DDB: 根來寺 | Negoroji

Digital Dictionary of Buddhism

根來寺

Pronunciations

Basic Meaning: Negoroji

Senses:

Also known as Negorodera, Negoroji is a Shingon temple of the Shingi school in Wakayama Prefecture. At present, it is also called Ichijōsan Daidenbōin 一乘山大傳法院. In 1140, Kakuban, embroiled in disputes between his own Denbōin faction and the Kongōbuji 金剛峰寺 faction of the Shingon sect, fled Mt. Kōya for Hōfukuji 豐福寺, a branch temple of the Denbōin. Once at Hōfukuji, Kakuban constructed a jingūji and Emmyōji 圓明寺, which became the basis for Negoroji. Because the Denbōin the Kongōbuji continued to feud, the prelates (zasu) Zenjo 禪助 (1247–1330) and Raiyu 賴瑜 (1226–1304) rescinded the names 'Daidenbōin' and 'Mitsugon'in' 密嚴院 from the halls on Mt. Kōya and reapplied them to halls at Negoroji, severing relations with the Kongōbuji in 1288. The name 'Negoroji' does not actually appear in documents until the Muromachi period; in earlier documents it is referred to as or with reference to the Daidenbōin. Negorojiʼs famous army, the Negoroshū, seems to have developed as a result of conflict with the Kongōbuji. In 1336, Ashikaga Takauji guaranteed the templeʼs property and stipends, and in the next year donated an estate to Daidenbōin. Soon thereafter, Genshun 賢俊 (1214–1282), who had been living at the Sambōin at Daigoji 醍醐寺 in Kyoto, was appointed prelate (zasu) of the Daidenbōin. Until then the office had been the perquisite of monks from Ninnaji, but Takauji had close ties with the Sanbōin. Kōsai 光濟 (1326–1379), another Sambōin monk, was appointed prelate after Genshun, and from then on, the Sambōin monzeki, or imperial abbot, served simultaneously as the Daidenbōin zasu. In the Warring States period, the temple took over more and more estates and supported a monastic army, the above-mentioned Negoroshū. The templeʼs power was at its peak in this period, but it opposed Hideyoshi, whose troops burned it to the ground in 1585. Only the Daidenbōdō and the tahōtō pagoda survived the conflagration. Under the legacy of Kakuban, Negoroji flourished as the center of the Shingi school of Shingon throughout the middle ages. After Kakuban, Raiyu 賴瑜 (1226–1304), Shōken 聖憲 (dates unclear; mid-Kamakura period), and Dōyu 道瑜 (1422–1493) are well-known proponents of the Shingi transmissions. After its destruction, Senyo 專譽 (1530–1604) and Genyū 玄宥 (1529–1605) 'restored' Negoroji, but they did so at Hasedera 長谷寺 (a Chisan 智山 sect Shingon temple in Nara) and at the Chishakuin 知積院 (a Buzan 豐山 sect Shingon temple in Kyoto). As a result, both of these temples were ranked as the seat (honzan) of the Shingi school in the Edo period. In 1752, Negoroji was rebuilt on its former grounds as a joint effort by Hasedera (headquarters of the Buzan School) and the Chishakuin (the headquarters of the Chisan School), which governed it in tandem. From the Meiji period, Negoroji was controlled by both the Chisan and the Buzan schools; however, in 1949, it formed its own school, the Shingi Shingonshū. The templeʼs tahōtō pagoda is a national treasure, and the Daishidō an important cultural property. [Heather Blair, M. McMullen]

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[Dictionary References]

Bukkyō jiten (Ui) 846

Iwanami bukkyō jiten 647

Bukkyō daijiten (Mochizuki) (v.1-6)3327b,3585c

Bukkyō daijiten (Oda) 1370-3

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Entry created: 2001-09-08

Updated: 2011-07-07