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Hall of the Heavenly Kings (Tennō den 天王殿), Manpukuji (萬福寺)

From the Ground Up: Buddhism & East Asian Religions (FROGBEAR Project)

The Hall of the Heavenly Kings (Ten'nō den; Tianwang dian 天王殿), in Manpuku-ji Temple (萬福寺), an Ōbaku 黄檗 Zen temple in Uji 宇治, Kyoto prefecture 京都府, Japan. The single-eaved hall is the first hall on the cetral axis of the temple complex. In front of the hall stands two stele describing the building and renovation of the site. The stele on the north reads: "Inside the Heavenly King Hall of Manpukuji Temple, Ōbaku sect, the main mountain, the statues of Bodhisattva Maitreya and Skanda Bodhisattva have long been damaged and in disrepair. With the generous support of Mr. Leung Siu Yu, a benevolent overseas Chinese from Osaka, a sum of one hundred and twenty thousand yen has been provided to request the temple authorities to carry out the necessary repairs. This inscription is made to record and commemorate the restoration of the statues (黃蘗宗大本山萬福寺天王殿內彌勒菩薩及韋馱天尊像年久失修破損不堪茲由大阪華僑梁兆如大善士資助壹白貳拾萬圓請由寺方代為修理業已藏事爰書數行用誌紀念) "Respectfully made by Zhu Zongxi on a auspicious day in August of the 41st year of the Showa era. (昭和四十一年八月吉日。Zhaohe sishiyinian bayue jiri 朱宗熹謹製 zhuzongxi jinzhi)" (Image 02, Image 03, Image 04). The front of the stele on the south reads "May the merit of this virtuous deed be universally shared, and may all of us and all sentient beings together attain the path to Buddhahood (願以此功德普及於一切我等與眾生皆共成佛道 Yuan yici gongde puji yiqie wodeng yu zhongsheng jiecheng fodao)" (Image 06, Image 07). The west-facing building houses a statue of monk Hotei (ch. Budai 布袋) (d. 916 or 917), the Kanji on the right of the name tag reads Mirokubosatsu 弥勒菩薩. At the center and the four corners enshrine the four heavenly kings. Image 14, Image 15, Image 16, Image 17, and Image 29 shows the central plaque (bian'e 匾額) and couplets on the front. Below the plaque of "Hall of the Heavenly Kings," the banners read "Fortune of Wealth Arrives (金運來福 jinyunlaifu)". The right side of the couplet reads "Fortunate land resonates with the special connection of the Four Heavenly Kings guarding the country (福地鍾靈特感四王護國 Fu di Zhong ling tegan siwang huguo)" (Image 18, image 19, Image 20, Image 21). The left side of the couplet reads "The gate of compassion reveals auspiciousness, joyfully celebrating the Triple Assembly to liberate beings (慈門現瑞大歡三會度人 Cimen xianrui dahuan sanhuiduren)" (Image 22, Image 23, Image 24, Image 25, Image 26, Image 27, Image 28). A plaque and couplets are located on the back side of the Hall (Image 30 and Image 31). The plaque reads "Majestic and virtuous (威德莊嚴 weidezhuangyan)" (Image 32). The left side of the plaque carves the colophon "Buddhist disciple of the capital region, Mizuguchiya Kiyoshi, rejoices in praise, a pure countenance, and joyful giving (京兆府佛弟子水口屋欣譽淨容喜捨 jingzhaofu fodizi shuikou wu xinyu jinrong xishe)"(Image 37); the right side of the plaque carves the date of it, "In the ninth year of the Genroku era, on an auspicious morning in the twelfth month of the year of Bingzi (元祿九年 歲次丙子臘月吉旦 yuanlu jiunian suici bingzi layue jidan)" (Image 38) The right side of the couplet reads, "With the arm holding the precious vajra, guarding and upholding the virtues of the Dharma, difficult to erode (臂橫寶杵護持正法德難磨 biheng baochu huchi zhengfa de nanmo)" (Image 34, Image 35, Image 36, Image 39, Image 40, Image 41). The left side of the couplet reads, "With the crown and the helmet, he feels the resonance of the three realms, his achievements are inexhaustible and unregulated (首冠兜鑾感應三洲功不宰 shouguan douluan ganying sanzhou gongbuzai)" (Image 33, Image 42, Image 43, Image 44).

Uji-shi (Japan); Kyoto (Japan); 34.9138008; 135.8068276

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Cluster 1.5: Extended Textual Communities

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0438447

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