Early History
The Hongan-ji was established as a temple in 1321, on the site of the Otani Mausoleum, where Shinran, the founder of the Jōdo Shinshū (True Pure Land) sect was buried. The mausoleum was attended by Shinran's grandson (through daughter Kakushinni), Kakue. Kakue's own son, Kakunyo, became the first chief priest of the Hongan-ji and 3rd Monshu, and dedicated it to the worship of Amida Buddha. The Hongan-ji first gained power and importance in the 15th century, when Rennyo became its eighth chief priest, or Monshu. However, the Tendai sect, based on Mount Hiei, saw this expansion as a threat and attacked the Hongan-ji three times with their army of warrior monks. Rennyo fled to Yoshizaki, where he established a new temple compound.
During the Sengoku period, fearing the power of the monks of the Hongan-ji, Oda Nobunaga tried to destroy it. For ten years, he laid siege to the Ishiyama Hongan-ji in Osaka, one of the two primary temple fortresses of the sect.
In 1602, just after Tokugawa Ieyasu became Shogun, he declared that the Hongan-ji be split in two. Kyonyo, the 12th chief priest, or monshu, of Hongan-ji became the first of the new Higashi Honganji (東本願寺), or Eastern Temple of the Primal Vow, while his younger brother Junnyo became the 12th chief priest of the original Hompa-Honganji (本派本願寺), or Western Temple of the Primal Vow, often called Nishi-Honganji (西本願寺).
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