Virtual Kanesawa 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #6 Noken-do Temple

     There used to be Noken-do Temple.

     Kose Kanaoka was a court painter, who established the Yamato-e style of Japanese painting.  He worked for Emperor Uda (867-931) and Fujiwara Mototsune (836-891).  He also formed a friendship with intellectuals such as Sugawara Michizane (845-903) and Ki Haseo (845-912), who is believed to have written the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter.  One day, Kanaoka visited the Noken area to find the view, which was later known as Kanesawa Eight Views, too beautiful to draw, and left his brushes at the foot of a pine tree, which was blown down by a typhoon in 1918.  After his death, he was enshrined in Kanaoka Shrine, Sakai, Osaka.

     Fujiwara Michizane (966-1028) was said to have built a hermitage to enjoy the view.  It became a temple sometime In the Muromachi Period, but was abolished by 1486.  In 1662, Kuze Hiroyuki (1609-1679) brought the Ksitigarbha statue from Zojo-ji Temple in Edo.  Donggao Xinyue (1639-1696), a Chan priest from China, found the view very similar to that of the Eight Views of Xiaoxiang, and composed 8 Chinese poems.

The Eight Views of Noken-do ----- Donggao Xinyue [Naturalized from Ming]-----

Susaki in the Windstorm

Surging waves gather the afterglow

Billowing waves reach bamboo doors

After the market in the dusk, people are quiet

Flying clouds and running water are heading to nowhere

The Autumn Moon in Seto

Small clear rapids untied a boat

Winds bring hollow sounds in Mid-Autumn

Sweet olives bring aroma to everywhere

Ice wheels float between islands

The Night Rain in Kozumi 

Rain in the dusk's so desolate

Gushing spring can be heard clearly

Poor hermitage has difficulties with no compassion

Heartbreaking sound of an iron flute echoed

Like a Returning Boat in Ottomo

The Dynasty dispatched me skies away

I’m still hanging on stars away

What I sing highly reaches clouds away

A few contact me faintly though

The Night Bell from Shomyo-ji Temple

Since old times, Shomyo-ji’s been famous

The night bell sounds like a whale

The gone and the alive all start speaking

I alone leave the precincts

Landing Wild Geese in Hiragata

Flying in the dark, wild geese form an array

Autumn winds sadly blow and wave reeds

Flying, crying and eating, why so late to return?

Who doesn't love thousand-mile mission?

Nojima in the Sunset

I envy an old fisherman who supports his family

Holding a pole in slush in dusk

Drink wine with netted fish

I drape on a bed, but how dare to boast

Snow and Dusk in Uchikawa

Causeways run in all directions

Rare flowers are paved with snow 

The scenery is full of jade

They cover the high peaks with their points uncovered

     Donggao Xinyue was born in Pujiang County, Jinhua Prefecture, Zhejiang Province. When he was eight years old, he shaved his hair in Baoen Temple in Suzhou, and traveled around Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces. At the age of 20, he was taught by Juelang Daosheng of the Shouchang Sect of the Caodong Denomination. After Daosheng passed away, he went to Chongguang Temple and learned from Kuotang how to make a good writer. After Kuotang passed away, he stayed in Yongfu Temple, Hangzhou. Although he was a monk, he still participated in the anti-Qing rebellion in Zhejiang and Fujian Provinces in 1674, in response to Wu Sangui only to fail.

     In 1676, he was invited by Chengyi Daoliang, the master priest of Kofuku-ji Temple in Nagasaki  He traveled east from Hangzhou to Japan under the false names of Du Duoquan or Yue Dudu.  Although he did not belong to the Linji Sect of Chengyi Daoliang, he has to pay tribute to Chengyi Daoliang and his followers in order to enter the country. He arrived in Zhoushan in December, and got to Kyushu on the 30th of the same month. Finally, he reached Nagasaki on January 10,1677. Due to Japan’s lock-up order, he stayed in Nagasaki, a place reserved for foreigners, from January, 1677, to December, 1679. In the summer of 1679, he met Imai Hirosumi (1652-1689), who was the messenger of Tokugawa Mitsukuni (1628-1700) and who was a student of Zhu Shunsui (1600-1682). Mitsukuni intended to invite Xinyue to Mito  Leaving Nagasaki. In May, 1680, he went to Manpuku-ji Temple near Kyoto to celebrate the 70th birthday of Mu'an Xingyao (1611-1684), wrote a book to praise and even flatter Mu'an, and asked Mu'an for help.  But  It was unsuccessful. Later, he went to Edo in the pretext of visiting Zuikei-ji Temple, but was eventually suspected to be a spy, and forced to return to Nagasaki.

     During his years in Nagasaki, Donggao Xinyue was very active in the fields of religion and art. He used Zen and art to make friends with the officers of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Finally, he was helped by Tokugawa Mitsukuni again, and Xinyue moved to Kotai-ji Temple, Nagasaki, in 1682. He left Nagasaki in June of the same year, and then stayed in the villa of Mitsukuni in Mito. During the period, he met celebrities from all walks of life and taught them Guqin. In 1691, he stayed at the Tentoku-ji Temple (now Gion-ji Temple) in Mito, and he officially preached his first sermon in October, 1692. In 1695, he passed away in September and was later regarded as the founder of Gion-ji and Daruma-ji Temples.

     Then, who was Chengyi Daoliang, who invited Donggao Xinyue to Japan?

Zhenyuan (1579-1648) was born in Fuliang County, Raozhou Prefecture, Jiangxi Province.  In 1620, he sailed to Nagasaki on board a merchant ship.  In 1624, he became the first Chinese Buddhist priest in Nagasaki.  He founded Kofuku-ji Temple in the villa of Ouyang Huayu with the donations from other Chinese residents in Nagasaki as well.  In 1635, he handed over the status as the head priest of Kofuku-ji Temple to Mozi Ruding (1597-1657).

     Mozi Ruding was born in Jianchang County, Nankang Prefecture, Jiangxi Province.  He became a priest in Xingfu-chanyuan Temple in Yangzhou.  In 1632, he came to Japan and resided in Kofuku-ji Temple.  Interestingly enough, both “Xingfu” and “Kofuku” employed the same Chinese characters.  In 1635, he succeeded Zhenyuan.  In 1645, he handed over the status as the head priest of Kofuku-ji Temple to Yiran Xingrong, or Itsunen Shoyu, (1601-1668).

     Xingrong was born in Lutang County, Hangzhou Prefecture, Zhejiang Province.  In 1644, he came to Japan.  He entered the Buddhist priesthood under the teaching of Mozi Ruding, who was succeeded by Yiran Xingrong in 1645.

     He is famous as a Buddhist monk and painter who helped to establish Chan (Zen) in Japan. Itsunen was a talented late Ming style painter of Buddhist figural subjects. In addition to his skill of painting, he also practiced the art of Seal carving and cemented the popularity of this art in Japan. In 1656, he retired and was succeeded by, ah, Chengyi Daoliang.

     Chengyi Daoliang (1608-1691) was born in Lutang County, Hangzhou Prefecture, Zhejiang Province.  He was one of those evacuated from China to Japan at the time of the transition from Ming to Qing, Ming–Qing transition, or Manchu unification of China from 1618 to 1683.

     Anyway, the main deity of Noken-do Temple, the Arya Avalokitesvara statue, is missing. 

Address: 5-3-7-12 Nokendai, Kanesawa Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa 236-0057

Phone: 045-780-3431