page_title: Chion-in
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Chion-in / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Sanmon of Chion-in Buddhist temple (Japan's national treasure), Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It was rebuilt in 1621. 日本語: 知恩院三門（国宝）, 京都府京都市東山区。1621年再建。 Camera: Sony DSLR-A700Lens: Sony SAL1680Z (Carl Zeiss)
context_page_description: Chion-in in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, Japan is the headquarters of the Jōdo-shū founded by Hōnen, who proclaimed that sentient beings are reborn in Amida Buddha's Western Paradise by reciting the nembutsu, Amida Buddha's name.
  The vast compounds of Chion-in include the site where Hōnen settled to disseminate his teachings and the site where he died.
context_section_description: The original temple was built in 1234 by Hōnen's disciple, Genchi (1183–1238) in memory of his master and was named Chion-in. While the temple was affiliated more closely in the early years with the Seizan branch of Jodo Shu, its 8th head priest, Nyoichi (1262–1321) was deeply influenced by the priest Ryōkū, a disciple of Ryōchū who was the 3rd head of the Chinzei branch of Jōdo-shū Buddhism, and disciple of Benchō.  Later Nyoichi's successor Shunjō (1255–1355) advanced this further by citing a biography where Genchi's disciple Renjaku-bo and Ryōchū agree that there existed no doctrinal differences between them:
  Then Renjaku-bo said, "There is complete agreement between what Genchi and Bencho say in their basic teaching.  So my disciples should from now on look at the Chinzei teaching as their own.  There is no need to set up another school."
  By 1450, Chion-in had become fully under control of the Chinzei branch, but had little direct control, due to the outbreak of the Ōnin War.  Numerous buildings in the complex were burnt down in 1633, but were entirely rebuilt by the third Tokugawa shōgun Iemitsu (1604–1651) with the palatial structures that stand today.
caption: Sanmon (National Treasure of Japan)
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "SONY DSC", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSLR-A700", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS2 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2009:11:29 18:26:22", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 6, 0, 1, 0, 22, 0, ... ]", "Image ExifOffset": "372", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1070", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5665", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/8", "EXIF FNumber": "9/2", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Aperture Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2009:11:28 16:54:17", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:11:28 16:54:17", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "8", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "-1/4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "-7/10", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "4", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Cloudy weather", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "26", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3200", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2133", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "944", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "39", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}