Buddhist Temple Names in Japan Author(s): Dietrich Seckel Reviewed work(s): Source: Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 40, No. 4 (Winter, 1985), pp. 359-386 Published by: Sophia University Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2384822 . Accessed: 23/11/2012 14:20 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Sophia University is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Monumenta Nipponica. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.63 on Fri, 23 Nov 2012 14:20:33 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions BuddhistTemple Names in Japan by DIETRICH SECKEL A LTHOUGH thenames of many Buddhist temples, or jigo , arein con- stantuse among Japanese and Westernstudents of Japan's history, religion,and art, theynever seem to have been made the subject of systematicresearch, not even, as far as I know, by the Japanesethemselves. (There exists,however, a shortand not entirelysatisfactory article on jigo in Mochizuki Shinko, ed., Bukkyo Daijiten, 9, pp. 307f.) Justas Christianchur- ches take theirnames mainlyfrom the multitudeof saintsand otherholy per- sons (accordingto theirpatrocinium), from the body of theologicalconcepts, such as Trinity,Holy Spirit, Sacred Heart, etc., and, less frequently,from other spheres of religious thoughtand devotional life, so many Buddhist templesare named aftersacred persons in the 'pantheon' (Buddhas, bodhisatt- v.as, etc.) and importantdoctrinal terms. But in addition an astonishing numberof templenames representtitles of scriptures(sutras) and theological or philosophicaltreatises, use symbolsand metaphors,express good wishes and auspicious omens,or are takenfrom ritual and devotionalpractice as well as from legends and local traditions.As even this short and provisional enumerationshows, the varietyof name typesis muchgreater than it is in the Christian tradition; it is furtherenriched by naming a particularlylarge numberof templesafter historical persons who weretheir founders or patrons or to whose memoryand spiritualwelfare the templeswere dedicated. Thus the corpusof templenames (and thereare thousandsof them,showing a bewilderingdiversity) is embeddedin the systemof Buddhistthought, cult, and religiouslife on the one hand and in the fabric of Japanese political, social, and cultural historyon the other. The variety,freedom, and even arbitrarinessin naming the temples are enormous and call for clarification and classification. THE AUTHOR is Professor Emeritusof East Stuttgart, 1985, which includes a special Asian Art History at the University of chapter devoted to the technical termsused Heidelberg. for the differenttypes of templesand monas- A more comprehensivepresentation of the tic institutions(as opposed to their names materialand discussionof pertinentproblems as such). In the present article only a few is published in the author's Buddhistische isolated exampleshave been selectedfrom the Tempelnamenin Japan (Munchener Ostasi- approximately1,300 temple names analyzed atische Studien 37), Franz Steiner Verlag, in the book. This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.63 on Fri, 23 Nov 2012 14:20:33 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 360 MonumentaNipponica, 40:4 This introductoryessay will provide,after some generalremarks, a survey of the main groups of temple names in typologicalorder, illustratingeach of them by some examples selected froma much greaterstock of available ones. Inevitablythe picture presentedin this sketch shows the rich and variegatedmaterial in undue simplification.We have to exclude or to reserve for furtherstudy the specificreasons, occasions, motives,and circumstances that led to the choice of a particulartemple's name, the question of regional distributionof names throughoutJapan, and the possiblepredilection for cer- tain names or typesof names in differentperiods. Also excludedis, of course, any attemptat providingstatistics; quite a numberof names are found only once, othersmore or less frequently,and some in theirdozens or even hun- dreds. The questionof whetheror not and to whatdegree sectarian affiliations of templesmanifest themselves in theirnames is brieflydiscussed. So also is the problemof the importationof templenames fromChina; theirnumber would appear to be much smallerthan one would expect. Categoriesof TempleNames OfficialNames. What we call templenames (jigo, jimyo #t) is usually only part of the full name of a Buddhistinstitution established both formonastic life and for the performanceof ritual, thus embracingthe