Kōryū-ji Temple

Overview

Kōryū-ji (広隆寺, Kōryū-ji) is a Buddhist temple in Uzumasa, in Ukyō Ward in the west of Kyoto. It belongs to the Shingon school of Japanese Buddhism. The temple was founded in 603, during the Asuka period (538–710), which makes it the oldest temple in Kyoto.

Kōryū-ji is one of the seven great temples founded by Prince Shōtoku, and it is listed among the Historical Sites of Prince Shōtoku. Its grounds contain the Kōryū-ji Reihō-den and the Kōryū-ji Keikyū-in Hondō.

History

Kōryū-ji was constructed in 603 by Hata no Kawakatsu. According to the temple's tradition, Hata no Kawakatsu founded it after receiving a Buddhist statue from Prince Shōtoku. The Hata were a powerful immigrant clan of continental descent who were based in the Uzumasa area and who were among the earliest and most enthusiastic patrons of Buddhism in Japan. Prince Shōtoku, who lived from 574 to 622, was the regent and statesman traditionally credited with establishing Buddhism as a state-supported religion.

The temple was destroyed by fire in 818 and again in 1150. Each time, the complex was rebuilt. Over the centuries that followed, the temple was rebuilt several more times.

What Stands There Today

Two structures on the site are recorded as its constituent parts: the Kōryū-ji Reihō-den (広隆寺霊宝殿), the temple's treasure hall, and the Kōryū-ji Keikyū-in Hondō (広隆寺桂宮院本堂), the main hall of the Keikyū-in sub-temple. The Reihō-den is where the temple's celebrated sculptures are kept, most famously the Miroku Bosatsu, a wooden image of the bodhisattva Maitreya that is one of the best-known works of Asuka-period sculpture and a National Treasure of Japan.

The Name in Japanese

The temple's name is written 広隆寺. It is read in kana as こうりゅうじ, and in romaji as Kōryū-ji. The macrons mark long vowels: the "ō" in Kō and the "ū" in ryū are each held for two beats.

Broken down character by character:

• 広 — read here as こう (kō). The character means "wide", "broad" or "spacious". On its own it is the everyday Japanese adjective 広い (hiroi), "wide".
• 隆 — read here as りゅう (ryū). The character means "prosperous", "flourishing" or "lofty". It is a common element in personal names and in the names of temples and eras.
• 寺 — read here as じ (ji). The character means "temple". It is the standard suffix attached to the name of a Buddhist temple, and it appears in the names of temples all over Japan.

The full name therefore carries a sense of a temple of broad prosperity. The reading こうりゅうじ follows the on'yomi, or Sino-Japanese reading, of the first two characters, which is typical for temple names.

The temple has also been known by several other names over its long history. It is called Uzumasa-dera (太秦寺) and Kadono-dera (葛野寺), both taken from the locality. It was formerly known as Hatanokimi-dera (秦公寺), after the Hata clan, and as Hachioka-dera (蜂岡寺) and Hōkō-ji (蜂岡寺). The last two names share the same characters, 蜂岡寺, but are read differently.

Visiting and Context

Kōryū-ji stands in Uzumasa, a district in Ukyō Ward in western Kyoto. Uzumasa is the historic heartland of the Hata clan, and the area preserves that association in its place names and institutions. The temple's coordinates are 35.0155° N, 135.7073° E.

For students of Japanese, Kōryū-ji is a useful name to know for several reasons. It contains 寺 (ji), the temple suffix that appears in hundreds of Japanese place names, from 清水寺 (Kiyomizu-dera) to 東大寺 (Tōdai-ji). It also illustrates how Japanese temple names are read with Sino-Japanese on'yomi rather than native kun'yomi, and how long vowels are marked in romaji with macrons. The alternative names — Uzumasa-dera, Kadono-dera, Hatanokimi-dera, Hachioka-dera and Hōkō-ji — show how a single site can accumulate names from its location, its patron clan and its own history.

The temple is closely tied to Prince Shōtoku, one of the foundational figures of Japanese history and a central figure in the introduction of Buddhism to Japan. Kōryū-ji's status as the oldest temple in Kyoto, and its place among the seven great temples founded by Prince Shōtoku, give it a position at the very beginning of the written history of Japanese Buddhism.