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謙宗

Pronunciations

Basic Meaning: Kenshū

Senses:

  • (1387–1460). A Japanese monk of the Sōtō school 曹洞宗 of Zen. He was a native of Kyoto (according to some sources he was from Satsuma 薩摩). His Buddhist name was Nanei 南英, and he was called Sanken Dōjin 三謙道人. At the age of eight, he accompanied his uncle to Shōkokuji 相國寺, where he shaved his head and received the precepts from Daigaku Shūsū 大嶽周崇 (1345–1423). He first stayed at Tenryūji 天龍寺 in Kyoto, and later moved to Ryūtakuji 龍澤寺 in Echizen 越前 (Fukui prefecture 福井縣). There he had practiced under Baizan Monbon 梅山聞本 (d. 1417). Later he traveled to Satsuma 薩摩 (Kagoshima prefecture where he practiced under Sekioku Shinryū 石屋眞梁 (1345–142 鹿兒嶋)3). Next, he moved to Kōunji 耕雲寺 in Echigo 越後 (Niigata 新潟 prefecture) to practice under Ketsudō Noshō 傑堂能勝 (1355–1427), and stayed there for thirteen years. After apprehending the gist of the teaching, he went to practice in seclusion on Gozuyama 牛頭山 in Bishū 備州 (Okayama 岡山 prefecture). In 1429 he moved to serve as master of Kōunji launching a plan for construction and repair of the temple. Wishing to deepen his practice Kenshū asked his dharma brother Kensō Keiji 顯窗慶字 (d. 1433) to assume the role of abbot, and in 1435 went to practice in Tendosan 天童山. In 1445, he was asked to assume the role of founder 開山 of Shugetsuji 種月寺 in Echigo, established originally by the samurai lord Uesugi Tomofusa 上杉朝房 (d. 1391). Next, he was asked by lord Ashina Morinobu 蘆名盛信 (1408–1451) to serve as master of Tenneiji 天寧寺. Kenshū passed away at the age of 74. His literary heritage includes a thorough study of the doctrine of the five ranks 五位. He wrote a critique on Shōtō Mujinʼs 無塵省燈 (n.d.) Goisetsu 五位說 entitled Goi zusetsu kitsunan 五位圖說詰難. In addition, he collected his masterʼs Ketsudō Noshō sermons, commented upon it and published it as the Tōjō ungetsu roku 洞上雲月錄 (For a complete list of Kenshūʼs writing see the entry on ZGDJT; Also see Ueda, Masaaki 上田正昭 ed. 2001. Kōdansha Nihon jinmei daijiten 講談社日本人名大辭典. Tokyo: Kōdansha [Erez Joskovich; source(s): Ui, ZGDJT, Ueda]
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    [Dictionary References]

    Bukkyō jiten (Ui) 246

    Zengaku daijiten (Komazawa U.) 0286a

    Nihon bukkyō jinmei jiten (Saitō and Naruse) 139

    Bukkyō daijiten (Mochizuki) (v.1-6)960b,3868c

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    Entry created: 2019-09-29