The system, more commonly called simply Five Mountain System, was a network of state-sponsored Chan Buddhist temples created in China during the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279), and was also later adopted for temples which specialized in scriptural Buddhist traditions, such as Tiantai Buddhism and Huayan Buddhism. This system was also later implemented primarily for Rinzai Zen temples in Japan during the late Kamakura period (1185–1333). The system originated in India before being adopted by China and Japan. The term "mountain" in this context means "temple" or "monastery", and was adopted because the traditional name for monastics was mountain monks as many monasteries were built on isolated mountains.
In China, records by the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) historian Song Lian state that the Five Mountains system was first established during the Jiading period (1208–1224) of the Southern Song by Emperor Ningzong at the request of the official Shi Miyuan (who was a follower of the eminent Chan master Dahui Zonggao), although alternative accounts of the creation of the system exists in other records. The main Five Temples, known as Wushan (五山), were selected around the then temporary Southern Song capital of Lin'an (located around modern-day Hangzhou in Zhejiang), and high-ranking monks were appointed as abbots by imperial order on a rotating basis. Immediately below the five Wushan temples are another ten called the Shicha (十刹). This list of categorizations was continued in succeeding dynasties, and separate rankings exist for both the Chan Buddhist tradition and the scriptural Buddhist tradition (which broadly includes traditions like Tiantai and Huayan).
In Japan, the ten existing "Five Mountain" temples (five in Kyoto and five in Kamakura, Kanagawa) were both protected and controlled by the shogunate.Iwanami Nihonshi Jiten, Gozan. Japan’s adoption of Zen Buddhism from Song and Yuan China was most clearly reflected in the establishment of the Five Mountain (Gozan 五山) system of state-sponsored Zen temples, which closely imitated the Chinese model.https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/jciea-2014-050104/html In time, they became a sort of governmental bureaucracy that helped the Ashikaga shogunate stabilize the country during the turbulent Nanboku-chō period. Below the ten Gozan temples there were ten so-called temples, followed by another network called . The terms Gozan and Five Mountain System are used both for the ten temples at the top and for the Five Mountain System network in general, including the Jissetsu and the Shozan.
There used to be in Kamakura a parallel "Five Mountain System" of nunneries called , of which the famous Tōkei-ji is the only survivor.
China
Establishment At the time of the Song dynasty, Chan (Japanese Zen) was the dominant form of monasticism in China and had considerable imperial support.Johnston (2000:271) This forced it to assume certain features and develop a network of monastic offices and rituals wanted by the state. Around the 12th century, this tendency to monastic wealth and imperial patronage became even more pronounced with the creation by direct imperial order in South China of the Five Mountains and Ten Temples System (五山十刹, wushan shicha) during the late Southern Song (1127–1279).Harada (2007:41) Historical records by the historian Song Lian (1310–1381) state that the Five Mountains system was first established during the Jiading period (1208–1224) of the Southern Song by Emperor Ningzong at the request of the official Shi Miyuan (1164–1233). It was a system of state-sponsored temples and monasteries built to pray to the gods for the dynasty and the state, which was threatened by enemies from Northern China. Officials chose both the five temples of the top tier, and the chief monastic that ruled over them.
Rankings for Chan temples The famous five mountains and ten temples with regards to Chan Buddhism are:Walsh (2010:87)
Five Mountains (五山, Wushan) First RankJingshan Temple (徑山寺, Jingshan si) in Hangzhou Second RankLingyin Temple (靈隱寺, Lingyin si) in HangzhouThird RankTiantong Temple (天童寺, Tiantong si) in NingboFourth RankJingci Temple (净慈寺, Jingci si) in HangzhouFifth RankAyuwang Temple (阿育王寺, Ayuwang si) in NingboTen Temples (十刹, Shicha)First RankFajing Temple (法净寺, Fajing si), also known as Zhong Tianzhu Temple (中天竺寺, Zhong tianzhu si), in HangzhouSecond RankWanshou Chan Temple (萬壽禪寺, Wanshou chan si) in HuzhouThird RankLinggu Temple (靈谷寺, Linggu si) in NanjingFourth RankBao'en Temple (報恩寺, Bao en si) in SuzhouFifth RankXuedou Temple (雪竇寺, Xuedou si) in NingboSixth RankJiangxin Temple (江心寺, Jiangxin si) in WenzhouSeventh RankChongsheng Temple (崇聖寺, Chongsheng si) in FujianEighth RankShuanglin Temple (雙林寺, Shuanglin si) in WenzhouNinth RankYunyan Temple (雲岩寺, Yunyan si) in SuzhouTenth RankGuoqing Temple (國清寺, Guoqing si) on Mount Tiantai
Rankings for scriptural Buddhist temples Temples under the Song dynasty were broadly categorized into three classes based on their specializations: Chan (禪, lit: "dhyana"), Jiao (教, lit: "teachings") and Lü (律, lit: "Vinaya"), where the Jiao class encompassed various Buddhist traditions based heavily on scriptures such as Tiantai and Huayan. A similar Five Mountains system of ranking was also applied to temples under the Jiao class: Five Mountains (五山, Wushan) First RankFaxi Temple (法喜寺, Faxi si), also known as Shang Tianzhu Temple (中天竺寺, Shang tianzhu si), in Hangzhou Second RankFajing Temple (法鏡寺, Lingyin si), also known as Xia Tianzhu Temple (下天竺寺, Xia tianzhu si), in HangzhouThird RankNengren Temple (能仁寺, Nengren si) in WenzhouFourth RankYanqing Temple (延慶寺, Yanqing si) in NingboFifth RankUnknownTen Temples (十刹, Shicha)First RankJiqing Chan Temple (集慶禪寺, Jiqing chan si) in HangzhouSecond RankChongsheng Yanfu Temple (崇恩演福寺, Chongsheng yanfu si) in HangzhouThird RankPufu Temple (普福寺, Pufu si) in HangzhouFourth RankCigan Temple (慈感寺, Cigan si) in SuzhouFifth RankPuji Temple (普濟寺, Xuedou si) on Mount PutuoSixth RankHuxin Temple (湖心寺, Huxin si) in WenzhouSeventh RankDashan Temple (大善寺, Dashan si) in FujianEighth RankBei Temple (北寺, Bei si) in WenzhouNinth RankYanshou Temple (延壽寺, Yunyan si) in ShanghaiTenth RankWaguan Temple (瓦棺寺, Guoqing si) in Nanjing
Monastic codes The system was devised specifically to bureaucratize and control the power of the Chan temples, a power which had been growing with the years and worried the central government. The consequent submission of the Chan network to imperial power and its goals is evident in later codes, particularly in the Baizhang qinggui compiled in 1336. Because the conquering Mongols financially supported Chan, the code emphasizes prayers for the emperor and the monastic ancestors. The emperor is even described as a nirmanakaya, or incarnate Buddha. The complex monastic bureaucracy described by the code clearly reflects the imperial administration with its eastern and western ranks. The code has been in continuous use ever since, and not only within Chan Buddhism.
