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47-463: Ippen was born at Hōgon-ji , a temple in Iyo Province (modern Ehime Prefecture ) on the island of Shikoku . He was originally named Chishin ( 智真 ) . He first studied Tendai at Mount Hiei , Kyoto , and then Jōdo-shū at Dazaifu, Fukuoka on Kyushu . When his father died, the 25-year old Ippen returned to secular life and assumed family responsibilities. He got married and became head of

94-760: A collection of books and so priests and warriors from all over the country gathered there to learn. For the Ashikaga Gakko , the Gohojo clan in Odawara provided protection later. Francis Xavier , a missionary of the Society of Jesus , who propagated Christianity in Japan, described that "the Ashikaga Gakko is the biggest and most famous academy of Bando in Japan (the university of eastern Japan)." Shukyu Banri,

141-421: A number of attendants, and do not in the least care to save money. They are, in short, a very warlike people, and engaged in continual wars among themselves; the most powerful in arms bearing the most extensive sway. They have all one sovereign, although for one hundred and fifty years past the princes have ceased to obey him, and this is the cause of their perpetual feuds. The Spanish arrived in 1587, followed by

188-688: A priest and a composer of Chinese-style poems, went down to Mino Province in the Onin War, and then left for Edo at Dokan Ota's invitation. He traveled all over the Kanto region, Echigo Province , and Hida Province . The above-mentioned Sesshu visited the Risshaku-ji Temple in Yamagata City , Dewa Province . In this period, local lords and local clans considered it indispensable to acquire skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic for

235-599: A semblance of order emerge. Yoshimitsu allowed the constables, who had had limited powers during the Kamakura period, to become strong regional rulers, later called daimyōs . In time, a balance of power evolved between the shōgun and the daimyōs ; the three most prominent daimyō families rotated as deputies to the shōgun at Kyoto. Yoshimitsu was finally successful in reunifying the Northern and Southern courts in 1392, but despite his promise of greater balance between

282-551: A wide following among common people. Other practices associated with the Ji-shū include scheduled sessions of chanting (hence the name Ji-shū "Time sect"), the handing out of slips of paper with the nembutsu written on them, and keeping a register of the converted. Ippen's insistence on constant traveling and giving up of family and possessions led to his nicknames: Traveling Saint ( 遊行上人 , Yugyō Shōnin ) and Holy Man of Renunciation ( 捨聖 , Sutehijiri ) . Ippen's doctrine

329-520: Is nothing of which they are so proud as of weapons adorned with gold and silver. They always wear swords and daggers both in and out of the house, and when they go to sleep they hang them at the bed's head. In short, they value arms more than any people I have ever seen. They are excellent archers, and usually fight on foot, though there is no lack of horses in the country. They are very polite to each other, but not to foreigners, whom they utterly despise. They spend their means on arms, bodily adornment, and on

376-578: The Jinnō Shōtōki . This chronicle emphasized the importance of maintaining the divine descent of the imperial line from Amaterasu to the current emperor, a condition that gave Japan a special national polity ( kokutai ). Besides reinforcing the concept of the emperor as a deity, the Jinnōshōtōki provided a Shinto view of history, which stressed the divine nature of all Japanese and the country's spiritual supremacy over China and India. Buddhism, arriving in

423-501: The abolition of the han system in 1871, Iyo Province became Ehime Prefecture . [REDACTED] Media related to Iyo Province at Wikimedia Commons Muromachi period The Muromachi period or Muromachi era ( 室町時代 , Muromachi jidai ) , also known as the Ashikaga period or Ashikaga era ( 足利時代 , Ashikaga jidai ) , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks

470-627: The samurai class, and Ashikaga Takauji deposed Emperor Go-Daigo with their support. In 1338 Takauji was proclaimed shōgun and established his government in Kyoto . However, Emperor Go-Daigo escaped from his confinement and revived his political power in Nara . The ensuing period of Ashikaga rule (1336–1573) was called Muromachi after the district of Kyoto in which its headquarters – the Hana-no-gosho ( 花の御所 , Flower Palace) – were relocated by

