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Shōryū-ji

Coordinates: 33°25′34″N 133°27′03″E / 33.42604°N 133.45079°E / 33.42604; 133.45079
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shōryū-ji
青龍寺
Religion
AffiliationShingon
Location
LocationKōchi-ken
CountryJapan
Geographic coordinates33°25′34″N 133°27′03″E / 33.42604°N 133.45079°E / 33.42604; 133.45079
Website
http://www.88shikokuhenro.jp/36shoryuji/

Shōryū-ji (青龍寺 kana: しょうりゅうじ) is a Shingon Buddhist Temple located in Tosa, Kōchi, Japan. It is the 36th temple of the Shikoku Pilgrimage.[1]

The Honzon of worship at Shōryū-ji is Acala.

History

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According to the temple records, the temple was founded by Kukai during the Kōnin era (810-824). Following his travels to China, upon returning to Japan with the knowledge that Kukai's teacher Huiguo had bestowed upon him, Kukai grasped his vajra, prayed that he had arrived in a land he was destined to, and threw it eastwards.

Kukai sensed that the vajra he had thrown was inside a pine tree of the mountain Shōryū-ji is located on, and reported to Emperor Saga. During the 6th year of the Kounin era (815), remembering his master's teachings, Kukai founded the construction of Shoryu-ji, which shared the same name as his masters temple in Chang-an, Qinglong Temple (青龍寺). The Honzon Acala was chosen due to an experience Kukai had during a storm while returning to Japan, in which Acala was said to have appeared and cut the waves with a sword, saving them, which Kukai had carved as the Honzon.

The temple was in ruins by the beginning of the Edo period (1603-1868), but the second feudal lord of the Tosa domain, Yamauchi Tadayoshi, had it restored during the Shōhō era (1644-1648). However, due to an earthquake and tsunami in 1707, it was rebuilt near the end of the Edo period.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "第36番札所 独鈷山 伊舎那院 青龍寺 – (一社)四国八十八ヶ所霊場会". www.88shikokuhenro.jp. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  2. ^ Gorai, Shigeru (2009). 四国遍路の寺 下. 角川学芸出版. p. 238. ISBN 978-4044085049.