Hōrin-ji Temple

Overview

Hōrin-ji (法輪寺) is a Buddhist temple of the Shingon school in Arashiyama, in the Nishikyō Ward of Kyoto. Its founding is dated to 713, during the Nara period (710–794), the era when Buddhism was being organised as a state religion and the great temples of Nara were rising. The temple carries the honorific mountain-name, or sangō (山号), Chifuku-san (智福山). It is counted among the Thirteen Buddhist Sites of Kyoto, a pilgrimage circuit of temples in and around the city.

History

The temple was founded in 713, the sixth year of the Wadō era (和銅), by the monk Gyōki. Gyōki was one of the most active religious figures of the Nara period, credited with travelling the provinces, preaching to common people, and building bridges, reservoirs and temples. Hōrin-ji is one of the foundations attributed to him. At its founding the temple was named Kadonoi-dera (葛井寺), a name it later shed in favour of Hōrin-ji.

The temple's central object of worship is the bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha, known in Japanese as Kokūzō (虚空蔵), the bodhisattva of boundless space. Devotion to Kokūzō was well established in Japan by the Nara period, and a temple dedicated to this figure fits the pattern of Gyōki's foundations, which often served communities outside the capital's great monastic establishments.

Over the centuries the temple became associated with the Shingon school, the tradition of esoteric Buddhism established in Japan by Kūkai in the early ninth century. Within the temple grounds stands the Denden-gū, a shrine structure that forms part of the site. The temple's inclusion among the Thirteen Buddhist Sites of Kyoto places it within a modern pilgrimage network that links it to other historic temples in the region.

What Stands There Today

The temple occupies a hillside site in Arashiyama, at coordinates 35.0102361, 135.6769750, in Nishikyō Ward. The grounds include the Denden-gū, a shrine that is counted as a part of the temple complex. The temple is listed as one of the Thirteen Buddhist Sites of Kyoto, a designation that continues to draw pilgrims and visitors to the site.

Arashiyama itself is one of Kyoto's best-known scenic districts, on the western edge of the city, and the temple's position there places it within a landscape of hills, river and bamboo groves that has been celebrated for centuries. The temple's setting in this district, rather than in the central city, reflects the pattern of many of Kyoto's older religious sites, which were established on the mountainous periphery.

The Name in Japanese

The temple's name is written 法輪寺. Its reading in kana is ほうりんじ, and in romaji it is Hōrin-ji. The name is made up of three characters:

• 法 — read here as hō. This character means "dharma", the Buddhist law or teaching. It is one of the most common characters in Japanese Buddhist vocabulary, appearing in words such as 仏法 (buppō, the Buddhist law) and 法事 (hōji, a memorial service).
• 輪 — read here as rin. This character means "wheel" or "ring". Combined with the first character, 法輪 (hōrin) means the "wheel of the dharma", the Buddhist teaching conceived as a wheel that rolls forward and cannot be stopped. The image comes from the Buddha's first sermon, traditionally called the "turning of the wheel of the dharma".
• 寺 — read here as ji. This character means "temple". It is the standard suffix for Buddhist temple names in Japan, and appears in the names of thousands of temples, from the great foundations of Nara and Kyoto to small local halls.

So the full name means "Temple of the Dharma Wheel". The reading of the first two characters together, hōrin, is the ordinary Japanese pronunciation of the compound 法輪; the final character 寺 takes the reading ji in this compound, a common pattern in temple names. The temple's original name, Kadonoi-dera (葛井寺), is written with different characters and has no connection to the dharma-wheel image; the change of name reflects the temple's later identity as a Shingon site.

The temple also carries the mountain-name Chifuku-san (智福山). A sangō is an honorific prefix used in Japanese temple names, originally referring to the mountain on which the temple stood. 智 (chi) means "wisdom", 福 (fuku) means "fortune" or "blessing", and 山 (san) means "mountain".

Visiting and Context

Hōrin-ji sits in Arashiyama, in Nishikyō Ward, on the western side of Kyoto. The area is reached from central Kyoto by train or by the riverside routes that run west from the city. The temple is one of the Thirteen Buddhist Sites of Kyoto, a pilgrimage circuit that includes temples across the city and its surrounding districts; pilgrims following the circuit visit Hōrin-ji alongside the other sites on the route.

For students of Japanese, the temple's name is a useful example of how Buddhist vocabulary is built. The character 法 appears in a great many words connected with Buddhist practice and with the law more generally, while 寺 is the standard element for temple names. Recognising these two characters alone makes it possible to read a large number of Japanese place names and religious terms. The compound 法輪, "dharma wheel", is a fixed expression that appears in Buddhist texts and in the names of temples and halls across Japan.