517-518: The tea ceremony , landscape gardening, and flower arranging—all flourished during Muromachi times. There was renewed interest in Shinto , which had quietly coexisted with Buddhism during the centuries of the latter's predominance. Shinto, which lacked its own scriptures and had few prayers, had, as a result of syncretic practices begun in the Nara period, widely adopted Shingon Buddhist rituals. Between

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564-667: The Ōnin War (1467–77), which left Kyoto devastated and effectively ended the national authority of the bakufu . The power vacuum that ensued launched a century of anarchy. The Japanese contact with the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) began when China was renewed during the Muromachi period after the Chinese sought support in suppressing Japanese pirates in coastal areas of China. Japanese pirates of this era and region were referred to as wokou by

611-690: The "White Path", so it is appropriate that his life led to the production of a great many portraits, sculpted images, and illustrated narrative scrolls ( emaki 絵巻). The Ippen Hijiri-e (一遍聖絵) was edited by Ippen's disciple Shōkai (聖戒) and, according to an inscription dated 1299, was painted by the artist En'i (円伊) ( Kankikō-ji 歓喜光寺, Kyoto, and Tokyo National Museum). The twelve handscrolls on silk show Ippen's trip around Japan, and are well known for their naturalistic depiction of "famous places", including Mount Fuji (富士), Kumano, Shitennō-ji (四天王寺), Zenkō-ji (善光寺), Enoshima (江ノ島), Yoshino (吉野), Itsukushima (厳島), and Naruto (鳴門). The treatment of space shows

658-463: The "far countries" (遠国) in terms of distance from the capital. The provincial capital was located in what is now the city of Imabari , but its exact location is still unknown. The ichinomiya of the province is the Ōyamazumi Shrine located on the island of Ōmishima in what is now part of Imabari. The people spoke Iyo dialect . Iyo Province was formed by the Ritsuryo reforms by combining

705-930: The 6th century, impacted education but did not replace Shinto. Confucianism began to be recognized as essential to the education of a daimyo in the Muromachi period. When Genju Keian, who returned from the Ming dynasty, traveled around Kyushu, he was invited by the Kikuchi clan in Higo Province and the Shimazu clan in Satsuma Province to give a lecture; and later, he established the Satsunan school (school of Neo-Confucianism in Satsuma). In Tosa, Baiken Minamimura, who lectured on Neo-Confucianism, became known as

752-547: The Chinese Song (960–1279), Yuan , and Ming dynasties. The proximity of the imperial court to the bakufu resulted in a co-mingling of imperial family members, courtiers, daimyō, samurai, and Zen priests. During the Muromachi period, the re-constituted Blue Cliff Record became the central text of Japanese Zen literature; it still holds that position today. Art of all kinds—architecture, literature, Noh drama, Kyōgen (comedy) , poetry, sarugaku (folk entertainment) ,

799-573: The Chinese (Japanese wakō ). Wanting to improve relations with China and to rid Japan of the wokou threat, Yoshimitsu accepted a relationship with the Chinese that was to last for half a century. In 1401 he restarted the tribute system, describing himself in a letter to the Chinese Emperor as "Your subject, the King of Japan". Japanese wood, sulfur, copper ore, swords, and folding fans were traded for Chinese silk, porcelain, books, and coins, in what

846-605: The Chinese considered tribute but the Japanese saw as profitable trade. During the time of the Ashikaga bakufu, a new national culture, called Muromachi culture, emerged from the bakufu headquarters in Kyoto to reach all levels of society, strongly influenced by Zen Buddhism. Zen played a central role in spreading not only religious teachings and practices but also art and culture, including influences derived from paintings of

893-576: The Dutch in 1609. The Japanese began to attempt studies of European civilization in depth, and new opportunities were presented for the economy, along with serious political challenges. European firearms, fabrics, glassware, clocks, tobacco, and other Western innovations were traded for Japanese gold and silver. Significant wealth was accumulated through trade, and lesser daimyō, especially in Kyūshū, greatly increased their power. Provincial wars became more deadly with

