Yoshimura (English spelling) yì yì

Japanese: 義邑 - ぎゆう（英語表記）yì yì

A religious organization formed by lay Buddhists in China from the Northern and Southern Dynasties to the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties dynasties. Depending on the period, it was also called a village association, a law association, or a shrine. Members worked together to build statues, temples, and temples as concrete acts of accumulating merit. From the mid-Tang dynasty, the name "shrine association" became more common, and the activities changed to relatively light economic burdens such as small-scale statue building, sutra-making, prayer meetings, sutra recitation, copying sutras, and support for secular lectures. The organization consisted of leaders such as the head priest, the elder priest, the recorder, and the governor, as well as general members called the shrine attendants, shrine workers, shrine workers, and shrine households, and they often belonged exclusively to a specific temple.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

中国，南北朝より隋･唐･五代に在家仏教信者が組織した信仰団体。時期により邑会，法社，社邑などとも呼称される。構成員が協同で功徳を積み行う具体的行為として造像，造寺，修寺などの事業を行った。唐代中頃からはもっぱら社邑という名称が一般的となり，その事業内容も小規模な造像，造経幢，斎会，誦経，写経，俗講支援といった比較的経済負担の軽微なものへと変化していった。その組織は社僧以下，社長･社老･録事･虞候といった幹部と，社子･社人･社戸と呼ばれる一般構成員より成り，特定寺院に専属することが多かった。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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