Nanzen-ji

Nanzen-ji(南禅寺, Nanzen-ji), or Zuiryusan Nanzen-ji, formerly Zenrin-ji(禅林寺, Zenrin-ji), is a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan. Emperor Kameyama established it in 1291 on the site of his previous detached palace. It is also the headquarters of the Nanzen-ji branch of Rinzai Zen. Zenkei Shibayama, who provided a popular commentary on the Mumonkan, was an abbot of the monastery.

History

Nanzen-ji was founded in the middle Heian period. Nanzen-ji is not itself considered one of the "five great Zen temples of Kyoto"; however, it does play an important role in the "Five Mountain System" which was modified from Chinese roots. Tenryū-ji(天龍寺, Tenryū-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 Shokoku-ji(相国寺, Shokoku-ji), Kennin-ji(建仁寺, Kennin-ji), Tofuku-ji(東福寺, Tofuku-ji), and Manju-ji(満寿寺, Manju-ji). The head temple presiding over the Gozan in Kyoto is Nanzen-ji.After the completion of Shōkoku-ji by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu in 1386, a new ranking system was created with Nanzen-ji at the top and in a class of its own. Nanzen-ji had the title of "First Temple of The Land" and played a supervising role.

Translation

The word "Nanzen-ji" occurs as such in the following languages: English, German, French, Romanian.

Translation(s) in other languages: Czech: Nanzendži, Japanese: 南禅寺, Russian: Нандзэн-дзи, Chinese: 南禪寺 (日本).