Raw data
Kanzeonji is located in Dazaifu City in Fukuoka Prefecture on the southern island of Kyûshû. Historically, Dazaifu was the port of entry for travelers to and from Korea and China, so government offices were built to receive important foreign missions. An entry of 709 in the Shoku Nihongi states that the unfinished monastery, in need of more funds and workers, was vowed by Emperor Tenji in honor of his mother Empress Saimei. She died in 661, presumably while overseeing a military mission to aid the Korean kingdom of Paekche against its neighbors. A priest named Mansei was sent to supervise the construction in 723. By 731, “the masks, robes, and musical instruments for Gigaku dance drama were presented, indicating that Kanzeonji was largely completed” (McCallum 73). A famous monk Genbô from Nara appears to have been involved in Kanzeon-ji’s “completion of work” ceremony in 745.
There is a theory that the monastery may have been built on the site of an earlier temple, or completed at an earlier date. This is because of a 686 reference in another document (Shinshô kyaku choku fushô: Jifûbu) to land being granted to a temple in the area. Also, the famous bell is inscribed with a date that is equivalent to 698, so portions of the temple could have been already operational. Alternatively, a later text (Ruijû sandai kyaku) proposes that Kanzeonji was founded by Tenji’s successor, Emperor Tenmu. However, archaeologists believe that Kanzeonji’s roof tiles were made using the same moulds as Kawaradera tiles, which date to the late 7th or early 8th century. This points to a connection with Tenji.
Excavations have revealed a middle gate, behind a south gate, with a roofed corridor encircling a golden hall on the west side and a pagoda on the east side. Embedded in the northern part of the roofed corridor is a lecture hall. McCallum sees the layout as “something of a simplification of the Kawaradera plan” (74).
–McCallum (2009: 70-74)
Kanzeonji is mentioned in the Tale of Genji (early 11th century). It had many subsidiary temples in the area, and an Ordination Hall, the Kaidan'in, but none of the original buildings survive. Kanzeonji's present lecture hall and golden hall were built in the Edo period (1600-1868), and are under half the size of the original Nara ones. However, the old foundation stones can still be seen. The bell is said to be the oldest of its kind in Japan. On the precincts there is a storehouse with Buddhist statuary dating to the Heian and Kamakura periods.
-“Dazaifu shipo ‘by’ Nagisan: Kanzeonji hen, honpen.” http://heiankyou.hp.infoseek.co.jp/i-dazaifu-004.htm
Src: JPN
Input by: Lizbeth H. Piel, Mar 18, 2010
Final data (and their sources)
Lat/Long coordinates' accuracy:
The monastery in question is assumed to be situated actually no farther than 200 m from the point defined by the coordinates below.
General location of the Kanzeonji monastery, JP.
Lat 33.5150 Long 130.5213
Mapping & images: Falling Rain Genomics (http://www.fallingrain.com), 2009.
Google Map link:
Final data - explanatory notes
1. Monastery's name
- Kanzeonji 観世音寺 monastery. Alternative English spelling: Kanzeon-ji
2. Monastery's modern country & province
- Japan: Fukuoka Prefecture
3. Monastery's alternative/historical names
- Fu Ôdera –(McCallum (2009: 73)
4. Monastery's lat/long coordinates
- Almost exactly, Lat 33.5150 Long 130.5213 - based on visual identification of the monastery in satellite images, using maps.google.com - tmciolek, 26 Mar 2010.
5. Other known nearby Buddhist monasteries
- Kaidanin
6. Modern name of the known nearest city, town, or village
- Dazaifu-shi (Dazifu City). In 1955, Dazaifu-chô and Mizuki-mura merged to create Dazaifu-shi. -–Nihon chimei jiten (1998: 724)
7. The settlement's alternative/historical names
- Alternative kanji reading for Dazaifu: 大宰府. -–Nihon chimei jiten (1998: 724).
8. The settlement's coordinates
Exactly, Lat 33.5166 Long 130.5166 -
http://toolserver.org/~geohack/geohack.php?pagename=Dazaifu,_Fukuoka¶ms=33_31_N_130_31_E_type:city_region:JP
9. Monastery's major Buddhist tradition
- Mahayana
10. Monastery's Buddhist sub-tradition
- Tendai sect –http://heiankyou.hp.infoseek.co.jp/i-dazaifu-004.htm
11. Date-early
- 698 –McCallum (2009: 74)
12. Date-intermediate
- 723 or 745 –McCallum (2009: 73)
- 746 –http://heiankyou.hp.infoseek.co.jp/i-dazaifu-004.htm
13. Date-late
- The lecture hall and the gokden hall were rebuilt in the early Edo period (1600-1868). –http://heiankyou.hp.infoseek.co.jp/i-dazaifu-004.htm
14. Details of contacts with other monasteries
- Kanzeonji is connected to Kawaradera through Emperor Tenji.
15. Type of evidence regarding the monastery
- Archaeological, documents
16. Additional notes
[missing data]
17. Corrections & addenda to this page were kindly provided by
[missing data]
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