Giou (21 years old), who was robbed of her position by the young Hotoke Gozen and was chased from Kiyomori’s residence, became a nun with his sister Ginyo (19 years old) and his mother Toji (45 years old) , and they lived in the Ojoin.  One night in late autumn, when she opened the door terrifyingly with the sound of hitting the board door, there was Hotoke Gozen (17 years old) who escaped from Kiyomori, realizing that “someday I would have the same fate.”  And then, Giou’s mother and children who abandoned the old grudge and the four people in front of the Buddha lived the rest of their lives in the narrow Ojoin.  It is said that the Ojoin, which occupied a large temple area over whole mountain, was devastated in later years and remained as a small Nunji Temple, which was later called Giouji Temple.

若い仏御前にその座を奪われ、清盛の邸を追われた祇王（21歳）が、妹の祇女（19歳）、母の刀自（45歳）と共に尼となって庵を結んだのが往生院。晩秋のある夜、その板戸を叩く音に恐る恐る戸を開けると、”いつか我が身も同じ運命”と悟って清盛の元から逃げ出た仏御前（17歳）がではないか。旧怨を捨てた祇王母子と仏御前の四人は、狭い方丈足らずの往生院で念仏三昧の余生を送ったという。山上山下にわたって広い寺域を占めていた往生院も後年は荒廃し、ささやかな尼寺として残り、後に祇王寺と呼ばれるようになったそうです。