Japan During the Song dynasty (960–1279) and Yuan dynasty (1279–1368), China developed influential Zen Buddhist institutions and cultural practices that profoundly shaped Japan during the Kamakura (1180–1333) and Muromachi (1336–1573) periods.https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/jciea-2014-050104/html Japan continuously sent monks on pilgrimages to China to not only study Zen teachings and acquire religious text but also to understand Zen temple architecture and systems.https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/jciea-2014-050104/html The Five Mountain System established in Japan was a direct imitation of the system established by the Song government in China.https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/jciea-2014-050104/html
Introduced to Japan by the Hōjō regency, after an initial hostility from older and established Buddhist sects, it prospered thanks to the support of the country's military rulers in Kamakura first and Kyoto later. In the final version of the system, Kamakura's Five Mountains were, from the first-ranked to the last, Kenchō-ji, Engaku-ji, Jufuku-ji, Jōchi-ji and Jōmyō-ji. Kyoto's Five Mountains, created later by the Ashikaga shogunate after the collapse of the Kamakura regime, were Tenryū-ji, Shōkoku-ji, Kennin-ji, Tōfuku-ji and Manju-ji. Above them all was the huge Nanzen-ji temple. Below the top tier there was a nationwide capillary network of smaller temples that allowed its influence to be felt everywhere.Dunn (2007)
Function The system was adopted to promote Zen in Japan however, in Japan as it had already happened in China, it was controlled and used by the country's ruling class for its own administrative and political ends. The Gozan system allowed the temples at the top to function as de facto ministries, using their nationwide network of temples for the distribution of government laws and norms, and for the monitoring of local conditions for their military superiors. The Hōjō first, and the Ashikaga later were therefore able to disguise their power under a religious mask, while monks and priests worked for the government as translators, diplomats and advisers. To the Rinzai sect, the collaboration with the shogunate brought wealth, influence and political clout.
History The system had come to Japan at a time when Kamakura's five great Zen temples were already known as the Five Mountains, and it unified in one organization all the great temples of the dominant Zen schools of the time.Dumoulin (2005:151-165 It thus institutionalized a large and very important part of the Rinzai school, bringing to it the protection, but also the control of the state. The whole network of temples was supervised by a state bureaucracy created specifically for the task.
The system in its final form had three tiers, with at the top Kyoto's Five Mountains (the , known in English also as Kyoto's Five Zen Temples) and Kamakura's Five Mountains (the , in a subordinate position). Below them were the so-called Ten Temples, or Jissetsu, with at the bottom other temples collectively known as Shozan.
The Gozan temples were dominated mainly by the Rinzai Zen schools. The branch of the Sōtō Zen school however belonged to the Gozan system too.
Under their masters' patronage, the Five Mountain temples gradually became centers of learning and developed a characteristic literature called the Japanese Literature of the Five Mountains. During this time, its scholars exerted a far-reaching influence on the internal political affairs of the country. The system put great value in a strong orientation towards Chinese Zen, Chinese philosophy and Chinese literature. The organization's scholars had a close relationship with the Ming imperial dynasty, had a pervasive influence in many cultural fields and played an important role in importing Neo-Confucianism (particularly as far as the shushigaku (朱子学) is concerned) from China to Japan.
Birth of the Gozan At the end of the Kamakura period (1333) the four temples of Kennin-ji, Kenchō-ji, Engaku-ji and Jufuku-ji, were already known as the Gozan, but not much is otherwise known about the system, its structure and the hierarchical order.
The first official recognition of the system came from Emperor Go-Daigo during the brief Kenmu Restoration (1333–1336). Go-Daigo added the Kyoto Gozan to the existing temples in Kamakura with Daitoku-ji and Nanzen-ji together at the top as number 1, followed by Kennin-ji and Tōfuku-ji. At this point in time, in spite of their name, the Gozan were not five but four in both cities. At the beginning of Muromachi period, they became five in Kyoto later, when Ashikaga Takauji built Tenryū-ji in memory of Go-Daigo.
Early ranking system The first explicit formulation of a clear Gozan ranking system dates to the year 1341.