940-601: The biography of Ippen's most important disciple, Taa (他阿, 1237–1319). In the Shinkō-ji version, the first four scrolls depict Ippen's life, while the last six concern the life of Taa and the spread of Ji Sect teaching. The Kinren-ji (金蓮寺) in Kyoto has a Muromachi period copy of the now-lost work dated 1307. Paragraphs 2,3,4,11,12 are all courtesy of the Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System. Iyo Province Iyo Province ( 伊予国 , Iyo-no kuni )

987-517: The capital in Kyoto by Oda Nobunaga . From a cultural perspective, the period can be divided into the Kitayama and Higashiyama cultures (later 15th – early 16th centuries). The early years from 1336 to 1392 of the Muromachi period are known as the Nanboku-chō or Northern and Southern Court period. This period is marked by the continued resistance of the supporters of Emperor Go-Daigo ,

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1034-534: The central region, which no daimyō had been able to control, and to the Inland Sea . Economic developments and the desire to protect trade achievements brought about the establishment of merchant and artisan guilds. By the end of the Muromachi period, the first Europeans had arrived. The Portuguese landed in Tanegashima south of Kyūshū in 1543 and within two years were making regular port calls, initiating

1081-747: The century-long Nanban trade period . In 1551, the Navarrese Roman Catholic missionary Francis Xavier was one of the first Westerners who visited Japan . Francis described Japan as follows: Japan is a very large empire entirely composed of islands. One language is spoken throughout, not very difficult to learn. This country was discovered by the Portuguese eight or nine years ago. The Japanese are very ambitious of honors and distinctions, and think themselves superior to all nations in military glory and valor. They prize and honor all that has to do with war, and all such things, and there

1128-628: The children are quick to grasp our lessons and instructions. They learn to read and write our language far more quickly and easily than children in Europe. The lower classes in Japan are not so coarse and ignorant as those in Europe; on the contrary, they are generally intelligent, well brought up and quick to learn." Teikin Orai (Home Education Text Book), Joe-shikimoku (legal code of the Kamakura shogunate), and Jitsugokyo (a text for primary education) were widely used in shrines and temples as textbooks for

1175-553: The education of children of the warrior class. It was in the Sengoku Period that the following books were published: Setsuyoshu (a Japanese-language dictionary in iroha order) written by Soji MANJUYA, and "Ishotaizen" (The Complete Book of Medicine), a medical book in Ming's language, translated by Asai no Sozui, who was a merchant in Sakai City and a physician. The new Zen monasteries, with their Chinese background and

1222-477: The eighth and fourteenth centuries, Shinto was nearly totally absorbed by Buddhism, becoming known as Ryōbu Shinto (Dual Shinto). The Mongol invasions in the late thirteenth century, however, evoked a national consciousness of the role of the kamikaze in defeating the enemy. Less than fifty years later (1339–43), Kitabatake Chikafusa (1293–1354), the chief commander of the Southern Court forces, wrote

1269-644: The emperor behind the Kenmu Restoration . The Sengoku period or Warring States period, which begins in 1465, largely overlaps with the Muromachi period. The Muromachi period is succeeded by the Azuchi–Momoyama period (1568–1600), the final phase of the Sengoku period, and later by the Edo period (1603–1867). Emperor Go-Daigo 's brief attempt to restore imperial power in the Kenmu Restoration alienated

1316-887: The founder of Nangaku (Neo-Confucianism in Tosa); in Hokuriku region , Nobutaka Kiyohara lectured on Confucianism for various daimyo such as the Hatakeyama clan in Noto Province , the Takeda clan in Wakasa Province , and the Asakura clan in Echizen Province . Meanwhile, in the eastern part of Japan, Norizane Uesugi re-established the Ashikaga Gakko , Japan's oldest surviving academic institution, by adding

