Kan'ei-ji
Tōeizan Kan'ei-ji Endon-in | |
---|---|
pagoda in Ueno | |
Religion | |
Affiliation | Tendai |
Location | |
Location | Uenosakuragi 1-14-11, Taito-ku, Tokyo |
Country | Japan |
Architecture | |
Founder | Tenkai, Tokugawa Iemitsu |
Completed | 1625 |
Website | |
www |
Tōeizan Kan'ei-ji Endon-in (東叡山寛永寺円頓院) (also spelled Kan'eiji or Kaneiji) is a
It was named in a reference both to the Enryaku-ji's location atop
Once a great complex, it used to occupy the entire heights north and east of
Many temple structures were destroyed in the great Meireki fire of 1657.[4] A new hall was constructed inside the enclosure of Kan'ei-ji in 1698.[5] The temple and its numerous annexes were almost completely destroyed during the Boshin War's Battle of Ueno and never restored.[6] Much of the site where it once stood was confiscated and is now occupied by Ueno Park.[3]
What is today the temple's main hall was taken from Kita-in in Kawagoe (Saitama Prefecture) and transferred to the site of a former Kan'ei-ji subtemple. Kan'ei-ji's five-story pagoda (photo above) and the Ueno Tōshō-gū shrine were amongst the gems of the old temple enclosure. Both stand undisturbed by the passage of years since the end of the Tokugawa shogunate.
The Shinobazu Pond itself and the Bentendō Temple which stands on its island used to be an integral part of Kan'ei-ji. Tenkai, liking Lake Biwa, had Benten Island built in imitation of Chikubushima, and then the Bentendō on it.[7] At the time the island was accessible only by boat, but later a stone bridge was added on the east, making it possible to walk to it.[7] The Bentendō Temple was destroyed during World War II, and the present one is a reconstruction.[8]
History
Tenkai wanted to create a powerful religious center and, to achieve that, he built Kan'ei-ji imitating Enryaku-ji.[8] The temple was therefore erected north-east of Edo Castle to ward off evil spirits that were believed to come from that unlucky direction.[8]
Tenkai's project enjoyed from the beginning the shogunate support, so much so that
The chief abbot's residence, the Honbō, was built in 1625, which is considered the year of foundation of the temple. After that, several daimyōs contributed with the construction of other buildings.[8] The main hall, called as in Enryaku-ji's case Konponchūdō, was finished only in 1697.[8]
In 1643, after Tenkai's death, disciple Kōkai took his place. His successor was Emperor Go-Mizunoo's third son Shuchōho Shinnō.[1] From then on until the end of the shogunate, Kan'ei-ji's chief abbots were chosen among the Emperor's children or favorite nephews and called with the honorific Rinnōjinomiya (輪王寺宮).[1]
Tokugawa and Kan'ei-ji
With the favor of the Tokugawa the temple prospered but, at least in the first years since foundation, it was just the Tokugawa family temple, while the sole funeral temple of the Tokugawa was still Zōjō-ji, where the second shogun
The last visit from Tokugawa shogunate member at 8 August 1863 by Tenshō-in, due to memorial service of her husband Tokugawa Iesada.
Battle of Ueno and the destruction of Kan'ei-ji
In his book High City, Low City Japanologist Edward Seidensticker describes the last days and the destruction of Kan'ei-ji.
The revolutionary forces had occupied most of Tokyo, and Edo Castle and the majority of the Tokugawa troops had already surrendered, however one band of shogunate soldiers barricaded itself in Ueno with the intention to resist.[6] About 2000 men strong, it was composed of members of the Shōgitai, a military unit of former Tokugawa retainers.[8] They held the Kan'ei-ji's abbot in hostage, and maybe for this reason the Satsuma and Chōshū revolutionaries didn't attack immediately.[6]
On July 4, 1868 (Meiji 1, 15th day of the 5th month),[9] the final attack came and from early morning artillery rounds fell from Hongo's heights on Ueno.[6] After a fierce battle, in the late afternoon the revolutionary forces broke through the defenses in the south at the Black Gate (the Kuromon), near what is today Ueno Park's entrance.[6] There were altogether about 300 dead, mostly defenders.[6] Most of the artillery rounds had gone astray, causing fires in which the whole Kan'ei-ji and up to a thousand houses were destroyed.[6] The temple's abbot fled in disguise and left the city by boat.[6]
See also
- Ueno Tōshō-gū
- For an explanation of terms concerning Japanese Buddhism, Japanese Buddhist art, and Japanese Buddhist temple architecture, see the Glossary of Japanese Buddhism.
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h Nihon Rekishi Chimei Taikei
- ^ Henry D. Smith, "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo", Braziller, 1986; plate 11 commentary
- ^ a b c Seidensticker (1991:117)
- ^ Kaneiji. Columbia University. Accessed June 13, 2008.
- ^ Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du Japon, p. 415.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Seidensticker (1991:27)
- ^ a b Japanese Old Photographs in Bakumatsu/Meiji Period, Shinobazu Pond, accessed on November 16, 2008
- ^ a b c d e f g Watanabe (2005:30)
- ^ NengoCalc Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine: 明治一年五月十五日; n.b., the old lunar calendar date, used for example by Watanabe, was misidentified as May 15.
References
- Nihon Rekishi Chimei Taikei (日本歴史地名大係), online version. "Kan'ei-ji" (in Japanese). Heibonsha. Archived from the original on November 7, 2008. Retrieved November 17, 2008.
- Seidensticker, Edward (1991). Low City, High City: Tokyo from Edo to the Earthquake: how the shogun's ancient capital became a great modern city, 1867–1923. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-53939-6.
- Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland.
- Watanabe, Hiroshi (April 25, 2001). The architecture of Tokyo. Edition Axel Menges. ISBN 978-3-930698-93-6.
External links
- Kaneiji official website(Japanese)
- Kaneiji official website(English)
- [1] 1959 recording of the Temple's bell at 6 AM from The Internet Archive.
- Link to Japanese National Tourist Organization web page
- Link to contemporary snapshot images of Kan'ei-ji five-story pagoda
- National Diet Library: photograph of Kan'ei-ji pagoda (1896); photograph of Toshogu Shrine at Ueno (1911)
- Link to "The battle of Toeizan Temple on Mount Sanno at Ueno," Yoshitoshi Tsukioka (1874)
35°43′17″N 139°46′28″E / 35.721432°N 139.774306°E