Brief Guide of TOKOJI
Brief Guide of TOKOJI
「TOKOJI」
Tokoji is one of the family temples of the Mori feudal clan which was founded by an Obaku zen Priest named Egoku Domyo-Zenji.
You can see more than 500 stone lanterns which were dedicated by Mori vassals.
This temple was founded in 1691 and the construction influenced by Chinese style.
① SOMON (outer gate/Built in 1693) Important cultural property. This small gate has a Chinese-styled roof, crowned with MAKARAs (imaginary fish).
② HOKYOINTO
This stupa was built for deceased people of the Mori clan.
③ SANMON(main gate/Built in 1811) Important cultural property. SANMON literally Means “The Three Gates”. Buddhism says “there are three gates of emancipation and they are KU nothingness. MUSO formlessness MUSAKU no-acting”.
④ SHYORO(bell tower/Built in 1694) Important cultural property. There is a big bell and a big dharma drum on the second floor of this tower. The big be was made by the Gunji-family in 1694.
⑤ DAIOHODEN(main hall/Built in 1698) Important cultural property. Enshrines a statue of Shakyammi-Budda flanked by two disciples, Ananda and Kasyapa. The Obaku Zen School has its roots in the Ming-Dynasty, so the priests chant standing in chinese, therefore there are no tatami-mats in this hall.
⑥ Kaipan
This large wooden fish was struck to announce meals and services.
⑦ HOJO
HOJO literally means abbot’s chamber. This building was also used as a resting room for the Mori lords.
⑧ONIGAWARA
The function of these decorated roof tiles is to guard and protect from evil one.
⑨TOMBS OF MEIJI RESTORATION LEADERS
This is the place where four leaders and eleven samurais are buried.
⑩TOMBS OF MORI LORDS
The majestic, austere tombs of five Mori Lords (all odd-numbered generations except the first one) are situated up the stone pathway flanked by nearly 500 moss-covered stone lanterns offered by vassals.
「OBAKU ZEN SCHOOL」
The Obaku School of Japanese Zen, with Zen master Ingen(Yiyiian, 1592-1673) as its founding patriarch, shares the same teaching lineage as the Rinzai School. While there is no separate Obaku School in Chinese Zen; The Obaku School has been considered as a separate School of Japanese Zen from the time that the Chinese Rinzai monk Ingen introduced Zen of the Ming Dynasty, to Japan.
Fleeing the disturbances that occurred during the end of the King Dynasty, Ingen arrived in Nagasaki in 1654 accompanied by more than twenty disciples. After obtaining an audience with the current Shogun IETUNA, Ingen built MANPUKUJI-temple in Uji City under his patronage. The regulations, speech, conduct and ornamentation in the monastery, which are all in the style of the Ming Dynasty, gave birth to a new style of Zen during the period of exclusion. The founding of the Obaku School also produced an interchange with Rinzai and Soto Zen monks and played a large role in the spread of Zen culture.