龍津寺（りょうしんじ）を訪ねて / Visiting Ryōshinji Temple
- 5月19日
- 読了時間: 3分
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第七話 小島藩の痕跡を求めて ５．龍津寺（りょうしんじ）を訪ねて
龍津寺（りょうしんじ）を訪ねて
酒瓶神社と対になって小島陣屋を守ったとされる寺に、国道52号線沿いの古刹「龍津寺」があります。「龍津寺」と書いて「りょうしんじ」と読み、禅寺として地域に伝わってきました。
龍津寺は、小島藩の殿様と深い関わりを持つ寺です。歴代藩主の墓所は江戸にありましたが、遠くて簡単には参ることができなかったため、この寺で花を供え、香を焚いて供養したといいます。そのため、龍津寺は藩主にとっての香華寺としての役割を担っていました。
本堂には釈迦如来が祀られ、高い場所には歴代藩主の位牌が安置されています。また、三代藩主・松平昌信公が白隠禅師から講話を受けたと伝えられる台も残されています。昌信公は三歳で家督を継ぎ、大坂勤番や藩財政の問題、重税による一揆などに向き合った人物とされます。その中で白隠禅師の教えを受け、深く傾倒したことが、この寺に墓を設けた理由の一つと伝えられています。
龍津寺には、三代藩主・松平昌信公の墓があります。墓には戒名や没年が刻まれ、明和八年六月二十七日に亡くなったこと、享年四十三であったことが記されています。また、石灯籠は明和八年八月に家臣たちが寄進したものとされています。他の藩主の墓が江戸の寺にある中で、昌信公だけがこの地に眠っていることは、地域の人々がその苦労と人柄を大切に伝えてきたことを示しています。
塩の道を守る要衝として築かれた小島陣屋、その守りとしての酒瓶神社、そして藩主を供養する龍津寺。小さな藩でありながら、そこには土地を守り、人々と向き合った歴史が残されています。龍津寺には、白隠禅師の筆による達磨像や、本堂に安置されている閻魔像なども見どころとして伝えられています。
Visiting Ryōshinji Temple
Along National Route 52 stands the old temple known as Ryōshinji, which is said to have protected Kojima Jinya together with Sakabe Shrine. Although written with the characters for “dragon” and “harbor,” the temple is read as “Ryōshinji,” and it has long been known locally as a Zen temple.
Ryōshinji maintained a close connection with the lords of the Kojima domain. The graves of successive domain lords were located in Edo, but because they could not easily travel there, the lords are said to have offered flowers and incense at this temple in their memory. For that reason, Ryōshinji served as a kōgeji, a temple for memorial offerings dedicated to the domain’s rulers.
The main hall enshrines Shakyamuni Buddha, and memorial tablets of the successive domain lords are placed in an elevated area within the hall. Also preserved here is a platform said to have been used when the Zen monk Hakuin gave lectures to the third lord, Matsudaira Shigenobu. Shigenobu is described as having inherited the domain at the age of three and later facing difficulties such as service assignments in Osaka, financial problems within the domain, and uprisings caused by heavy taxation. It is said that he listened to the teachings of Hakuin and became deeply devoted to him, which is regarded as one reason why his grave was established at this temple.
Ryōshinji contains the grave of the third lord, Matsudaira Shigenobu. The inscription records his Buddhist name, the date of his death on the twenty-seventh day of the sixth month of Meiwa 8, and that he died at the age of forty-three. Stone lanterns at the site are said to have been dedicated by his retainers in the eighth month of the same year. While the graves of the other domain lords remain at temples in Edo, Shigenobu alone rests here, reflecting how local people continued to remember both his hardships and his character.
Kojima Jinya, built to guard the important route known as the “Salt Road,” Sakabe Shrine, which protected the jinya, and Ryōshinji, where prayers were offered for the domain lords, together preserve the history of this small domain and its relationship with the local community. Ryōshinji is also said to contain other points of interest, including a Daruma painting by Hakuin and an image of Enma housed in the main hall.
