (Kōfu)
The Tōkō-ji ( Japanese 東 光寺 ) is a temple in the Japanese city of Kōfu in Yamanashi Prefecture . He belongs to the Kofu Gozan , a group of five Buddhist temples of Rinzai-shū that Takeda Shingen had rebuilt in the Sengoku period , or moved from the surrounding province to Kofu to promote its administrative seat. Like the other Kōfu Gozan, he is dedicated to the Myōjinshi school within the Rinzai ( 臨 済 宗 妙 心 寺 派 ).
history
Heian period
According to tradition, at the end of the Heian period, the local Minamoto of Kai , from which the Takeda would later emerge , began building a temple with prayer halls in 1121 through their ancestor Shinra Saburō Yoshimitsu ( 新 羅三郎 義 光 ) in order to maintain public order . The main object of worship is said to have been a statue of Sakyamuni Tathagata or Shakyamuni or Gautama Buddha ( 釈 迦 如 来 ) (all denote the same person). The purpose of the temple was the prospect of the land. At the inauguration and naming of the temple, the statue is said to have got a crack.
Kamakura time
The founder of the Kamakura Gozan, the Kenchō-ji ( 建 長 寺 ) (1253) in Kamakura, Rankei Dōryū ( 蘭 渓 道 隆 ), (Rinzai monk of the Kamakura period; 1213-1278), is said to be a spy of the Yuan at that time in 1268 -Reichs (China) and were therefore banished to this temple in Kai. You have to know that at that time monks, if they had the means, went on educational trips to China and brought new ideas home with them. For this reason, esoteric Buddhism is said to have spread in Kai and that is why all 7 buildings of the typical Shichidō Garan ( 七 堂 伽藍 ) temple (namely: main hall, sermon hall, pagoda, bell tower, sūtra library, monks' accommodation, dining hall) were supposedly built to let. Upon entering nirvana, Dōryū ( 道 隆 ) also became a student of this temple. Kai's grandson made Kai the center of Rinzai in Japan, while new schools had already spread to the west. In the following time, the Bakufu used the same temple names in all provinces, which is why the temple was renamed from State Protection Temple to Tōkō-ji in 1320.
Muromachi period
In the Muromachi period, however, the temple flourished under the protection of the Takeda.
Sengoku time
In the Sengoku period , the convinced Rinzai student then declared the facility to be one of the Kofu Gozan . After the fall of the Takeda and the invasion of Oda Nobunaga , the temple burned down in 1582.
Edo period
When Tokugawa Ieyasu became the first shogun a few years later , the prayers seemed answered because he was pursuing a reconciliation and did not pursue the monks any further. The complex was promoted under the new Yanagisawa governor clan , and a number of new objects were inaugurated in 1717:
- the new Buddha hall
- a statue of Bhaisajyaguru / Yakushi nyorai; Buddha m of healing
- 12 statues of patron gods for travelers have been repaired
- by decree, the complex was again recognized as an official temple
Yanagisawa's heir, Kōzōrō, died as a toddler, after which he had a pagoda built for his young son in 1719. For this reason, Yanagisawa sponsored the temple extensively and donated handwritten drawings.
Meiji period
In 1868, according to the temple records, the complex had an area of 3708 tsubo (surface area; approx. 3.3 m²), approved with the red seal of the Shogun, which emphasizes the importance of the complex in the narrow valley of Yamanashi . There are also 35 area chō forest, main hall, Buddha hall, meditation hall, temple kitchen, monk's home, library and a wash house, as well as an extra secluded dormitory, front gate, rear gate, warehouse, shed and another palace. Together with the neighboring Kōkumo-in ( 耕 雲 院 ), the facility is said to have made a wonderful sight at that time.
In the course of the anti-Buddhism movement at the beginning of the Meiji Restoration (see State Shinto ), the extensive lands and forests had to be ceded to the government by decree.
Shōwa time
- In 1927 (in the 2nd year of Shōwa) the Buddha Hall was declared a "state treasure".
- 1945 beginning of July: During the great air raid on Kofu during the Second World War , the Buddha hall and the temple kitchen burned down. Fortunately, the main hall, main gate and bell tower were spared. The remaining damage comes from the fire that Oda Nobunaga had started.
- In 1952 the main hall was declared an important cultural asset.
- In 1957, dismantling and reconstruction began. In the years that followed, the complex took on its present form. A new main hall, a temple kitchen, a study and the ornamental garden were laid out.
Temple entrance
Butsuden ( 仏 殿 , "Buddha Hall")
Temple garden
Web links
- Temple website (Japanese)
- (Japanese, very comprehensive)
Coordinates: 35 ° 40 ′ 5.5 ″ N , 138 ° 35 ′ 18 ″ E