Virtual Koma 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #1 Chikan-ji Temple

 

     Chikan-ji Temple was founded by Nakayama Takenobu sometime between 877 and 885.  The Nakayama Family belonged to the Tan Corps.  Who were the Tan Corps?

     The most part of Musashi Province was plateaus deeply covered with volcanic-ash soil, which was suitable for stock farming, not for rice growing.  In ancient times, ex-Goguryeo people were moved to Musashi Province.  Later, many of the naturalized Silla people were sent to the province, and engaged in the stock farming.  That stimulated people there, and many stock farms were set up, including 6 imperial stock farms.  The custodians of those farms later formed small-scale samurai families.  By marriage, those samurai families composed 7 corps on the plateaus in the province: the Musashi Seven Corps.  The Tan Corps was one of the 7.

       In the Northern and Southern Courts Period (1336-1392), the Tan Corps fought for the Southern Court, the loser.  When Uesugi Ujinori (?-1417), the Regent of the Kanto Deputy Shogunate, rebelled against Ashikaga Mochiuji (1398-1439), the 4th Kanto Deputy Shogun, in 1416, the Tan Corps fought for Ujinori, the loser.  Accordingly, the corps weakened, and Chikan-ji Temple declined.

     Sometime between 1504 and 1521, Priest Chokaku revived the temple.

     Ise Shinkuro (1456-1519) moved from Kyoto to Suruga Province to make a Warring-States-Period hero.  In 1493, he invaded Izu Province and made it his own territory, getting independent from the Imagawa Clan in Suruga Province. Since then, he moved eastward and seized Sagami Province by the end of 1510’s.  Even before the unification of the province, Shinkuro was capturing Musashi Province castle by castle.  His son, Ujitsuma (1487-1541), was based in Odawara Castle.  In 1518, Ujitsuna succeeded Shinkuro.  In 1521, he started building and rebuilding big shrines and temples to show that he was not just a upstart.  His vassals followed his way, building small shrines and temples in their own territories.

     Priest Chokaku rode the current to expand business.

     As Chikan-ji Temple survived, so did the Nakayama Family.

     Hojo Ujiteru (1542-1590) was the lord of Hachioji Castle.  When Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598) seized Odawara Castle, Ujiteru held it.  It was Nakayama Ienori (1548-1590) who held Hachioji Castle, which was seized by Maeda Toshiie (1539-1599) and Uesugi Kagekatsu (1556-1623).  Toshiie proposed the barter between the surrender of the castle and sparing Ienori’s life.  Ienori refused and was killed in a battle.  His principle and bravery paid.  His sons, Terumori (1570-1634) and Nobuyoshi (1577-1642), were employed by Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616).  When Hachioji Castle fell, however, nearly 3,000 people, including women and children, committed mass suicide.  Were their offsprings or descendants, if any, rewarded?  Or was the success of a general just built on the sacrifice of countless soldiers?

     Nobuyoshi became a chief retainer of the Mito Domain.  We can find the grave of the 6th head of the Mito-Nakayama Family, Nobutoshi (1679-1711), and the scroll of a poem composed and drawn by his wife (?-1711) in the temple.  She was said to have been a daughter of the Bojo Family, which was a noble family in Kyoto and whose family business was to edit history.  She might have been either a daughter of Toshimata (1609-1662) or that of Toshihiro (1626-1702).  Toshihiro’s successor was Toshikata (1662-?).  Toshikata’s successor was Toshikiyo (1667-1743).  Toshikiyo’s successor was Toshimasa (1699-1749).  Toshimasa’s successor was Toshisugu (1727-1773).  Toshisugu’s successor was Toshichika (1757-1800).  Tshichika’s successor was Toshiaki (1782-1860).  Toshiaki’s successor was Toshimichi (1808-1810).  Toshimichi’s successor was Toshikatsu (1802-1865).  Toshikatsu’s successor was Toshitada (1826-1881).  Toshitada’s successor was Toshiaya (1843-1906).  Toshiaya’s successor was Toshinori (1889-1911).  Toshinori’s successor was Toshinaga (1893-1966), the chief priest of Ise Shrine.  Toshinaga’s successor was his1st son, Toshitami (1917-1990), a scholar of Japanese literature.  Toshitami’s successor was Toshinaga’s 4th son, Toshikane (1927-2011), a businessman in TV broadcasting industry.  Toshikane’s successor was his 1st son and the head of the family today, Toshinaru (1962-), who is an architect and has been a reciter, for 23 years, in the Utakai Hajime, the First Tanka Poetry Reading, held annually on January 1 at the Tokyo Imperial Palace.

     The temple also has a calligraphic work drawn by Donggao Xinyue (1639-1696), a Chan priest from China.  The possession of the work also tells the tie between the temple and the Mito Domain.

     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 become 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.

     On May 23, 1868, the Battle of Hanno broke out as a part of the Boshin War (186801869), the civil war at the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate.  Shibusawa Seiichiro (1838-1912) organized the Shinbu Army 1,500 strong, based it in Nonin-ji Temple (Koma 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #13) and Kodo-ji Temple (Koma 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #15) as well as Chikan-ji Temple, fought against the Meiji Revolutionary Army 3,500 strong, and lost within a couple of hours.  The temples burned down.  It was not recorded how many were killed in the battle.  After the Meiji Restoration, Seiichiro became a successful businessman.  Again, was the success of a general just built on the sacrifice of countless soldiers?

     The temple keeps a Vajra, which used to belonged to Priest Tankai (1629-1716).  A Vajra is a Buddhist ritual weapon symbolizing the properties of a diamond (indestructibility) and a thunderbolt (irresistible force).

     Tankai was born in Ise Province.  After practicing Buddhist religious austerities without eating for 7days in Mt. Atago, Kyoto, he moved to Edo in 1646 and learned from Priest Shuko at Eitai-ji Temple.  He was good prayer to Nandikesvara.  When Eitai-ji Temple burned down in 1683, his religious performance raised the money. 

Address: 520 Nakayama, Hanno, Saitama 357-0006

Phone: 042-972-3552