Ji-shu

Statue of Ippen, the founder of the Ji-shu.

Ji-shū (時宗) (lit. "time school"). A branch of the Japanese Pure Land school, which came into existence through the teachings of Ippen around 1278, and which has the Yugyōji as its head temple.

The Digital Dictionary of Buddhism states:

'Time' 時 refers to the chanting of Amitâbhaʼs 阿彌陀 name at all times. Before his death, this group numbered perhaps over two hundred men and women, and Ippen had established rules for group poverty and incessant wayfaring. The Jishū practiced a distinctive dance (odori nenbutsu) celebrating the instantaneous salvation available in Amitâbhaʼs name. Originally spontaneous and ecstatic, the dance became a regularized performance by members of the Jishū on the grounds of shrines and temples, and in other public areas such as beaches and markets. After being driven out of the Shogunate capital of Kamakura, in 1282, Ippen led the Jishū to the provinces around Kyoto. Here he met with great success and was even invited to many notable temples and shrines. In 1288, Ippen led his group to his home in Iyo and then back across the Inland Sea, where he died in 1289. The Ji Shū exists to the present day, with some five hundred temples affiliated. Scripturally, it places greatest emphasis on the Amitâbha-sūtra 阿彌陀經, but also recognizes the Huayan jing 華嚴經 and Lotus Sutra 法華經. 〔續高僧傳 T 2060.50.430b3, 高僧傳 T 2059.50.373b17〕 [Charles Muller; source(s): JEBD]

Further reading

• Foard, James Harlan (1977). Ippen Shônin and popular Buddhism in Kamakura Japan, Dissertation, Stanford University. OCLC
• Foard, James Harlan(2006). The Pure Land Tradition: History and Development, Fremont, CA: Jain Publishing. ISBN 9780895810922. pp. 357–398
• Griffiths, Caitilin J. (2011). Tracing the Itinerant Path: Jishū Nuns of Medieval Japan, Thesis, University of Toronto
• Hirota, Dennis (1997). No Abode: The Record of Ippen, (Ryukoku-Ibs Studies in Buddhist Thought and Tradition), Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, ISBN 0824819977
• Kaufman, Laura S. (1992). Nature, Courtly Imagery, and Sacred Meaning in the Ippen Hijiri-e. In James H. Sanford (ed.), Flowing Traces Buddhism in the Literary and Visual Arts of Japan, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press; pp. 47–75
• Matsunaga, Daigan, Matsunaga, Alicia (1996), Foundation of Japanese buddhism, Vol. 2: The Mass Movement (Kamakura and Muromachi Periods), Los Angeles; Tokyo: Buddhist Books International, 1996. ISBN 0-914910-28-0
• Thornton, S.A. (1999). Charisma and Community Formation in Medieval Japan: The Case of the Yugyo-ha (1300-1700). Cornell East Asia Series no. 102, Ithaca: Cornell University, ISBN 1-885445-62-8
• Dennis Hirota, No Abode: The Record of Ippen, University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu, 1997 ISBN 978-0-8248-1997-2
• Daigan Lee Matsunaga and Alicia Orloff Matsunaga, Foundation of Japanese Buddhism. Vol. II: The Mass Movement (Kamakura & Muromachi Periods), Buddhist Books International, Los Angeles & Tōkyō, 1976 ISBN 978-0-9149-1027-5

External links

• Jodo Shu Research Institute
• Stewart, Harold, Ippen
• The Yugyo-ji temple / Head temple of the ji-shu sect
• 念佛金言录
• Shonin Ippen, E-den (Biographical stories vol7)
• The Ji Sect (時宗)
• Ji-Shu Main Temple website