Site of Koshido Hall

The Koshido was a hall dedicated to the Chinese philosopher Confucius that, during a time of cultural flourishing in Kikuchi, became a hub for Confucian and Buddhist scholarship as well as intellectual pursuits in general.

The hall was built in 1472 by Kikuchi Shigetomo (1449–1493), the head of the Kikuchi clan. Like his father and predecessor, Tamekuni (1430–1488), Shigetomo devoted himself to supporting local culture and providing education for samurai and townspeople. As a result, Kikuchi experienced a cultural golden age, when pastimes such as poetry and tea culture blossomed.

Koshido Hall was at the center of these currents. It is thought to have been a temple-like complex with several buildings, where members of the Kikuchi clan studied and scholars from as far away as Kyoto came to lecture and conduct discussions. One of these men of letters was the Buddhist priest Keian Genju (1427–1508), a leading authority on Zen and the Chinese classics who had spent several years studying at the Ming court in China.

Images of Confucius and his disciples held a place of honor inside the hall, which was also used for ceremonial rites to honor the Chinese sage. Most likely, the images were moved and reused after the Koshido was dismantled after the fall of the Kikuchi clan in the mid-1500s.

※About the Kikuchi clan.（菊池一族とは）

※Other cultural property explanatory boards are also multilingual.（この他の文化財説明板も多言語化しています。）

孔子堂跡

　高野瀬の旧老人福祉センター内に、「孔子堂址」の石碑があります。県道竜門線開設工事により現在地に移転されたものですが、この碑には「文明４年（１４７２）２１代重朝が家臣隈部忠直と相談し、菊池の文教奨励のため創建した・・・」と書かれています。

　この堂に孔子の画像と十哲の像を祭り、家臣を集めて儒学を講じ、春秋に釈奠の礼を行ったと伝えられています。文明９年（１４７７）には京都南禅寺の高僧桂庵禅師を招いて釈奠の礼を行っていますが、その時禅師は「一家有政九州化　万古斯文四海同、絃誦未終花欲暮　香烟撲袂画屏風（肥の国たるや、文有り武有り、民は礼節を知る。実に邦君の仁化の及ぶ所なり。）」と重朝の徳を称えたといわれています。

　江戸時代になって孔子堂は、細川藩による藩学時習館建設の資材に、孔子像・十哲の像は祭壇に活用されたともいわれ、重朝の菩提寺である玉祥寺には、細川氏より贈られた「真済」と書かれた木額が残されています。