Hōryū-ji Temple

Overview

Hōryū-ji (法隆寺) is a Buddhist temple in Ikaruga, in Nara Prefecture, Japan. It was founded in 607, during the Asuka period (538–710), and is among the oldest Buddhist sites in the country. The temple's founding is credited to Prince Shōtoku, and it belongs to a group known as the Nanto Shichi Daiji (南都七大寺), the Seven Great Temples of Nara. Its full name is Hōryū Gakumonji (法隆学問寺), the "Learning Temple of the Flourishing Law," reflecting its role as both a seminary and a monastery.

The temple complex sits at coordinates 34.6144444, 135.7341667, in the town of Ikaruga. It is the centrepiece of the Buddhist Monuments in the Hōryū-ji Area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site registered in 1993 together with Hokki-ji — Japan's first entry on the World Heritage list.

History

Prince Shōtoku founded Hōryū-ji in 607, shortly after Buddhism reached Japan. According to the Nihon Shoki (日本書紀), an early official chronicle, lightning struck the temple in 670 and burned down all its buildings. Reconstruction began soon afterwards.

The rebuilt complex is more than 1,300 years old. The Kondō (金堂), the main hall, is widely recognised as the world's oldest wooden building. A tree-ring survey carried out in 2001 found that the shinbashira (心柱), the central pillar of the five-storey pagoda, had been cut down in 594 — before the fire of 670.

On 26 January 1949, a fire broke out while the Kondō was being dismantled for repair. The blaze heavily damaged the building and destroyed an Asuka-period mural that was a national treasure, an event that shocked Japan. As a direct result, 26 January is now observed as fire prevention day for cultural properties.

What Stands There Today

The temple grounds hold a large group of named structures. The central precinct includes the Golden Hall (Kondō), the Five-storied Pagoda, the Large Lecture Hall, the Scripture House, the Belfry, the Nandaimon (南大門), the great south gate, and the Nishi Kairō, the west corridor. The East Precinct contains the Yumedono (夢殿), the "Hall of Dreams," and the West Octagonal Hall.

Other buildings on the site include the Shōryō-in, the Three Sutra Hall and West Dormitory, and the Hōryū-ji Great Treasure Gallery, which houses temple treasures. Further works associated with the temple are held at the Tokyo National Museum as the Hōryū-ji Treasures. The temple also owns the Tamamushi Shrine (玉虫厨子), an Asuka-period miniature shrine, and a statue of the Buddha.

Hōryū-ji is listed within several groupings and routes: the Buddhist Monuments in the Hōryū-ji Area, the seven great temples founded by Prince Shōtoku, the Shinbutsu Reijō Junpai no Michi pilgrimage route, the Yamato Northern 88 Sacred Sites, and the Historical Sites of Prince Shōtoku. The temple observes the Ōeshiki (お会式), a memorial ceremony, and has suffered conflagration during its history.

The Name in Japanese

The temple's name is written 法隆寺. It is read in kana as ほうりゅうじ, and in romaji as Hōryū-ji. The long ō in the second syllable is a long vowel, so the name has four morae: ho-o-ryu-u-ji.

Breaking the name down character by character:

• 法 — read here as ほう (hō). This kanji means "law," "dharma," or "teaching." In a Buddhist context it most often renders the Sanskrit dharma, the Buddha's teaching.
• 隆 — read here as りゅう (ryū). This kanji means "flourishing," "prosperous," or "rising high."
• 寺 — read here as じ (ji). This kanji means "temple." It appears in the names of Buddhist temples across Japan, such as Hokki-ji and Tōdai-ji.

Together the three characters mean "Temple of the Flourishing Dharma." The full name, Hōryū Gakumonji (法隆学問寺), adds 学問 (gakumon), "learning" or "study," marking the complex as a place of scholarship as well as worship.

Visiting and Context

Hōryū-ji lies in Ikaruga, a short distance from Nara, and is reached from the town's own station, Hōryūji. The temple is the anchor of the Buddhist Monuments in the Hōryū-ji Area, the UNESCO listing it shares with Hokki-ji, registered in 1993 as Japan's first World Heritage Site.

For students of Japanese, the name repays attention. The kanji 寺 appears in temple names throughout the country, while 法 carries the sense of Buddhist teaching that runs through vocabulary such as 法律 (hōritsu, "law") and 方法 (hōhō, "method"). The reading of 法 as ほう and 隆 as りゅう shows how the same characters shift pronunciation from word to word — a pattern worth noticing early. The temple's own history supplies the word shinbashira (心柱), the central pillar of a pagoda, and Kondō (金堂), the main hall, both of which appear in descriptions of Japanese architecture far beyond Ikaruga.