Virtual Kodama Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #27 Ryusei-ji Temple

 

     It is unknown when Ryusei-ji Temple was founded.  Its Precincts have an old stone monument dated 1396.  A part of its inscription reads Nun Myosei.  It is unknown whether the monument was built for Myosei or Myosei built the monument for someone else.

     In 1392, the Southern Court and the Northern Court made peace.  In the same year, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358-1408), the 3rd Shogun of the Muromachi Shogunate, suppressed the Meitoku Rebellion.  A time of peace came at last.  The full moon, however, always wanes.  The conflict between the central shogunate and the Kanto Deputy Shogunate was creeping up.

     Hanawa Hokiichi (1746-1821), who was a blind scholar of Japanese philology and philosophy, would often visit Ryusei-ji Temple when he was still a little boy.  He heard the priest reciting the Heart Sutra.  He asked the priest what he was singing every morning and evening.  The priest taught him what the sutra is.  He was influenced by the priest and later compiled Gunsho Ruiju, Books Grouped according to Genre, which is a collection of old Japanese books on Japanese literature and history.

     Ryusei-ji Temple enshrines Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses.

Address: 387 Kodamacho Hokino, Honjo, Saitama 367-0221

Phone: 0495-72-2440