Changes

*''Established: late 7th century''

*''Other Names'': 巨鼇山 ''(Kogouzan)''

*''Established: [[679]]''

*''Other Names'': 巨鼇山清見興国禅寺 ''(Kogouzan seiken koukoku zenji)''

*''Japanese'': 清見寺 ''(Seiken-ji; Kiyomi-dera)''

*''Japanese'': 清見寺 ''(Seiken-ji; Kiyomi-dera)''

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.  

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 current main hall dates to [[1702]].

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, and its garden was officially named a "famous site" (''meishô''<ref>名勝</ref>) in the early [[Edo period]].

The temple is believed to have been originally founded in [[679]], 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]]-[[1262]], by Zen master [[Muden Shozen|Muden Shôzen]]<!--無伝聖禅-->, and significant sections of the foundations of the current temple still date to that time. The temple was restored once again by [[Shogun]] [[Ashikaga Takauji]] in [[1342]], and its garden was officially named a "famous site" (''meishô''<ref>名勝</ref>) in the early [[Edo period]].

Seiken-ji has also been host to many prominent historical figures. According to temple tradition, when he was a child, [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] 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> [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] stayed there while his headquarters were being completed for the [[1590]] [[siege of Odawara]]; he is said to have been impressed by the sound of the temple bell, and requisitioned it for use during the campaign. Seiken-ji also saw the visits of shogun [[Tokugawa Iemochi]], who stayed there briefly in [[1862]] while on his way to Kyoto, and of [[Emperor Meiji]], who stayed there [[1869|seven years later]] while on his way to the new capital of Tokyo.

Seiken-ji has also been host to many prominent historical figures. According to temple tradition, when he was a child, [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] 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> [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] stayed there while his headquarters were being completed for the [[1590]] [[siege of Odawara]]; he is said to have been impressed by the sound of the temple bell, and requisitioned it for use during the campaign. Seiken-ji also saw the visits of shogun [[Tokugawa Iemochi]], who stayed there briefly in [[1862]] while on his way to Kyoto, and of [[Emperor Meiji]], who stayed there [[1869|seven years later]] while on his way to the new capital of Tokyo.

Seiken-ji maintains an important connection to the [[Ryukyuan embassies to Edo]], as it is the site of the grave of [[Prince Sho Ko|Crown Prince Shô Kô]], younger brother to King [[Sho Nei|Shô Nei]], who died at Okitsu in [[1610]], while a hostage of [[Shimazu Iehisa]] following the [[Invasion of Ryukyu|Shimazu invasion of Ryûkyû]] the previous year. Ryukyuan embassies to Edo customarily stopped to visit his grave during the remainder of the [[Edo period]]. There are records of stops in [[1710]], [[1714]], [[1749]], [[1764]], [[1790]], [[1806]], [[1832]], 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 next to the original one, both of which still stand today. 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 pair of wooden plaques inscribed with a poetic couplet in calligraphy by Itoyama ''peechin'' [[Sho Teiyoku|Shô Teiyoku]]<!--伊渡山親雲上向廷翼--> (''seishi shisan'', or Assistant to the Lead Envoy, on the 1790 mission and a relative of Prince Shô Kô)<ref>''Shirarezaru Ryûkyû shisetsu'' 知られざる琉球使節, Fukuyama-shi Tomonoura rekishi minzoku shiryôkan (2006), 87.</ref> as well as a number of similar plaques associated with [[Korean embassies to Edo]]. Objects related to the Korean missions include a folding screen inscribed by a member of a Ryukyuan mission with poetry written by the three chief envoys of the [[1607]] Korean mission, who stayed at Seiken-ji on their way to [[Edo]].<ref>''Shirarezaru Ryûkyû shisetsu'', 92.</ref>

Seiken-ji maintains an important connection to the [[Ryukyuan embassies to Edo]], as it is the site of the grave of [[Prince Sho Ko|Crown Prince Shô Kô]], younger brother to King [[Sho Nei|Shô Nei]], who died at Okitsu in [[1610]], while a hostage of [[Shimazu Iehisa]] following the [[Invasion of Ryukyu|Shimazu invasion of Ryûkyû]] the previous year. Ryukyuan embassies to Edo customarily stopped to visit his grave during the remainder of the [[Edo period]]. There are records of stops in [[1710]], [[1714]], [[1749]], [[1764]], [[1790]], [[1806]], [[1832]], 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 next to the original one, both of which still stand today. 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 pair of wooden plaques inscribed with a poetic couplet in calligraphy by Itoyama ''peechin'' [[Sho Teiyoku|Shô Teiyoku]]<!--伊渡山親雲上向廷翼--> (''seishi shisan'', or Assistant to the Lead Envoy, on the 1790 mission and a relative of Prince Shô Kô)<ref>''Shirarezaru Ryûkyû shisetsu'' 知られざる琉球使節, Fukuyama-shi Tomonoura rekishi minzoku shiryôkan (2006), 87.</ref> as well as a number of similar plaques associated with [[Korean embassies to Edo]], which typically lodged at the temple overnight while passing through Okitsu on their journey.<ref>Timon Screech, ''Obtaining Images'', University of Hawaii Press (2012), 110.</ref> Objects related to the Korean missions include a folding screen inscribed by a member of a Ryukyuan mission with poetry written by the three chief envoys of the [[1607]] Korean mission, who stayed at Seiken-ji on their way to [[Edo]].<ref>''Shirarezaru Ryûkyû shisetsu'', 92.</ref>

 

The grave of another Ryukyuan individual, Nakanishi ''[[Court ranks in Ryukyu|chikudun]]'', is also located at Seiken-ji. Following his death in Hamamatsu on [[1710]]/11/2, and his burial, Seiken-ji exchanged a number of letters and gifts with the Ryukyuan temple of [[Choju-ji|Chôju-ji]].<ref>Miyagi Eishô 宮城栄昌, ''Ryûkyû shisha no Edo nobori'' 琉球使者の江戸上り, Tokyo: Daiichi Shobô (1982), 209.</ref>

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.

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.

*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)

*Statler, Oliver, Japanese Inn, Pyramid Books, 1962.

*Statler, Oliver, Japanese Inn, Pyramid Books, 1962.

==Notes==

==Notes==

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