Tenryu-ji
Zen temple garden with a central pond and borrowed mountain scenery, unchanged since the thirteen hundreds.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Tenryu-ji in Kyoto traces the falling-out between Ashikaga Takauji and Emperor Go-Daigo, allies who toppled a shogunate together in 1333 only to become enemies within a few years, ending with Go-Daigo's death in exile in 1339. It follows Takauji to the Zen master Muso Soseki, who warned him the emperor's angry spirit needed pacifying, and to the empty treasury that stood in the way. The temple that resulted has burned and been rebuilt repeatedly since, by some counts eight times across five centuries.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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