| [[Image:Kenchoji-sanmon.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The main gate, or "Tanuki-mon," at Kenchô-ji.]] | | [[Image:Kenchoji-sanmon.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The main gate, or "Tanuki-mon," at Kenchô-ji.]] |
− | *''Founded: [[1253]], [[Doryu|Dôryû]]'' | + | *''Founded: [[1253]], [[Lanxi Daolong]]'' |
| Kenchô-ji is a [[Rinzai]] [[Zen]] temple in [[Kamakura]], the first temple in Japan to be founded as a Zen temple<ref>It is not the first Zen temple to be established in the country, temples founded under a different sect having previously been converted to Zen use.</ref>. Kenchô-ji is counted as number one among the ''[[Kamakura Gosan]]'' (the five top Zen temples in the city). | | Kenchô-ji is a [[Rinzai]] [[Zen]] temple in [[Kamakura]], the first temple in Japan to be founded as a Zen temple<ref>It is not the first Zen temple to be established in the country, temples founded under a different sect having previously been converted to Zen use.</ref>. Kenchô-ji is counted as number one among the ''[[Kamakura Gosan]]'' (the five top Zen temples in the city). |
− | It was founded in [[1253]], when [[Hojo Tokiyori|Hôjô Tokiyori]] invited the Chinese ([[Song Dynasty|Song]]) monk [[Doryu|Dôryû]] to found it. Dôryû would be the first to be named a Japanese Zen master by a Japanese Emperor. | + | It was founded in [[1253]], when [[Hojo Tokiyori|Hôjô Tokiyori]] invited the Chinese ([[Song Dynasty|Song]]) monk [[Lanxi Daolong]] (J: ''Rankei Dôryû'') to found it. Daolong would be the first to be named a Japanese Zen master by a Japanese Emperor. |
| It was originally built in the form of Chinese Ch'an temples, with seven buildings at the center, including a ''[[hatto|hattô]]'' (Hall of the Law), ''[[butsuden]]'' (Buddha Hall), and ''[[sanmon]]'' and ''sômon'' gates. At its height, the temple featured 49 ''[[tatchu|tatchû]]'' (sub-temples within the same compound). Though most burned down over the course of the 14th-15th centuries, a lot was rebuilt in the early [[Edo period]], under the guidance of [[Takuan Osho|Takuan Oshô]]. A Shintô shrine located in the hills directly above the temple serves as the ''[[chinju]]'' guardian shrine for the temple; chiefly associated with ''[[Hansobo|Hansôbô gongen]]'', a deified ''[[tengu]]'', the shrine contains includes numerous statues of ''tengu'', scattered across a small section of the hill. | | It was originally built in the form of Chinese Ch'an temples, with seven buildings at the center, including a ''[[hatto|hattô]]'' (Hall of the Law), ''[[butsuden]]'' (Buddha Hall), and ''[[sanmon]]'' and ''sômon'' gates. At its height, the temple featured 49 ''[[tatchu|tatchû]]'' (sub-temples within the same compound). Though most burned down over the course of the 14th-15th centuries, a lot was rebuilt in the early [[Edo period]], under the guidance of [[Takuan Osho|Takuan Oshô]]. A Shintô shrine located in the hills directly above the temple serves as the ''[[chinju]]'' guardian shrine for the temple; chiefly associated with ''[[Hansobo|Hansôbô gongen]]'', a deified ''[[tengu]]'', the shrine contains includes numerous statues of ''tengu'', scattered across a small section of the hill. |