Yushima Temple Picture (Seidō no Ezu)
1855 (Ansei 2) Kaga Collection 3005-1
The picture shows Yushima Temple, which still exists in Yushima, Bunkyō Ward, Tokyo, looked upon its completion. It was in 1690 (Genroku 3) that Tsunayoshi, the fifth Shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate who was interested in learning, moved the Confucius Temple Kōshi-byō to Yushima.
Aiming to advance Confucianism, Tsunayoshi, the fifth Shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate, established a temple in Yushima and moved the Confucius temple and private school that had been located at the Hayashi's private residence in Ueno Shinobugaoka. This was the beginning of Yushima Temple. In 1797 (Kansei 9), Hayashi's private school was then founded as a school under the direct control of the Tokugawa Shogunate, "shōheizaka school" (also known as Shōheikō).
The school accepted not only Shogun retainers but also children from around the country who passed an entrance examination called "sodoku ginmi". From all over the country, young people who carried their clan's future with them gathered in Yushima.
Unfortunately, the "Kōshi-byō (Confucius temple)" illustrated in the picture was burnt down during the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923 (Taishō 12). Today's temple was re-established in the 1930's (Shōwa).