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Kennin-ji was founded in 1202 CE.
The monk Eisai, credited with introducing Zen to Japan, served as Kennin-ji's founding abbot and is buried on the temple grounds. For its first years the temple combined Zen, Tendai, and Shingon practices, but it became a purely Zen institution under the eleventh abbot, Lanxi Daolong (蘭渓道隆) (1213-1278).
Kennin-ji is considered to be one of the so-called Kyoto Gozan (京都五山 - Kyoto gozan) or "five great Zen temples of Kyoto", along with the Tenryu-ji (天龍寺 - Tenryu-ji), Shokoku-ji (相国寺 - Shokoku-ji), Tofuku-ji (東福寺 - Tofuku-ji), and Manju-ji (満寿寺 - Manju-ji). The head temple presiding over the Gozen in Kyoto is Nanzen-ji (南禅寺 - Nanzen-ji)as the head temple.
After the completion of Shōkoku-ji by Yoshimitsu in 1386, a new ranking system was created with Nanzen-ji at the top and in a class of its own. The Nanzen-ji had the title of "First Temple of The Land" and played a supervising role.
- Nanzen-ji : Kyoto
* First Rank :Tenryū-ji
* Second Rank : Shōkoku-ji
* Third Rank : Kennin-ji
* Fourth Rank : Tōfuku-ji
* Fifth Rank : Manju-ji
- Nanzen-ji : Kamakura
* First Rank : Kenchō-ji
* Second Rank : Engaku-ji
* Third Rank : Jufuku-ji
* Fourth Rank : Jōchi-ji
* Fifth Rank : Jōmyō-ji
The Zen master Dōgen, later founder of the Japanese Soto sect, trained at Kennin-ji. It is one of the Rinzai sect's headquarter temples. |
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When first built, the temple contained seven principal buildings. It has suffered from fires through the centuries, and was rebuilt in the mid-thirteenth century by Zen master Enni (円爾) (1202-1280), and again in the sixteenth century with donations of buildings from nearby temples Ankoku-ji (安国寺) and Tōfuku-ji.
Today Kennin-ji's buildings include
- the Abbot's Quarters (Hōjō), given by Ankoku-ji in 1599
- the Dharma Hall (Hatto), built in 1765
- a tea house built in 1587 to designs by tea master Sen no Rikyū for Toyotomi Hideyoshi
- and the Imperial Messenger Gate (Chokushimon), said to date from the Kamakura era (1185-1333), and still showing marks from arrows.
It also has fourteen subtemples on the Kennin-ji precincts and about seventy associated temples throughout Japan.
In 2002, the architectural setting was enhanced by a dramatic ceiling painting of two dragons by Koizumi Junsaku (小泉淳作) (1924-). This bold artwork was installed to commemorate the temple's 800th anniversary.
Kennin-ji contains notable paintings by Tawaraya Sōtatsu, Tamura Soryu and Hashimoto Kansetsu (橋本関雪) (1883-1945).
The temple gardens reflect its zen purpose. |
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