1363-463: The governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( Muromachi bakufu or Ashikaga bakufu ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi shōgun , Ashikaga Takauji , two years after the brief Kenmu Restoration (1333–1336) of imperial rule was brought to a close. The period ended in 1573 when the 15th and last shogun of this line, Ashikaga Yoshiaki , was driven out of

1410-462: The household. During a pilgrimage to the Kumano Shrines , the kami enshrined there revealed to Ippen that enlightenment was determined by Amitābha and that Ippen should devote himself to preaching the importance of reciting his name, a practice called nembutsu . Ippen and a band of followers then travelled throughout the country proselytizing with their ecstatic nembutsu dance, and won

1457-477: The imperial lines, the Northern Court maintained control over the throne thereafter. The line of shoguns gradually weakened after Yoshimitsu and increasingly lost power to the daimyōs and other regional strongmen. The shōgun ' s influence on imperial succession waned, and the daimyōs could back their own candidates. In time, the Ashikaga family had its own succession problems, resulting finally in

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1504-463: The influence of Song and Yuan Chinese landscape painting. A second type of biographical handscroll Ippen Shōnin Engi-e 一遍上人縁起絵), edited by Ippen's other disciple, Sōshun (宗俊), was painted sometime between 1304 and 1307. The original scrolls no longer exist but were copied in many other versions including those at Shinkō-ji (真光寺), Hyōgo Prefecture . These versions are characterized by the addition of

1551-558: The initial creative restrictions, Japanese Zen ink painting soon achieved poetic and indigenous expression as elements were rearranged in a Japanese manner, and brushstrokes became gentle, fluid and more impulsive. The Ōnin War (1467–77) led to serious political fragmentation and obliteration of domains: a great struggle for land and power ensued among bushi chieftains and lasted until the mid-sixteenth century. Peasants rose against their landlords and samurai against their overlords as central control virtually disappeared. The imperial house

1598-650: The introduction of firearms, such as muskets and cannons, and greater use of infantry. Christianity affected Japan, largely through the efforts of the Jesuits , led first by the Spanish Francis Xavier (1506–1552), who arrived in Kagoshima in southern Kyūshū in 1549. Both daimyō and merchants seeking better trade arrangements as well as peasants were among the converts. By 1560 Kyoto had become another major area of missionary activity in Japan. In 1568

1645-563: The management of their territories. A growing number of land deeds were written by peasants, which means that literacy was widespread even among the commoner class. The Italian Jesuit, Alessandro Valignano (1539–1606), wrote: "The people are white (not dark-skinned) and cultured; even the common folk and peasants are well brought up and are so remarkably polite that they give the impression that they were trained at court. In this respect they are superior to other Eastern peoples but also to Europeans as well. They are very capable and intelligent, and

1692-494: The martial rulers in Kamakura sought to produce a unique cultural legacy to rival the Fujiwara tradition. Hence, Chinese painter-monks were frequently invited to the monasteries while Japanese monks travelled back and forth. This exchange led to the creation of Muromachi ink painting which often included Chinese themes, Chinese ink-washing techniques, fluid descriptive lines, dry brushes, and almost invisible facial features. Despite

1739-462: The peasantry in permanent serfdom in exchange for protection. Most wars of the period were short and localized, although they occurred throughout Japan. By 1500 the entire country was engulfed in civil wars. Rather than disrupting the local economies, however, the frequent movement of armies stimulated the growth of transportation and communications, which in turn provided additional revenues from customs and tolls. To avoid such fees, commerce shifted to

1786-461: The port of Nagasaki , in northwestern Kyūshū, was established by a Christian daimyō and was turned over to Jesuit administration in 1579. By 1582 there were as many as 150,000 converts (two percent of the population) and 200 churches. But bakufu tolerance for this alien influence diminished as the country became more unified and openness decreased. Proscriptions against Christianity began in 1587 and outright persecutions in 1597. Although foreign trade

