contributor
523
edits
Changes
no edit summary
*''Japanese'': 清見寺 ''(Seiken-ji; Kiyomi-dera)''
*''Japanese'': 清見寺 ''(Seiken-ji; Kiyomi-dera)''
Seiken-ji is a [[Rinzai]] [[Zen]] temple in [[Shizuoka City]] (formerly known as [[Sunpu]]), of the Myôshinji sect. It is the site of the grave of a [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryukyuan]] Crown Prince who died in Sunpu in [[1610]], and the temple was visited by [[Ryukyuan embassies to Edo|Ryukyuan embassies]] in [[1710]], [[1714]], [[1749]], [[1764]], [[1791]], [[1806]], [[1830]], and [[1850]].
Seiken-ji is a [[Rinzai]] [[Zen]] temple of the Myôshinji sect in Okitsu 興津 in [[Suruga province]], just east of [[Sunpu]], now part of [[Shizuoka City]] of Shizuoka prefecture. It dominates an important point on the [[Tokaido Highway]], and so has been destroyed and rebuilt several times.
The temple is believed to have been originally founded in the late 7th century, as a temple associated with, and protecting, the barrier checkpoint at Kiyomi-ga-seki<ref>The "Seiken" of the temple's name (清見) is an alternate reading of the characters for "Kiyomi" in Kiyomi-ga-seki.</ref> The temple was re-established as a Rinzai Zen temple in [[1261]], by Zen master [[Muden Shozen|Muden Shôzen]]<!--無伝聖禅-->. The temple was restored once again by [[Shogun]] [[Ashikaga Takauji]] in the 14th century.
The temple is believed to have been originally founded in the late 7th century, as a temple associated with, and protecting, the barrier checkpoint at Kiyomi-ga-seki<ref>The "Seiken" of the temple's name (清見) is an alternate reading of the characters for "Kiyo-mi" in Kiyomi-ga-seki.</ref> The temple was re-established as a Rinzai Zen temple in [[1261]], by Zen master [[Muden Shozen|Muden Shôzen]]<!--無伝聖禅-->. The temple was restored once again by [[Shogun]] [[Ashikaga Takauji]] in the 14th century.
The temple has been host to many well-known people. According to temple tradition, [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] when he was a child accompanied his tutor Abbot Taigen Sessai 太原雪斎 on his visits to Seiken-ji.<ref>{Statler p. 30, http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/清見寺.</ref> Other visitors can be documented. [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] stayed there while his headquarters were being finished for the [[siege of Odawara]]. He was impressed by the sound of the temple bell, and requisitioned it for use during the campaign. At the end of the Edo period, in [[1862]] the shogun [[Tokugawa Iemochi]] stayed there on his way to Kyoto, and [[1869 |seven years later]] [[Emperor Meiji]] stayed there on his way to the new capital of Tokyo.
There was a close connection between Seiken-ji and the [[Ryukyuan embassies to Edo]]. On his [[1609]] invasion of the [[Ryukyu Kingdom]], [[Shimazu Iehisa]] of [[Satsuma province]] took hostage several members of the royal family. The[[1610|next year]] he took them to [[Sunpu]] for an audience with Ieyasu, and then to [[Edo]] for an audience with the shogun [[Tokugawa Hidetada|Hidetada]]. However, shortly after leaving Sunpu, [[Prince Sho Ko|Crown Prince Shô Kô]], younger brother to King [[Sho Nei|Shô Nei]], died and was buried in Seiken-ji. The Ryukyuan embassies to Edo customarily stopped to visit his grave during the remainder of the [[Edo period]]. There are records of stops in in [[1710]], [[1714]], [[1749]], [[1764]], [[1791]], [[1806]], [[1830]], and [[1850]]. In [[1790]], Prince [[Ginowan Chosho|Ginowan Chôshô]]<!--宜野湾王子朝祥--> (also known as Shô Yô<!--尚容-->) erected a new gravestone. A framed piece of calligraphy by Ginowan Chôshô donated to the temple at that time hangs inside the temple's main hall (''hondô''), along with a number of similar plaques associated with [[Korean embassies to Edo]].
. It is the site of the grave of a [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryukyuan]] Crown Prince who died in Sunpu in [[1610]], and the temple was visited by [[Ryukyuan embassies to Edo|Ryukyuan embassies]] in [[1710]], [[1714]], [[1749]], [[1764]], [[1791]], [[1806]], [[1830]], and [[1850]].
