Sekizan Zen-in, Kyoto京都赤山禅院（泰山府君）

Type

Overseas Daoist Temples

Location

Japan · Kyoto Prefecture · Sakyo Ward, Kyoto · 18 Kaikonbō-chō, Shugakuin; a sub-temple of Enryaku-ji on Mount Hiei

Coordinates

35.0559, 135.8013 Map ↗

First built

888 (Ninna 4) · Founded in accordance with the dying instructions of Ennin, third head abbot of the Tendai school; the temple’s own tradition sometimes has it built at imperial command by the head abbot Anne, but Anne died in the tenth year of the Jōgan era (868), twenty years before that date, so it must in fact have been completed by his followers after his death; a Tendai temple whose principal deity is a Daoist god

Overview

Sekizan Zen-in is traditionally said to have been completed in the fourth year of the Ninna era (888) in accordance with the dying instructions of Jikaku Daishi Ennin (the temple’s own tradition sometimes assigns its construction to Anne, head abbot of the Tendai school, although Anne died in 868, a contradiction noted by the Japanese Wikipedia as well). Its principal deity is Taishan Fujun (called Sekizan Daimyōjin in Japan) — the Daoist ruler of the underworld and the god who governs destiny and emolument. The cult originated in the divine protection Ennin received at the Fahua Yuan on Mount Chi in Dengzhou while seeking the teaching in Tang China; on his return he left the wish that the Sekizan deity be enshrined, and his disciple Anne fulfilled it by founding the temple. On this basis the Tendai school developed the Taizan Fukun Rite, later taken over by onmyōji such as Abe no Seimei, and it became the core of the life-prolonging rites of Japanese Onmyōdō — a key case of a Daoist deity entering the state religious system of Japan through Buddhist mediation. The temple stands to the northeast of the Kyoto Imperial Palace, at the outer demon gate; a divine monkey figure is set on the roof of its worship hall, answering the monkey statue at the Palace’s Saru-ga-tsuji so as to seal the demon gate. It is the Fukurokuju station of the Miyako Shichifukujin pilgrimage and is known for its autumn foliage and its “loofah blessing” rite. It must be stated clearly: this is a Buddhist temple of the Tendai school enshrining a Daoist deity, an instance of Buddho-Daoist syncretism, not a Daoist religious order.

Highlights

• Principally enshrines Taishan Fujun
• The link between Ennin and the Fahua Yuan on Mount Chi, Dengzhou
• The Taizan Fukun Rite and Onmyōdō
• Guardian of the demon gate of the Kyoto Imperial Palace