1833-493: The province were part of the stronghold of Fujiwara no Sumitomo , who led a rebellion against Imperial authority. During the Muromachi period , a branch of the Saionji family was appointed as shugo by the Ashikaga shogunate , but was constantly being invaded his more powerful and aggressive neighbors. The Saionji survived by the fluid loyalties and fierce resistance, but were eventually overcome by Chōsokabe Motochika , who

1880-556: The sea in the hope of being reborn in the Pure Land. Such phenomena perhaps help to explain the limited spread of the Ji-shu, and the ecstatic fervor of the early Ji-shu also seems to have militated against mainstream acceptance. In 1292, three years after Ippen's death, Ippen's birthplace, Hōgon-ji , was rebuilt by his disciple Sen'a and became a Ji sect temple. Ippen himself was greatly devoted to paintings of Shandao 's allegory of

1927-642: The territories of the Iyo-no- kuni no miyatsuko ( 伊余国造 ) , who ruled a territory centered on what is now the city of Iyo and town of Masaki with Kumi Province, Kazehaya Province, Touma Province, and Koichi Province each ruled by its own kuni no miyatsuko . The Geiyo Islands in the Seto Inland Sea were considered part of Aki Province into the Edo Period . During the Heian period , the coastal areas of

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1974-472: The third shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu , in 1378. What distinguished the Ashikaga shogunate from that of Kamakura was that, whereas Kamakura had existed in equilibrium with the imperial court, Ashikaga took over the remnants of the imperial government. Nevertheless, the Ashikaga shogunate was not as strong as Kamakura had been, and was greatly preoccupied with civil war. Not until the rule of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (as shōgun , 1368–94, and chancellor, 1394–1408) did

2021-607: Was a province of Japan in the area of northwestern Shikoku . Iyo bordered on Sanuki Province to the northeast, Awa to the east, and Tosa to the south. Its abbreviated form name was Yoshū ( 予州 ) . In terms of the Gokishichidō system, Iyo was one of the provinces of the Nankaidō circuit. Under the Engishiki classification system, Iyo was ranked as one of the "upper countries" (上国) in terms of importance, and one of

2068-484: Was in turn overthrown by the forces of Toyotomi Hideyoshi . Under the Tokugawa shogunate , the province was divided into several feudal domains. Per the early Meiji period Kyudaka kyuryo Torishirabe-chō ( 旧高旧領取調帳 ) , an official government assessment of the nation’s resources, the province had 964 villages with a total kokudaka of 434,408 koku . Iyo Province consisted of the following districts: Following

2115-559: Was left impoverished, and the bakufu was controlled by contending chieftains in Kyoto. The provincial domains that emerged after the Ōnin War were smaller and easier to control. Many new small daimyō arose from among the samurai who had overthrown their great overlords. Border defenses were improved, and well fortified castle towns were built to protect the newly opened domains, for which land surveys were made, roads built, and mines opened. New house laws provided practical means of administration, stressing duties and rules of behavior. Emphasis

2162-989: Was primarily influenced by Shōkū , founder of the Seizan branch of the Jōdo-shū , who "insisted that the various Buddhist practices contain no more than a portion of the merit of the single practice of the nembutsu and serve merely to lead people to recite the nembutsu." However he was also strongly influenced by the nondualism of Zen and even received Dharma transmission as a Zen master from Rōshi Kakushin. Before his death Ippen burned all his writings, saying that "they have all become namuamidabutsu (devotion to Amida Buddha)", but copies were kept by some of his disciples. Dennis Hirota has translated some of these writings into English in No Abode: The Record of Ippen (1997). After Ippen's death many of his disciples appear to have committed suicide, throwing themselves into

2209-416: Was put on success in war, estate management, and finance. Threatening alliances were guarded against through strict marriage rules. Aristocratic society was overwhelmingly military in character. The rest of society was controlled in a system of vassalage. The shōen (feudal manors) were obliterated, and court nobles and absentee landlords were dispossessed. The new daimyō directly controlled the land, keeping

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