Five Mountain System

The nihongo|Five Mountains and Ten Monasteries System|五山十刹制度|Chinese: "Wushan Shicha", Japanese: "Gozan Jissetsu Seido" system, more commonly called simply Five Mountain System, was a network of state-sponsored Zen Buddhist temples created in China during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127–1279). The system originated in India [Bukkyō] and was later adopted also in Japan during the late Kamakura period (1185–1333). There used to be in Kamakura a parallel Five Mountain System of nunneries, of which the famous Tōkei-ji is the only survivor. The term "mountain" in this context means "temple" or "monastery".

The system in China

At the time of the Song dynasty "Chan" ("Zen" in Japanese) was the dominant form of monasticism and had considerable imperial supportJohnston (2000:271)] . This forced it to assume certain features and develop a network of monastic offices and rituals wanted by the state. Around the 12th century, this tendency to monastic wealth and imperial patronage became even more pronounced with the creation by direct imperial order in Southern China of the "Five Mountain and Ten Monasteries System" during the late Southern Song Dynasty (1127–1279)Harada (2007, 41)] . It was a system of state-sponsored temples and monasteries built to pray the gods for the dynasty and the state, threatened by enemies from Northern China. The system had at its top five famous temples and ten lesser ones immediately below. Officials chose both the five temples of the top tier, and the chief priest that ruled over them.

The system had been devised specifically to bureaucratize and control the power of the "Chan" temples, that had been growing with the years. The submission of the "Chan" network to imperial power and its goals is clearly shown by later codes and particularly by the Baizhang qinggui compiled in 1336. Because the Mongol conquerors supported "Chan", the code emphasizes prayers for the emperor and the monastic ancestors. The emperor is even described as "Nirmanakaya", or a Buddha incarnate. The complex monastic bureaucracy described by the code clearly reflects the imperial administration with its eastern and western ranks. The code has been in continuous use ever since, and not only within the "Chan" sect.

The system in Japan

Introduced to Japan by the Hōjō regency, after an initial hostility from older and established Buddhist sects, it prospered thanks to the support of the country's military rulers in Kamakura first and Kyoto later. In the final version of the system, Kamakura's Five Mountains were, from the first-ranked to the the last, Kenchō-ji, Engaku-ji, Jufuku-ji, Jōchi-ji and Jōmyō-ji. Kyoto's Five Mountains, created later by the Ashikaga shogunate after the collapse of the Kamakura regime, were Tenryū-ji, Shōkoku-ji, Kennin-ji, Tōfuku-ji and Manju-ji. Above them all was the huge Nanzen-ji temple. Below the top tier there was a nationwide capillary network of smaller temples that allowed its influence to be felt everywhereDunn (2007)] .

Function

The system was adopted to promote Zen in Japan however, in Japan as it had already happened in China, it was controlled and used by the country's ruling classes for its own administrative and political ends. The Gozan system allowed the temples at the top to function as "de facto" ministries, using their nationwide network of temples for the distribution of government laws and norms, and for the monitoring of local conditions for their military superiors. The Hōjō first, and the Ashikaga later were therefore able to disguise their power under a religious mask, while monks and priests worked for the government as translators, diplomats and advisers. To the Rinzai sect, the collaboration with the shogunate brought both wealth, influence and power.

History

The system had come to Japan at a time when Kamakura's five great Zen temples were already known as the Five Mountains, and it unified in one organization all the great temples of the dominant Zen schools of the timeCitation | last =Dumoulin | first =Heinrich | authorlink=Heinrich Dumoulin | year =2005 | title =Zen Buddhism: A History | place =Bloomington, IN | publisher =World Wisdom | volume =2: "Japan" | isbn =0941532909, page 151 and following] . It thus institutionalized a large and very important part of the Rinzai school, bringing to it the protection, but also the control of the state. The whole network of temples was supervised by a state bureaucracy created specifically for the task.

The system in its final form had three tiers, with at the top Kyoto's Five Mountains (the Kyoto Gozan (京都五山), known in English also as Kyoto's "Five Zen Temples") and Kamakura's Five Mountains (the Kamakura Gozan（鎌倉五山), known in English also as Kamakura's "Five Zen Temples", in a subordinate position). Below them were the so-called Ten Temples, or Jissetsu (十刹) (see below), and finally at the bottom other temples collectively known as Shozan.

The Gozan temples were dominated mainly by the Rinzai Zen schools. The Kōchi-ha (宏智派) branch of the Sōtō Zen school however belonged to the Gozan system too.

Under their masters' patronage, the Five Mountain temples gradually became centers of learning and developed a characteristic literature called the Japanese Literature of the Five Mountains. During the Japanese Middle Ages, its scholars exerted a far-reaching influence on the internal political affairs of the country. The system put great value in a strong orientation towards Chinese Zen, Chinese philosophy and Chinese literature. The organization's scholars had a close relationship with the Ming imperial dynasty, had a pervasive influence in many cultural fields and played an important role in importing Neo-Confucianism (particularly as far as the "shushigaku" (朱子学) is concerned) from China to Japan.

