Gangoji Temple

A Kegon sect temple located in Shiba Shinya-cho, Nara City. It is one of the Seven Great Temples of Nara and one of the oldest temples in Japan. It is said to have been built in 596 (the 4th year of the reign of Empress Suiko) by Soga no Umako, who defeated the Mononobe clan in a battle to introduce Buddhism, and was also called Toyura-dera, Katsuragi-dera, Asuka-dera, Kenko-ji, Hoshi-ji, and Kentsu-ji. The temple was home to the Baekje monk Dokin, the Goguryeo monk Ekan, who recited the Three Treatises and prayed for rain, and the Chinese monk Dosho built a Zen temple in Tonan-in and enshrined the Buddha's relics and the entire Buddhist canon, making it a temple of learning for the Hosso teachings. In 710 (Wado 3), when the capital was moved to Heijō, a new temple was built in Nara and named Shin-Gangō-ji, but the temple in Asuka was called Hon-Gangō-ji and gradually fell into disrepair, and today only the Great Buddha of Asuka remains in Angō-in.

Shin-Gangoji Temple was completed in 745 (Tenpyo 17) with the construction of the East Golden Hall, the Great Golden Hall, and other buildings. The Sanron teachings of Chiko and Raiko were popular, and the Hosso teachings of Shogo and Myousen were also promoted, and the temple showed signs of rivaling Kofuku-ji Temple. However, many of the temple's buildings were burned down during the Muromachi period, and the Kannon Hall and five-story pagoda were destroyed in a fire in 1859 (Ansei 6), and the temple declined thereafter. All that remains today is the temporary main hall and the remains of the pagoda (national historic site) that were excavated in 1927 (Showa 2). The Yakushi Nyorai statue is a national treasure, and the principal image, the eleven-headed Kannon statue, and the excavated items are designated as national important cultural properties. Gangoji Temple was registered as a World Heritage Site in 1998 (Heisei 10). (World Heritage Site. Nara's cultural properties include eight shrines and temples, including Todaiji Temple.)

In addition, Gokurakubo (later Gokurakuin), a sub-temple of Shin-Gangoji Temple, was the temple where Chiko lived and became an independent temple during the Kamakura period.

[Michio Sato]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

奈良市芝新屋(しばのしんや)町にある華厳(けごん)宗の寺。南都七大寺の一つに数えられ、日本最古の寺院の一つ。仏教移入の争いで物部(もののべ)氏を破った蘇我馬子(そがのうまこ)が、596年（推古天皇4）に建立したと伝え、豊浦(とゆら)寺、葛城(かつらぎ)寺、飛鳥寺(あすかでら)、建興寺、法師寺、建通寺ともよばれていた。寺には百済(くだら)僧の道欣(どうきん)が住したのをはじめ、高句麗(こうくり)僧の慧灌(えかん)が入寺して三論を講読して雨を祈り、さらに入唐(にっとう)僧道昭が禅院を東南院に建立して将来した仏舎利および一切経(いっさいきょう)を安置するとともに、法相(ほっそう)教学の学問寺とした。710年（和銅3）の平城遷都に伴い奈良に新寺を建立して新元興寺と称したが、飛鳥の寺は本元興(もとがんごう)寺とよばれ、徐々に荒廃し、現在は安居院(あんごいん)に飛鳥大仏を残すのみとなった。

　新元興寺は東金堂、大金堂などが造営され、745年（天平17）には結構が整った。智光(ちこう)、頼光(らいこう)らの三論教学が盛行し、勝悟(しょうご)、明詮(みょうせん)らの法相義も宣揚されて興福寺と拮抗(きっこう)する勢いを示した。しかし、室町時代に至って多くの堂宇を焼失、1859年（安政6）の火災では観音(かんのん)堂、五重塔を焼失し、それ以降は衰えた。現在は仮堂の本堂と、1927年（昭和2）に発掘調査された塔跡（国史跡）を残すのみである。薬師如来(やくしにょらい)像は国宝、本尊の十一面観音像および出土品が国重要文化財に指定されている。元興寺は1998年（平成10）、世界遺産の文化遺産として登録された（世界文化遺産。奈良の文化財は東大寺など8社寺等が一括登録されている）。

　なお、新元興寺の子院極楽坊(ごくらくぼう)（のちに極楽院）は智光の住した坊で、鎌倉時代に独立した寺院となった。

［里道徳雄］

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