meaning of monasteryas well as temple. For conveniencesake, however,'temple' is the preferredterm in Westernlanguages. Normallysuch an institution(ji, tera ) has a long officialname made up of threecomponents: the 'mountainname' (sango rU-"),the 'cloistername' (ingo R- and the 'templename' proper(san- in-jigorR- For example,Chotoku-san Kudoku-in Chion-ji AM, 1R ),k (Mountain of Long-Enduring Virtue, Cloister of Religious Virtue, Temple/Monasteryof Awareness of [the Buddha's] Grace). Another im- pressive example is Shiun-san Shoju-in Raigo-ji (Mountain of Purple [=Auspicious] Clouds, Cloisterof the Sacred Host, Temple of Welcome-the Buddha Amitabha (Amida), according to the Pure Land doctrine,appears witha multitudeof bodhisattvason clouds to receivethe pious believerinto his holyrealm. But logical or self-evidentsemantic connections between the three componentsof a temple'sfull, official name, as in thiscase, are rare,and more oftenthan not theircombination seems arbitraryand difficultto explain. Before concentratingon our main subject, thejigo, a few words about the two othername categories,the sango and the ingo, are in order. Sango. Even whenlocated on level ground,in valleysor in towns,Buddhist temples are called 'mountains' (san, -zan OA)because originallythey were mountainretreats of recluses,hermits, and monks,and because thesolitude of uninhabitedand remotemountains was feltto be a numinoussphere. Certain mountainshave a cosmological significance,and the Buddha is reportedto have preached on sacred peaks, most prominentlythe Lotus Sutra on This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.63 on Fri, 23 Nov 2012 14:20:33 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions SECKEL: Buddhist Temple Names in Japan 361 Vulture's Peak (Grdhrakuita).The altar or dais for Buddhistimages repre- sents Mt Meru (Sumeru, J. Shumi-sentj,Li), the centralaxis of the world accordingto Indian cosmology,and is thereforecalled shumi-dan QTffl.The foundingor consecratingpriest of a templeperforms the act of Openingthe Mountain (kaisan MUA) and himselfis called the kaisan. Being basically topographical,the mountainnames are also used as or in- stead of personal names, especiallyin Zen circles. For example, the monk Wen-yen(J. Bun'en) t)1K,living in the mountainretreat or monasteryon Yun- men-shan(J. Unmonsan) fUY1LLJ(Mt Cloud Gate) was popularlycalled Master Ytin-men(J. Unmon); several Japanese templeswere named Unmonji after him or his Chinese monastery.This usage, of course, was taken over from China; forexample, when the eminentmonk philosopherChih-i (J. Chigi) V 0, 538-597,received the honorarytitle of T'ien-t'ai Ta-shih(J. Tendai Daishi) X-lvtft,he was called afterthe sacred peak in Chechiang province,and the name of thismountain was subsequentlytransferred to one of themost influen- tial sects as well. In the presentshort survey we have to omit the mountain names almost completely,for otherwisethe scope of the materialwould be doubled. In many cases, althoughby no means regularly,there exists a semanticre- lationship between the sango and the jigo, and a few examples out of a considerablenumber of typicalconnections are givenbelow. Ruriko-sanYakushiji fU% iS: Ruriko=Radiance of Jewellery(Skt. vaidurya)is an alternativename forYakushi NyoraiViji4p, the Healing Bud- dha. Muryoju-sanSaihoji dEUW15: in the WesternRegion reignsAmida (Skt. Amitayus),the Buddha of ImmeasurableLife. Chfidai-sanDainichiji @ =LLJ7HEY:Dainichi Nyorai (Vairocana) occupies the Central (Lotus) Terrace of the GarbhadhatuMandala. Gokoku-sanShitennoji T,LI4I: the Four Lokapalas (Heavenly Kings) are worshipped as Protectors of the State. Hokke-san Ichijoji i'L-#: the One-and-OnlyVehicle (way to salvation) accordingto the Tendai school (to whichthe templebelongs) is expoundedin its fundamentaltext, the Lotus Sutra (Hokke-kyo&#g*). Sometimesthe two elementsare personalnames: in Myoyfi-sanSokyutji 41I1 utS, the sangO gives the posthumous or Buddhist name (hogo '-) of the founder'smother and thejigo that of his father.Fixed rules,however, or at least acceptedhabits of choosingand combiningsango and jigo did not exist. Ingo. Originallythe termin denoted an enclosure,a precinct(of a palace compound, for example) and, by analogy, a cloisterwithin a monastery.In thislatter sense it was applied to temples(as Byodo-in+1R at Uji) or mainly sub-temples(as Daisen-inIt{WSR within the hugecompound of Daitokuji 7 in Kyoto). Alternativebut less frequentterms are -an X and -bo t, while-do V, normallyconfined to singlehalls or chapels, can