Independently from the Gozan temples there were also many others in various provinces called Rinka, among them Sōtō's Eihei-ji founded by Dōgen, and Rinzai's Daitoku-ji, Myōshin-ji and Kōgen-ji. During Japan's Middle Ages, the Rinka monasteries were Zen's other main branch.William Theodore De Bary, Donald Keene, George Tanabe, Paul Varley (2005), "Sources of Japanese tradition, Vol. 1: From Earliest Times to 1600", Columbia University Press, ISBN 0231121385, pages 310 – 311] During the decline of the Ashikaga authority in the latter Muromachi period, the Rinka, having a close relationship with local warlords, became progressively more important and influential than the Gozan, which followed their Ashikaga masters in their decline. A measure of the success of the Rinka is given by the fact that today's Sōtō and Rinzai emerged from Rinka Zen.

Earliest Use of the Term

The earliest historical sources to mention the Gozan system are documents that speak of several temples in Kamakura (among them the Jōchi-ji, the Kenchō-ji, the Engaku-ji and the Jufuku-ji, that we know already existed in 1299) as the "Gozan Jissetsu" ("Five Mountains-Ten Temples"). The first official recognition of the system came in 1333 from Emperor Go-Daigo during the brief Kemmu Restoration, because he promoted Daitoku-ji to Gozan rank. In the following year was added the Nanzen-ji, and later the Kennin-ji and the Tōfuku-ji.

The Early Ranking System

The first explicit formulation of a clear Gozan ranking system dates to the year 1341.

The Jissetsu

The Jissetsu, the second tier of the Five Mountain system, had been created to be hierarchically under the Gozan, but developed slowly towards being an independent system of its own. The temples of this rank were in general powerful institutions of great prestige and had to help the military government financially and in other ways.

The number suggested by the name was never strictly enforced and in the years between 1480 and 1486 the system included 46 temples, ending up ultimately having over 60. Later, a third system ranking developed, that of the "shozan" ("various temples") that brought 230 more temples under the umbrella of the officially recognized Zen temples.

The "Kantō Jissetsu", that is the temples under the Kamakura Gozan, were nihongo|Zenkō-ji|禅興寺, nihongo|Zuisen-ji|瑞泉寺, nihongo|Tōshō-ji|東勝寺, nihongo|Manjū-ji|万寿寺, nihongo|Taikei|大慶寺, nihongo|Kōseiji|興聖寺, nihongo|Tōzenji|東漸寺, nihongo|Zenpukuji|善福寺, nihongo|Hōsenji|法泉寺, and nihongo|Chōrakuji|長楽寺. [ [http://www.kcn-net.org/e_kama_history/glossary/glossary.htm Glossary] by the Kamakura Citizen's Net accessed on September 26, 2008]

The "Kyoto Jissetsu", that is the temples under the Kyoto Gozan, were nihongo|Tōji-ji|等持寺, nihongo|Rinsen-ji|臨川寺, nihongo|Shinnyo-ji|真如寺, nihongo|Ankoku-ji|安国寺, nihongo|Hōdō-ji|宝幢寺, nihongo|Fumon-ji|普門寺, nihongo|Kōkaku-ji|広覚寺, nihongo|Myōkō-ji|妙光寺, nihongo|Daitoku-ji|大徳寺 and nihongo|Ryūshō-ji|竜翔寺 [Japanese Wikipedia "Jissetsu" article accessed on September 26, 2008] .

Notes

References

All unmarked material in this article was retrieved from German Wikipedia's "Gozan" article on February 28, 2008, article whose references follow.
* Daigan Lee Matsunaga und Alicia Orloff Matsunaga: "Foundation of Japanese Buddhism; Vol. II; The mass movement (Kamakura & Muromachi periods)". Buddhist Books International, Los Angeles and Tokyo 1976. ISBN 0-914910-27-2.

Other references

* cite book
last = Johnston
first = W.
coauthors =
title = Encyclopedia of Monasticism
publisher = Routledge
date = 2000
location =
language = English
id = ISBN 1579580904
* cite book
last = Harada
first = Hiroshi
coauthors =
title = Kamakura no Koji
publisher = JTB Publishing
date = 2007
location =
language = Japanese
id = ISBN 453307104X
* [http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fa20070823a1.html The Gozan Temples] , by Michael Dunn, The Japan Times, August 23, 2007, retrieved on July 4, 2008
* [http://www.bukkyo.net/5zan/ Kamakura Gozan, Kyoto Gozan] , from "Bukkyō", retrieved on July 4th, 2008

External links

* [http://www1.seaple.icc.ne.jp/elf/kama/kama04.html Gozan Seido to Toukeiji Sei-kanzeon Bosatsu Ritsuzou] (In Japanese)