[[Prince Sho Ko|Crown Prince Shô Kô]], younger brother to King [[Sho Nei|Shô Nei]], died at Sunpu in 1610 while a hostage of [[Shimazu Iehisa]]. He was buried at Seikan-ji, and his grave became a customary stop made by the Ryukyuan embassies to Edo for the remainder of the [[Edo period]]. In [[1790]], Prince [[Ginowan Chosho|Ginowan Chôshô]]<!--宜野湾王子朝祥--> (also known as Shô Yô<!--尚容-->) erected a new gravestone. A framed piece of calligraphy by Ginowan Chôshô, also donated to the temple at that time, hangs inside the temple's main hall (''hondô''), along with a number of similar plaques associated with [[Korean embassies to Edo]].
[[Prince Sho Ko|Crown Prince Shô Kô]], younger brother to King [[Sho Nei|Shô Nei]], died at Sunpu in 1610 while a hostage of [[Shimazu Iehisa]]. He was buried at Seikan-ji, and his grave became a customary stop made by the Ryukyuan embassies to Edo for the remainder of the [[Edo period]]. In [[1790]], Prince [[Ginowan Chosho|Ginowan Chôshô]]<!--宜野湾王子朝祥--> (also known as Shô Yô<!--尚容-->) erected a new gravestone. A framed piece of calligraphy by Ginowan Chôshô, also donated to the temple at that time, hangs inside the temple's main hall (''hondô''), along with a number of similar plaques associated with [[Korean embassies to Edo]].
Other objects held by the temple and associated with Ryûkyû include a set of bronze lanterns, six scrolls of memorial writings prepared between 1710 and 1752, eight scrolls of memorial writings prepared between 1764 and 1850, an old ''[[sanshin]]'' today displayed in the ''zashiki'' (parlor) of the temple's main hall, and a number of ''[[tenmoku]]'' ceramics and [[Ryukyuan lacquer|lacquerwares]] today held in the temple's Treasure House.
Other objects held by the temple and associated with Ryûkyû include a set of bronze lanterns, six scrolls of memorial writings prepared between 1710 and 1752, eight scrolls of memorial writings prepared between 1764 and 1850, an old ''[[sanshin]]'' (''shamisen'')today displayed in the ''zashiki'' (parlor) of the temple's main hall, and a number of ''[[tenmoku]]'' ceramics and [[Ryukyuan lacquer|lacquerwares]] today held in the temple's Treasure House.
Seiken-ji is probably best known to westerners through Oliver Statler's book [[Japanese Inn]], which centers around an inn in Okitsu. Statler got much information about the temple directly from temple officials.
==References==
==References==
*Watanabe Miki. "[http://www.geocities.jp/ryukyu_history/Japan_Ryukyu/Main.html Nihon ni okeru Ryûkyû shiseki]." (personal website)
*Watanabe Miki. "[http://www.geocities.jp/ryukyu_history/Japan_Ryukyu/Main.html Nihon ni okeru Ryûkyû shiseki]." (personal website)
<references/>
<references/>
Statler, Oliver, Japanese Inn, Pyramid Books, 1962.
==External Links==
==External Links==
*http://seikenji.com/ The temple's web page, with photos of buidings, the garden, and art treasures.
*[https://maps.google.com/maps?q=%E9%9D%99%E5%B2%A1%E5%B8%82%E6%B8%85%E8%A6%8B%E5%AF%BA&hl=en&ie=UTF8&sll=42.746632,-75.770041&sspn=4.315895,10.821533&t=h&hq=%E9%9D%99%E5%B2%A1%E5%B8%82%E6%B8%85%E8%A6%8B%E5%AF%BA&radius=15000&z=13 Seiken-ji on Google Maps].
*[https://maps.google.com/maps?q=%E9%9D%99%E5%B2%A1%E5%B8%82%E6%B8%85%E8%A6%8B%E5%AF%BA&hl=en&ie=UTF8&sll=42.746632,-75.770041&sspn=4.315895,10.821533&t=h&hq=%E9%9D%99%E5%B2%A1%E5%B8%82%E6%B8%85%E8%A6%8B%E5%AF%BA&radius=15000&z=13 Seiken-ji on Google Maps].