Changes

*''Founded: [[1253]], [[Doryu|Dôryû]]''

*''Founded: [[1253]], [[Lanxi Daolong]]''

*''Japanese'': 建長寺 ''(kenchou-ji)''

*''Japanese'': 建長寺 ''(kenchou-ji)''

Kenchô-ji is the top temple of the [[Kamakura Gosan]] (Kamakura Five [top Zen] Temples), and the head temple of the Kenchô-ji branch of [[Rinzai]] [[Zen]].

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.   

Though originally quite large, with 49 ''[[tatchu|tatchû]]'' (sub-compounds), after many fires and such in the [[Sengoku period]], Kenchô-ji was rebuilt in the [[Edo period]] in its current form. A dragon painting on the ceiling of the ''[[hatto|hattô]]'' (lecture hall) was created by ''[[Nihonga]]'' painter Koizumi Junsaku in 2000, in honor of the then-upcoming 750th anniversary of the temple's founding.

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 Soho|Takuan Sôhô]]. 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.

 

Seven Chinese junipers which stand in the compound, noted as famous historical landmarks<!--名勝史跡-->, are said to have been planted during the temple's founding, making them over 750 years old. The temple's garden is said to have been designed by [[Muso Soseki|Musô Soseki]], and a dragon painting on the ceiling of the ''[[hatto|hattô]]'' (lecture hall) was created by ''[[Nihonga]]'' painter Koizumi Junsaku in 2000, in honor of the then-upcoming 750th anniversary of the temple's founding.

The temple's bell, cast in [[1255]], has been designated a [[National Treasures|National Treasure]], while the main gate to the temple, built in [[1754]], is known as the Tanuki-mon ("badger gate") on account of a legend involving a [[tanuki]] who transformed himself into a monk and worked to raise money for the gate, in order to repay the monks' kindness to him.  

The temple's bell, cast in [[1255]], has been designated a [[National Treasures|National Treasure]], while the main gate to the temple, built in [[1754]], is known as the Tanuki-mon ("badger gate") on account of a legend involving a [[tanuki]] who transformed himself into a monk and worked to raise money for the gate, in order to repay the monks' kindness to him.  

==References==

==References==

*Plaques on-site.

*Plaques on-site.

[[Category:Temples]]

[[Category:Temples]]

[[Category:Kamakura Period]]

[[Category:Kamakura Period]]