Ikkō

Ikkō-shu (一向宗, "ikkōshū") is usually viewed as a small, militant, offshoot from Jodo Shinshu Buddhism though the name has a complex history.

Originally Ikkō-shu was a small antinomian sect founded by Ikkō Shunjo (a disciple of Ryochu of the Chinzei branch of Jodo-shu Buddhism) and similar to Ippen's Ji-shu. However when the religious and military-political establishment began to crack down on the Amida-pietist movement little distinction was made between the various factions. Most of Ikkō Shunjo's followers therefore defected to the more powerful Jodo Shin-shu and the name Ikkō-shu ultimately became synonymous with Jodo Shinshu (Dobbins 2002).

Rennyo, the charismatic leader of the Hongan-ji branch of Jodo Shinshu responded to this situation by clarifying the positive religious meaning of 'Ikkō' (single-minded) whilst simultaneously distancing himself from the antinomian behaviour of the original Ikkō sect. In his pastoral letters, known as Ofumi or Gobunsho, he therefore wrote; "It has been established with certainty that our Founder did not particularly name our school the "Ikkō-Shu." On the whole, the reason the people call us this is that we place our complete reliance, exclusively, on Amida Buddha ...'However, the Founder has specifically named this sect "Jodo Shinshu." Therefore, you must understand that we of our sect did not originate in any manner or form the name of "One-Mind Sect."

The Ikkō-ikki Revolts

The Amida pietist movement, and in particular the Jodo Shin-shu, also provided a liberation theology (or ideology) for a wave of uprisings against the feudal system in late-fifteenth and sixteenth century Japan which are known as the Ikkō-ikki revolts. The causes of this phenomenon are disputed, but may have had both religious and socio-political causes (Neil McMullin - University of Toronto) [http://www.aasianst.org/absts/1995abst/japan/jses128.htm] , (Galen Amstutz - Ryukouku University) [http://www.aasianst.org/absts/1995abst/japan/jses128.htm] .

As a consequence of the Ikkō-ikki revolts and the growing power of the Jodo Shinshu, the sect's fortress-temples Ishiyama Hongan-ji and Nagashima (built at the end of the 15th century) were eventually destroyed by Oda Nobunaga's armies. The fortress at Nagashima was razed to the ground in 1574, taking about 20,000 people with it. The Ishiyama Hongan-ji withstood the longest siege in Japanese history, before surrendering in 1580. Upon its ruins, Toyotomi Hideyoshi built Osaka Castle, which still stands today. Following the destruction of Nagashima, Nobunaga ordered his men to search all of Echizen Province and kill every last man and woman of the so-called Ikko sect.

References

*Dobbins, James C. (2002). 'Jodo Shinshu: Shin Buddhism in Medieval Japan' Hawaii University Press
*Sansom, George (1961). 'A History of Japan 1334-1615.' Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.
*Turnbull, Stephen (2003). 'Japanese Warrior Monks AD 949-1603'. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.
*Abstracts of the 1995 AAS Annual Meeting Washington, DC "Sacred and Secular in the Ikko Ikki" [http://www.aasianst.org/absts/1995abst/japan/jses128.htm]

ee also

*Ikki