was a

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 ...

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

temple and royal ''

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

Ryūkyū Kingdom The Ryukyu Kingdom was a kingdom in the Ryukyu Islands from 1429 to 1879. It was ruled as a Tributary system of China, tributary state of Ming dynasty, imperial Ming China by the King of Ryukyu, Ryukyuan monarchy, who unified Okinawa Island t ...

, located in

Naha is the Cities of Japan, capital city of Okinawa Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture of Japan. As of 1 June 2019, the city has an estimated population of 317,405 and a population density of 7,939 people per km2 (20,562 persons per sq. mi.). ...

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

. The temple was erected by Keiin Ansen () during the reign of King

Shō Taikyū Shō Taikyū (1410–1460) was a king of the first Shō dynasty of the Ryukyu Kingdom of the western Pacific island of Okinawa, reigning from 1454 to 1460. Although described in the official histories of Ryukyu and the Ming annals as a relative ...

(r. 1454–1460). The

Mahavira Hall A Mahavira Hall, usually simply known as a Main Hall, is the main hall or building in a traditional Chinese culture, Chinese Buddhist temple, enshrining representations of Gautama Buddha and various other buddhas and bodhisattvas. It is encoun ...

was built in 1466, a ''

bonshō , also known as or are large bell (instrument), bells found in Buddhist temples in Japan, Buddhist temples throughout Japan, used to summon the monks to prayer and to demarcate periods of time. Rather than containing a clapper, are struck fr ...

'' was cast in 1469 and hung at it. The temple was used as ''

'' of kings during the

first Shō Dynasty The was a dynasty of the Ryukyu Kingdom on Okinawa Island in the 15th century, ruled by the under the title of Genealogy of the Kings of Chūzan, King of Chūzan. According to the official history books compiled during the second Shō Dynasty, ...

. In the

second Shō Dynasty The was the last dynasty of the Ryukyu Kingdom from 1469 to 1879, ruled by the under the title of King of Chūzan. This family took the family name from the earlier rulers of the kingdom, the first Shō family, even though the new royal famil ...

, it was used as ''

'' of unmarried Ryukyuan princes and princesses. Ryukyuan king should visit

Enkaku-ji , or Engaku-ji (円覚寺), is one of the most important Zen Buddhism, Zen Buddhist temple complexes in Japan and is ranked second among Kamakura's Five Mountain System, Five Mountains. It is situated in the List of cities in Japan, city of Kamak ...

, Tennō-ji and Tenkai-ji after his ''

genpuku is a public holiday in Japan held annually on the second Monday of January under the Happy Monday System. It is held in order to congratulate and encourage all those who have already reached the age of maturity between April 2 of the previou ...

'' and investiture.天界寺跡(テンカイジアト)
/ref> Ryukyu was annexed by Japan in 1879, and Tenkai-ji was closed in the same year. It was destroyed in the 1945

battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa Island, Okinawa by United States Army and United States Marine Corps forces against the Imperial Japanese Army during the Pacific War, Impe ...

.天界寺跡
/ref>

References

15th-century Buddhist temples Buddhist temples in Okinawa Prefecture 1879 disestablishments {{Japan-Buddhist-temple-stub

See also

References