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Rinzai The Rinzai school (, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng), named after Linji Yixuan (Romaji: Rinzai Gigen, died 866 CE) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism, along with Sōtō and Ōbaku. The Chinese Linji school of ...

temple in

Kurume is a city in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 295,367 in 137,140 households, and a population density of 1309 people per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Kurume is located in the Chikugo Plain ...

Fukuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Its honorary '' sangō'' prefix is . It is known as a representative training ''

dojo A is a hall or place for immersive learning, experiential learning, or meditation. This is traditionally in the field of martial arts. The term literally means "place of the Tao, Way" in Japanese language, Japanese. History The word ''d� ...

'' temple of the

Myōshin-ji is a temple complex in Kyoto, Japan, which serves as the head temple of the associated branch of Rinzai Zen Buddhism. The Myōshin-ji School is by far the largest school in Rinzai Zen, approximately as big as the other thirteen branches combined: ...

school.

History

This temple was the ''

bodaiji A in Japanese Buddhism is a temple which, generation after generation, takes care of a family's dead, giving them burial and performing ceremonies in their soul's favor.Iwanami kojien The name is derived from the term , which originally meant ju ...

'' of the

Arima clan The is a Japanese samurai family. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)">DF 6-7 of 80">"Arima," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', pp. 2-3

Fukuchiyama file:Fukuchiyama City Hall.jpg, Fukuchiyama City Hall file:福知山駅プラットフォームより View toward northeast from platform of Fukuchiyama station 2011.1.10 - panoramio.jpg, Fukuchiyama city center is a Cities of Japan, city in north ...

in the Tanba Province, where it was called Zuigan-ji (瑞巌寺). In 1620, when Arima Toyōji was transferred from Fukuchiyama Domain to

Kurume Domain 270px, Arima Yorishige, final daimyo of Kurume Domain was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It was associated with Chikugo Province in modern-day Fukuoka Prefecture on the island of Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Ja ...

in Chikugo Province, he relocated the temple to his new domain and named it Dairyū-ji (大龍寺). It was later renamed to Bairin-ji which is associated with his father Noriyori's

posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary Personal name, name given mainly to revered dead people in East Asian cultural sphere, East Asian culture. It is predominantly used in Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. ...

, Bairin'in-den (梅林院殿) and became a mausoleum of the successive ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' of the domain. It is located in the western end of Kurume city, next to the

Chikugo River The flows through Kumamoto, Ōita, Fukuoka and Saga prefectures in Japan. With a total length of , it is the longest river on Kyūshū. It flows from Mount Aso and empties into the Ariake Sea. It is also nicknamed "Tsukushi Jirō". The upp ...

. Along with

Shōgen-ji is a temple of the Myoshin-ji branch of Japanese Rinzai School of Zen Buddhism in Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Japan. History According to the oral tradition, Shōgen-ji was initially built as a Tendai temple during Saicho's visit to Eastern Japan ...

Gifu Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,910,511 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture ...

, Bairin-ji was regarded one of the most rigorous and demanding Zen training monasteries (修行道場) in Japan. However, with the start of the

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

the temple fell into disrepair with the loss of the Arima clan patronage and with the new government's ''

haibutsu kishaku (literally "abolish Buddhism and destroy Shākyamuni") is a term that indicates a current of thought continuous in Japan's history which advocates the expulsion of Buddhism from Japan.Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

, where regular meditation is practiced and taught to monks and lay people.

Cultural properties

The temple is a treasure trove of some 600 cultural assets. The collection includes the silken hanging scroll of three Buddhas called ''Shaka Sanzon'' (釈迦三尊) and a painting of Mt. Fuji by renowned Edo-period painter Ogata Korin (1658-1716). Other Edo period cultural assets in the temple include folding screens from Tohaku Hasegawa, and fusuma (Japanese sliding door) paintings in the

Kano Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria *Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State ** Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries ** Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom betwee ...

style. The colored silk wooden Avalokiteśvara statue in the main hall is the work of the

Kamakura period The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...

Garden and plum blossoms

The Gaien (外苑) is a garden which is adjacent to

side to the north side. Approximately 30 species of 500 plums donated by the citizens, and many azaleas are planted in the garden. It was opened as a park in 1958 to commemorate the 350 years old of the founding priest, Umon Genkyū Zenji (禹門玄級禅師). The temple's name, Bairinji, translates to Plum Grove Temple. The plum trees, flower mid-February to mid-March, adding a streak of pink and white to the temple grounds. The blossoms are quite fragrant, and many visitors go to the temple to enjoy a cup of tea and sweets beneath the flowering trees.

Arima clan cemetery

On the grounds of Bairin-ji is a cemetery with the graves of the Edo period Arima clan ''daimyō'' of

and their families, as well as their deceased vassals. This was designated a National Historic Site in 2021. It was the practice of the Arima clan to construct the grave of a ''daimyō'' who died while in residence in Kurume at Bairin-ji, whereas if he died while on '' sankin kōtai'' duties in

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

, the grave would be erected at the clan's Edo ''bodai-ji'' of Shoun-ji in Hiroo. Thus at Bairin-ji are the graves of the 1st ''daimyō'', Arima Toyouji, the 2nd ''daimyō'', Arima Tagayori, the 7th ''daimyō'' Arima Yoriyuki and the 10th ''daimyō'' Arima Yorinaga. The cemetery contains five memorial chapels, all constructed between 1630-1655. These structures were designated National Important Cultural Properties in 2018.

Sub-temple

There are several temples in Fukuoka, Saga and Kumamoto Prefectures that are closely related to Bairinji Temple. Mostly for the fact that they also belong to the Myoshin-ji Sect and their respective abbots trained at Bairinji. However, the only temple that is a direct sub-temple is a temple that also bears, for the very reason, a partly identical name: • Yamamoto Bairinji(梅林寺山本分院) is located only ten kilometers to the West of its mother temple, in Yamamoto Village at the foot of the rugged Mino Mountains.
-Google Maps: Route (and distance) between Bairinji Main Temple to Yamamoto Bairinji Sub-temple

References

External links

Bairin-ji Temple - Kurume Convention BureauPublic Domain Image of the 14th Century Shaka Triad Scroll - Public Domain Host PicrylInner Zen Garden of Bairinji-ji - A short video hosted on YouTubeIn One Minute from Shinkansen Station to Tranquility - A short video hosted on YouTubeDarkness and Light - Inside of Edo Period Built Zen Temple - A short video hosted on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bairin-Ji Buddhist temples in Fukuoka Prefecture Rinzai school Buildings and structures in Fukuoka Prefecture Kurume Fukuoka Prefecture designated tangible cultural property Historic Sites of Japan