Visited Chishaku-in temple in a serene afternoon. Exploring places I can bike to instead of taking public transportation. It's fun to look around what I can do with a restriction, mainly the radius I can go.
Chishaku-in temple was build around 1600s, when some Buddhist priests in Shingon sect escaped feudal conflicts in Wakayama and came to Kyoto. Since then, the temple has been a head temple of this sect. It flourished in the 1700s as a school where pious Buddhist monks live and study. It is a huge temple with many buildings and halls. The plum trees are starting to bloom.
The name Chishaku has a deep meaning -- 'to accumulate knowledge'. It's inspiring to be in this place where monks studied to accumulate knowledge, and it makes me want to be a better researcher who contributes new knowledge to the society.
And they also have a national treasure of paperwall paintings by Hasegawa Tohaku and their followers. Hasegawa was once a student to the Kano school, but his bold style led to disagreement and friction with them. So, he started his own school, and he and his son drew the gigantic paperwall paintings of flowers and trees in four seasons, which are preserved in the treasure house at this temple. The paintings were just amazing, still bright and vivid, and it was hard to believe that it was drawn some 400 years ago.
Despite the large size, all the lives on the wall paintings had intricate details, reality, and beauty. The huge pine trees, which were often the main theme of the paintings, were decorated in harmony with other plants and the golden background. It was truly a stunning view to have all the paintings on the four walls of the house, and I could have stayed there for hours if it had not been the time to close. No pictures were allowed, but it's OK... I'll defininately come back to see the exquisite artwork again.
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