Life Tips & Miscellaneous Travel and History Zen Philosophy and History Art and Sport Navigation of this blog
Kofukuji Temple and the Martial Arts
Among the historical novels mentioned in “Ryotaro Shiba, Shotaro Ikenami, and Historical Novels” Kai Tsujido’s “Kaze no Ichibei Series” was ranked in the top eight in “This Historical Novel is Amazing! 2022 Edition” as one of the most popular historical novels. The main character, Karaki Ichibei, is set as a 38-year-old ronin, temporarily employed by samurai and merchant families as a migratory servant through the introduction of the mouthpiece shop Zairyo-ya, and uses his special skills in arithmetic to run the household affairs. He is called the “Arithmetic Samurai” or “Blue Samurai” for this reason, but he is also an extremely skilled swordsman, and is said to be able to use his secret sword, the “Sword of the Wind,” to overcome various dangers that he encounters during his duties. It is said that he learned to use this sword at Kofukuji Temple in Nara.
Kakuzenbo Hoin Tanei, the head of Hozoin, a subsidiary temple of Kofukuji, learned Shinin-ryu from Kamiizumi Isemori, a famous sword master, and applied it to the spear, inventing the Jumonji spear, a straight spear with a crescent-shaped branch spear, and becoming a martial arts master known as “Hozoin of the spear”. The second generation Tane Shun of Hozoin appeared in the novel “Miyamoto Musashi” and said to Musashi, “I am defeated. I am defeated. I have won in strength. But although I won in form, I still lost. He said, “I am defeated.
Thus, although Kofukuji Temple is a temple, it has appeared in various novels as a sacred place for the martial arts.
What is Kofukuji Temple?
Kofukuji Temple is located in the center of Nara Prefecture, near the site of the Heijo-kyo Capital, and is the head temple of the Hosso sect of Buddhism.
Hosso sect is a Buddhism with a philosophical aspect that has mastered the ideas of cognitive science as described in “Zen, Metacognition, and AI” which is about how we humans perceive not only individual concrete existence phenomena but also the classification of existence phenomena and the nature of all things. It is a religion based on the theory of materialism introduced by Genjo Sanzo, famous for his “Journey to the West,” upon his return to Japan from India.
The Hosso sect is also one of the older sects that lost momentum as the Kegon sect, described in “The Internet and Vairochanabutsu – The Kegon Sutra and Esoteric Buddhism” flourished, and was one of the seven major Buddhist sects in the southern capital that were dominant in Nara before Kukai, described in “Kukai, Shikoku Pilgrimage and Pilgrimage to Santiago” and Saicho, described in “Saicho and Tendai Sect” spread Shingon and Tendai. In the Heian period (794-1185), it became one of the seven major temples of the Nanto region, which was the dominant temple in Nara before the spread of the Shingon and Tendai sects.
Although the teachings of the Hosso sect itself lost momentum during the Heian period (794-1185), Kofukuji became a powerful temple from ancient times through the Middle Ages because it was associated with Kamatari Fujiwara, the founder of the Fujiwara clan, and his son Fuhito Fujiwara, who was a Fujiwara clan clansman.
Kofuku-ji also became integrated with Kasuga Shrine, the Fujiwara’s family deity, and Kofuku-ji’s followers began to make strong appeals to the Fujiwara, wielding the Kasuga sacred tree, and forming a group of priestly soldiers as described in “Kaido yuku: Rakuhoku Shodo, Stalwart Monks, Yamabushi, and Monks” they became a dominant force in Yamato (Nara Prefecture) by the end of the Sengoku period. The Yamato clan became the dominant force in Yamato Province (Nara Prefecture) until the end of the Warring States Period. These histories are the background for the aforementioned story of their involvement with the samurai arts.
Since its foundation, Kofukuji Temple has been repeatedly destroyed by fire and rebuilt each time. In 1180, during the Jisho/Juei Disturbance (Genpei War), the temple was burned to the ground in the southern capital by Taira Shigehira, and along with Todaiji Temple, most of the temple buildings were destroyed by fire.
Furthermore, as described in “Art in the Meiji Era: Fenollosa, Okakura Tenshin, and the Book of Tea,” the separation of Shintoism and Buddhism during the Meiji Era (1868-1912) clearly distinguished between Shintoism and Buddhism, which had previously been fused together, and greatly damaged the value of temples and Buddhist statues.
Not only did this move cease due to opposition from nearby residents, but the temple was also actively reconstructed, and the Tokondo and five-story pagoda were rebuilt, leading to the temple being registered as a World Heritage Site in 1998.
Furthermore, the Chukondo was restored in 2018 (Heisei 30), bringing back to life the appearance of yesteryear.
Kofuku-ji is also famous for having the largest number of designated national treasures of Buddhist statues in Japan, including the Standing Statue of the Four Heavenly Kings, the Seated Statue of Hosso Rokuso (the Six Patriarchs), the Seated Statue of Fukuu Kannon (Kannon Bodhisattva) in the Nan-endo Hall, and others.
Statue of Sakyamuni Nyorai in Chukondo
The seated statue of Yakushi Nyorai and the seated statues of Monju Bosatsu (Manjusri) and Yimakoji (Yama) can be seen in the East Kondo, and standing statues of Nikko and Gekko Bosatsu (Sunlight and Moonlight Bodhisattvas) can be seen on either side.
In addition, the National Treasure Museum houses not only the famous statue of Ashura and other Buddhist statues, but also many other valuable treasures that tell the history of the temple, such as paintings, crafts, and old documents.
コメント