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Enryaku-ji (延暦寺, Enryaku-ji) is a Tendai monastery located on Mount Hiei in Ōtsu, overlooking Kyoto.It was first founded in 788 during the early Heian period (794–1185) [1] by Saichō (767–822), also known as Dengyō Daishi, who introduced the Tendai sect of Mahayana Buddhism to Japan from China.
The temple of Enryaku-ji, the first outpost of the Japanese Tendai (Chin. Tiantai) sect of Buddhism, was founded atop Mount Hiei by Saichō in 788 and rapidly grew into a sprawling complex of temples and buildings that were roughly divided into three areas: The Saitō (西塔, "West Pagoda") area near the summit, and technically in Kyoto ...
The siege of Mount Hiei was a battle of the Sengoku period of Japan fought between Oda Nobunaga and the sōhei (warrior monks) of the monasteries of Enryaku-ji on Mount Hiei near Kyoto on September 30, 1571. It is said that Oda Nobunaga killed all the monks, scholars, priests, women, and children that lived on the mountain in this battle.
The Japanese word for a Buddhist monastery is tera (寺) (kun reading), and the same kanji also has the pronunciation ji (on reading), so temple names frequently end in -dera or -ji. Another ending, -in (院), is normally used to refer to minor temples. Examples of temple names that have these suffixes are Kiyomizu-dera, Enryaku-ji and Kōtoku-in.
Enryaku-ji is the headquarters of the Tendai school and centre for the practice of kaihōgyō. Sōō Kashō (831–918) is traditionally thought of as the founder of the kaihōgyō practice. Sōō was a Tendai monk who spent years performing ascetic practices on Mt Hiei and other nearby mountains.
Along with other major temples in the capital, both sects formed the first standing armies of warrior monks, called sōhei. When the Genpei War broke out in 1180, the warrior monks of the two sects found themselves on opposing sides, the Enryaku-ji Sanmon monks supporting the Taira clan while Mii-dera's Jimon monks supported the Minamoto clan.
The warlord Oda Nobunaga ended this Buddhist militancy in 1571 by attacking Enryaku-ji, leveling the buildings and slaughtering monks. The current structures date from the late 16th century to early 17th century and reflect Edo period details, but the main building (the Konponchudo , a National Treasure) was built in 887.
Around July 20, Enryaku-ji Temple stationed tens of thousands of warrior monks from its branch temples in various provinces at the foot of Higashiyama, and 30,000 troops from Omi led by Rokkaku Sadayori and Yoshikata and Gamo Sadahide were deployed in Higashiyama, with 3,000 soldiers from Mii-dera Temple deployed to the north, completely blocking off the north and east of Kyoto.