Virtual Upper Tada Manor 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #8 Fumyo-ji Temple

 

      Fumyo-ji Temple is said to have been founded by Minamoto Yorihira, the 4th son of Mitsunaka (912-997), the zuryo of Settsu Province and the active manager of Tada Manor.  Yorihira also worked as a middle-ranking Imperial Court officer in Kyoto.

     In 1031, Yorihira was recommended to the manager of the Shozo-Ritsubun Office, but declined it.

     The Ritsubun System was installed in the 9th century.  Provincial Governors were required to make up a certain percentage of the unpaid taxes and the shortfall in taxes.  Ritsubun means Rate.  As the number of manors increased, the central and provincial governments experienced the financial difficulties, which had become serious after the 9th century.  The system had the governors bear the burden.  The rate provincial governors paid was one of the screening criteria for future promotions.

     There were Kyaku-Ritsubun, Yocho-Ritsubun, and Shozo-Ritsubun Offices.  Each office was in charge of collecting "rates" of different bases of taxation.  After all, the managers of the offices were something like tax officers, who tended to be caught in a dilemma between the central government and provincial governors.

     Yorihira could have been fed up with such dilemmas and rat racing.  He returned to his hometown, Tada Manor, became a Buddhist monk to make an excuse, and, probably, spent his leisurely countryside life in comfort ever after.

     Fumyo-ji Temple originally belonged to Shingon School.  Emperor Ichijo (980-1011) presented land to the temple sometime between 995 and 998.  The Tada Manor was owned by the Minamoto Clan at large.  After the Jokyu War in 1221, it belonged to the Kamakura Shogunate, whose power was actually monopolized by the Hojo Clan.  Accordingly, the temple declined.  In the early Edo Period, it was abandoned, but was revived as a Caodong Chan temple sometime between 1661 and 1672.

     In 1866, the temple was destroyed by fire, so the nearby Konpuku-ji Temple was abolished and temporarily renamed Fumyou-ji.  The Main Hall was rebuilt in 1879.  The site of Konpuku-ji Temple was submerged by the completion of Kobe-suido-sengari-suigen Pond in 1931.

     The #8 deity of the Upper Tada Manor 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, the Thousand-Armed Sahasrabhuja statue, is enshrined on the left side inside the Main Hall.

     Near the temple grounds, there are the mausoleums of Minamoto Yorihira, Fujiwara Nakamitsu, and Kojumaru.

     Minamoto Mitsunaka ruled the northern part of Settsu Province, but his youngest son, Bijomaru, was a bad boy.  Mitsunaka sent Bijomaru to Nakayama-dera Temple, but Bijomaru did not train at all.

     When Bijomaru turned 15, Mitsunaka summoned the son, to ask about his training.  The father found out that Bijomaru could not read sutras, let alone read tanka poems or play musical instruments.  Enraged, Mitsunaka ordered his vassal, Fujiwara Nakamitsu, to behead Bijomaru.

     However, Nakamitsu was at a loss, unable to behead his lord's son.  Nakamitsu's son, Kojumaru, who was watching this, offered to take his head instead.  With a heavy heart, Nakamitsu beheaded Kojumaru and handed his head over to Mitsunaka.  Meanwhile, Nakamitsu secretly let Bijomaru escape.

     When Bijomaru learned that Nakamitsu's son, Kojumaru, had taken his place and died, he repented and headed to Mount Hiei.  After becoming a Buddhist monk on Mount Hiei, Bijomaru devoted himself to ascetic practices and eventually became a high-ranking monk named Genken.

     Afterwards, accompanied by his teacher, Genshin, Genken came to Tada-in Temple, met his father, and revealed that he was Bijomaru.  After he was pardoned by his father, he founded Shodo-ji Temple to pray for Kojumaru's soul.

     For your information, the Kyaku-Ritsubun was established on December 17th, 832, according to Ruiju Fu Sen Sho, or Categorized Extract Copies of the Great Council of State Ordinances and the Imperial Orders.  One-tenth of the interest earned from the management of public rice was allocated to make up for unpaid or missing regular taxes and other taxes when a provincial governor left his appointed province.  As interest on public rice was 30 percent, the actual burden was equivalent to 3/100 of the total public rice.  Later, the allocation to individual provincial government office finances was determined, and individual names such as 'regular tax rate share' and 'miscellaneous rice rate share' were used.  As what provincial governors paid was one of the screening criteria for future promotions, it was implemented throughout the Fujiwara Clan Regimes (about 858-1086).

     The Yo-cho Ritsubun rate was established on August 17th, 846, according to Ruiju Sandai Kaku, or Categolized Three Types of Decrees.  It started as a system to compensate for 1/10 of what was unpaid as Yo-cho in the previous year.  In 893, it was changed to 1/10 of the annual Yo-cho amount and was also applied to what wasn't paid by fuko, or feudal farming households, to fushu, or those who were feudatory to the households.  It became difficult to maintain the Yo-cho system, and the rate disappeared in the 10th century.  However, as the "feudal lords" lobbied, the form of receiving 1/10 of the Yo-cho amount of the feudal farming households from the provincial governors continued until the 11th century.

     For your information, the Japanese ancient centralized bureaucratic government was established in 645.  They imposed 3 types of taxes: So, tax rice; Yo, labor duties; Cho, tax cloth.  All the taxes were supposed to be carried to Kyoto by Yo itself.  That is, all the taxes were carried on taxpayers’ shoulders.  The heavy burdens made farmers escape into the medieval manor system.

     The Shozo Ritsubun rate was established on September 11th, 952, according to Betsuju Fu Sen Sho, or Supplement Categorized Extract Copies of the Great Council of State Ordinances and the Imperial Orders.  It was a system that required provinces to pay 1/10 of the prescribed Yo-cho, miscellaneous traded goods, and other taxes and charges to the central government.  It was a new burden for provinces.  The tax was paid to the Ritsubun Office, an institution outside the Ritsuryo system, where the middle-ranking aristocrats served as its manager.  The focus was on securing financial resources to maintain the Cabinet, the core of the Ritsuryo government, and the performance of national Buddhist and Shinto ceremonies, which were of major concern in government affairs.  For these reasons, not only were they one of the screening criteria for future promotions of provincial governors, but expenditures from the Ritsubun rate required a report to the Emperor.  Special orders were needed to be issued to make special payments.  By the beginning of the 11th century, the rate was raised to 2/10.  It continued to exist, though not perfectly, even into the Kamakura Period (1185-1333).

     Fumyo-ji Temple is also the #12 member temple of the Settsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage.

Address: Mukaiyama−1-26, Hazu, Takarazuka, Hyogo 669-1221

Phone: 0797-91-0755

Shodo-ji Temple

Address: 1 Chome-7-1 Nishiuneno, Kawanishi, Hyogo 666-0155

Phone: 072-794-0253