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| + | [[File:Onjo-kendo.jpg|right|thumb|400px|Monument to Onjô Kendô at [[Hikone castle]]]] |
| *''Born: [[1823]]'' | | *''Born: [[1823]]'' |
| *''Died: [[1910]]'' | | *''Died: [[1910]]'' |
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| Onjô Kendô was a samurai scholar and Buddhist monk known for his exceptional devotion to his lord, [[Ii Naosuke]]. | | Onjô Kendô was a samurai scholar and Buddhist monk known for his exceptional devotion to his lord, [[Ii Naosuke]]. |
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− | Born into a low-ranking samurai family in [[Hikone]] in [[1823]], he entered the domain's [[teppo|gunnery]] squad at the age of 15, but soon afterwards began studying medicine under a domain physician. | + | Born into a low-ranking samurai family in [[Hikone]] in [[1823]], Onjô Heiemon entered the domain's [[teppo|gunnery]] squad at the age of 15, but soon afterwards began studying medicine under a domain physician. He also studied painting, Confucianism, and [[Zen]] practice. |
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| + | After the [[Sakuradamongai Incident]] in which his lord [[Ii Naosuke]] was killed, Onjô felt a deep sense of loyalty, and wished to devote himself further to his lord in some fashion. Feeling that following his lord in death by [[junshi|committing seppuku]] was "a dog's death," however, he decided to instead become a monk and devote himself to watching over Naosuke's grave. He became a disciple of the head of [[Seiryo-ji|Seiryô-ji]], the [[Ii clan]] [[bodaiji|family temple]], and took on the monastic name Kendô. |
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| + | In [[1865]], he moved to [[Edo]], leaving behind a wife and six children, and took up a position at the Ii clan temple of [[Gotoku-ji|Gôtoku-ji]], where he devoted himself to watching over Naosuke's grave, tidying and cleaning the cemetery, reciting sutras, and other such activities, for the next 37 years. After his death in [[1910]], gravestones were erected for Onjô both at Gôtoku-ji and at Hikone castle, next to those for Naosuke. |
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| {{stub}} | | {{stub}} |
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| + | ==References== |
| + | *Plaques on-site at Hikone castle.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/8717008193/sizes/k/] |
| + | *[[Haru Matsukata Reischauer]], ''Samurai and Silk: A Japanese and American Heritage'', Harvard University Press (1986), 171-172. |
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| + | [[Category:Bakumatsu]] |
| + | [[Category:Religious Figures]] |
| + | [[Category:Samurai]] |