III. THE EASTERN HONGWANJI.

IN September, 1594, Kyonyo Shonin resigned his position as "Jushoku" (residing priest) of the Hongwanji at Horikawa, Nishi-Rokujo, in favor of his brother, Junnyo, while Kyonyo himself made his residence at the new Hongwanji built (1602) at Karasu-maru, Higashi-Rokujo, the site of which was donated by Tokugawa Iyeyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate government. Since then, the Hongwanji at Horikawa was designated the

[paragraph continues] Western Hongwanji and the one at Karasu-maru the Eastern Hongwanji. With the co-existence of these two centers of power, the followers of the True Sect and their numerous local temples were naturally divided into two groups, alleging their loyalty to either of their two mother Hongwanjis. Those who went to the Eastern Hongwanji were called the Eastern Branch, and the other the Western. Ever since that time, these two branches of the Hongwanji have kept on their brotherly relations, each endeavoring to contribute to the prosperity of their common cause. In 1881, the Eastern Branch came to be known as the Otani Branch, while the Western the Hongwanji Branch.

After the division, those who successively occupied the position of Jushoku ("residing priest") or Hosshu ("the chief abbot") at the Eastern Hongwanji were: Kyonyo, Sennyo. Takunyo, Jyonyo, Ichinyo, Shinnyo, Jyunyo, Tatsunyo,

[paragraph continues] Gonnyo, and Gennyo. The present Hosshu is Shonyo who is called Koyen.

Since its first establishment in 1602, the Eastern Hongwanji had suffered no disaster until 1788 when the great fire of Kyoto consumed the greater parts of the city, and the temple too could not escape its devastating progress. It was rebuilt in 1798, but in 1823 it was again destroyed by a fire. The building was restored in 1835, and burned again in 1858 when Kyoto suffered another great fire. Though a temporary hall was constructed in 1860, it met the same disaster as before, when a war broke out within the city in 1864. The present magnificent building was finished in 1895.

The Eastern Branch, since its early history, has encouraged the study of its canonical writings and the education of able preachers; and it was during the Kwambun era (1661-1672) that the Lecture Hall of the Kwanzeon-ji was

removed from Tsukushi, and the first school was established in Shosei Garden, better known by the name of Kikoku-tei. In 1754, this school was to Takakura, Kyoto, and the curriculum was prepared on an extended scale. This is what is known as the Takakura College. Among the many noted scholars that were educated at the College, there were the following: Yeku, Yenen, Yerin, Zuiye, Jinrei, Senmyo, Ton-ye, Hokei, Gito, Hokai, Daigan, Tokuryu, Reiwo, Reiyo, Shuzon, Gijyo, Ryuwon, Gido, Jingo, Giten, Gyochyu, Sengan, Senryu, Kakuju, etc.