Virtual Western Edo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #20 Gyoran-ji Temple

      Priest Shoyo built a hermitage in En'o-ji Temple, Nakatsu, Bungo Province, in 1617 with the Holding-Fish-Cage Avalokitesvara statue.  Previously in 1615, the Toyotomi Clan had been destroyed by the Tokugawa Clan.  The last head of the Toyotomi Clan was Hideyori (1593-1615).  Hideyori’s son, Kunimatsu, was officially beheaded on May 23rd, 1615, with the husband of his wet nurse, Tanaka Rokuzaemon.  Some believed that the decapitated boy was actually Rokuzaemon’s son, and Kunimatsu escaped to Bungo Province.  Hideyori’s daughter became a nun in Kamakura, with her Buddhist name Tenshu-ni.  Priest Guen (?-1688), in his last moments, insisted that he was the second son of Hideyori.  Guen studied in Zojo-ji Temple and died in Fushimi, Yamashiro.

     In 1630, Shoyo moved to Mita, Edo, with the statue, and built another hermitage there.  In 1652, when Tokugawa Ietsuna (1641-1680) was appointed as the 4th shogun, Shoyo made the hermitage a real temple.  As the Holding-Fish-Cage Avalokitesvara image was rather modern at the time, the temple became quite famous or even popular.

     Tosa Hidenobu (?-?) published Butsuzo-zui (Illustrated Compendium of Buddhist Images) in 1783.  In the compendium, he listed 33 popular subjects of Buddhism Avalokiteshvara drawings and paintings: #1 Holding-Willow-Spray Avalokitesvara, #2 Naga Avalokitesvara, #3 Holding-Buddhism-Scripture Avalokitesvara, #4 Halo Avalokitesvara, #5 Sitting-on-Cloud Avalokitesvara, #6 Pandara Vasini Avalokitesvara, #7 Sitting-on-Lotus-Leaf Avalokitesvara, #8 Looking-at-Cascade Avalokitesvara, #9 Listening-to-Stream Avalokitesvara, #10 Holding-Fish-Cage Avalokitesvara, #11 Brahman (Virtuous-Lord) Avalokitesvara, #12 Looking-at-Reflected-Moon Avalokiteshvara, #13 Sitting-on-Leaf Avalokitesvara, #14 Blue-Head Avalokitesvara, #15 Great-Commander Avalokitesvara, #16 Life-Prolonging Avalokitesvara, #17 Relief-from-Ruination Avalokitesvara, #18 In-Cave-with-Venom Avalokitesvara, #19 Wave-Reduction Avalokitesvara, #20 Anavatapta Avalokitesvara, #21 One-Knee-Drawn-Up Avalokitesvara, #22 Leaf-Robe Avalokitesvara, #23 Holding-Lapis-Lazuli-Censer Avalokitesvara, #24 Tara Avalokitesvara, #25 Sit-in-in-Clam Avalokitesvara, #26 Twenty-Four-Hour Avalokitesvara, #27 Universal-Benevolence Avalokitesvara, #28 Celestial Beauty Avalokitesvara, #29 Brahmani Avalokitesvara, who put palms together, #30 Controlling-Thunderbolt Avalokitesvara, #31 Peaceful-Vajrapani Avalokitesvara, #32 Holding-Lotus-Flower Avalokitesvara, and #33 Sprinkling-Purified-Water Avalokitesvara.  Some subjects came directly from Lotus Supra Chapter XXV, some were based on folklore in China, and others were created in Japan.

     In Tang China, there lived a beautiful woman who sold fish for a living.  She looked for a man who could recite Vajracchedika-prajnaparamita Sutra and Lotus Sutra, especially  Chapter 25 "The Universal Gateway of the Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World's Sounds”.  She successfully got married, but died before long.  After her death, she was believed to be a reincarnation of Avalokiteshvara, who appeared in this world to propagate Lotus Sutra.  Many young men might have tried hard to recite the sutras to marry her.

     Gyoran-ji Temple is also the #25 member temple of the Old Edo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage and the #24 member temple of the Modern Edo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage.

Address: 4 Chome-8-34 Mita, Minato City, Tokyo 108-0073

Phone: 03-3451-5677