Sōfuku-ji Temple

Overview

Sōfuku-ji (崇福寺, そうふくじ) is a Buddhist temple in the city of Gifu, in Gifu Prefecture, central Japan. It was founded in 1390, in the first year of the Meitoku era (明徳, めいとく), during the Muromachi period (1336–1573). The temple stands at latitude 35.4434444, longitude 136.7672222, on the plain that holds the modern city of Gifu.

Two things give Sōfuku-ji its reputation. The first is its monastic output: the temple is known throughout Japan for the number of monks it trains and produces. The second is a physical feature — a "Blood Ceiling," a ceiling whose boards carry the marks of blood — which draws visitors from across the country. The temple also belongs to the Mino Thirty-three Kannon (美濃三十三観音, みのさんじゅうさんかんのん), a pilgrimage circuit of thirty-three Kannon sites in the old province of Mino, the region that corresponds roughly to modern Gifu Prefecture.

History

Sōfuku-ji was founded in 1390, the first year of Meitoku, in the Muromachi period. In its early years the temple was also known as Kōsai-ji (弘済寺, こうさいじ); that name has fallen out of use, and the temple is known today only as Sōfuku-ji.

The temple's later history is bound up with two of the most consequential figures in the region's sixteenth-century wars. The first is Saitō Dōsan (斎藤道三, さいとう どうさん), the daimyo who made himself master of Mino province from his base at Inabayama Castle in what is now Gifu. The second is Oda Nobunaga (織田信長, おだ のぶなが), the warlord who took that castle from Dōsan's heirs in 1567 and made it his own headquarters, renaming it Gifu. Sōfuku-ji has strong ties to both men.

The temple's "Blood Ceiling" belongs to this violent chapter. Ceiling boards bearing bloodstains are a feature of several temples connected with the period's warfare, where the boards are said to have been salvaged from castle floors or from the sites of deaths and carried to the temple for memorial use. At Sōfuku-ji the ceiling is the temple's best-known single feature and the reason many visitors make the trip.

What Stands There Today

The temple occupies its site in Gifu as a working Buddhist establishment rather than a ruin or a museum piece. Its continuing function as a training centre for monks is central to its identity: the temple is famed throughout Japan for the number of monks it produces. For a visitor, that means a compound that is active rather than curated — a place of ordination and monastic discipline as much as a destination for sightseers.

The Blood Ceiling remains the principal attraction for general visitors, and the temple's place on the Mino Thirty-three Kannon circuit brings pilgrims as well as tourists. The circuit gives the temple a role in a wider devotional geography that stretches across Gifu Prefecture.

The Name in Japanese

The temple's name is written 崇福寺. Its kana reading is そうふくじ, and its romaji is Sōfuku-ji. The macron over the first o marks a long vowel: the う in そう lengthens the そ, so the first element is pronounced "sō" and held for two beats, not "so."

The name breaks down into three kanji:

• 崇 — read here as そう (sō). The character means "to revere," "to hold in high esteem," or "lofty." It is the same character used in 崇拝 (すうはい, sūhai), "worship" or "adoration," and in 崇敬 (すうけい, sūkei), "reverence." In this name it carries the sense of deep veneration.
• 福 — read here as ふく (fuku). The character means "fortune," "good luck," or "blessing." It appears in everyday words such as 幸福 (こうふく, kōfuku), "happiness," and 福袋 (ふくぶくろ, fukubukuro), the "lucky bag" sold at New Year.
• 寺 — read here as じ (ji). The character means "temple" and is the standard suffix for a Buddhist temple's name. It appears in お寺 (おてら, otera), the everyday word for a temple, and in the names of temples across Japan.

Put together, 崇福寺 can be read as "Temple of Revering Fortune" or "Temple of Venerable Blessing" — an auspicious name of the kind common among Zen and other Buddhist foundations. Note that 寺 has two common readings: じ (ji) in compound temple names such as this one, and てら (tera) when the word stands alone.

The earlier name, Kōsai-ji (弘済寺, こうさいじ), is built from 弘 ("spread wide," "make great"), 済 ("relieve," "save," "bring to completion"), and the same 寺. It is no longer used for the temple.

Visiting and Context

Sōfuku-ji sits within the city of Gifu, which grew up around the castle that Saitō Dōsan held and Oda Nobunaga seized in 1567. The temple's associations with both men make it a natural stop for anyone tracing the Mino and Oda story on the ground, and its position on the Mino Thirty-three Kannon circuit places it within a well-established pilgrimage route through the prefecture.

The two features to seek out are the Blood Ceiling and the working monastic side of the temple, which is what the temple is best known for nationally. Visitors should keep in mind that this is an active training temple: the monks in residence are not an exhibit, and the compound's rhythms follow the monastic calendar rather than a tourist timetable.