Yishan Yining

Yishan Yining (一山 一寧, in Japan Issan Ichinei; before monkhood had Hu as a family name (胡 Hú); born 1247 in Linhai, Taizhou, Zhejiang, China — died November 28, 1317 in Kyoto, Japan) was a Linji school, and subsequently Rinzai Zen master from Yuan China who rose to prominence in Kamakura Japan. He was one of the chief disseminators of Zen Buddhism among the new militarized nobility of Japan, a calligrapher and a writer. Mastering a variety of literary genres and being a prolific teacher, he is mostly remembered as the pioneer of Japanese Gozan Bungaku literature,[1] that recreated in Japan the literary forms of Song China.

Contents

Biography

China

Originally from Zhejiang, Yining became a monk in childhood in Hongfusi monastery (鴻福寺) and took full ordination in Puguangsi Monastery (普光寺). He originally studied Tiantai school, then turning to Chan. After changing a number of tutors, he became the Dharma heir of Wanji Singmi (頑極行彌, Japanese Gankyoku Gyomi), the fourth lineage holder of Mi'an Xianji (1118—1186).[2][3] Later he became the abbot of Puji Monastery in the Island of Putuoshan[4] and rose to wide fame as a Buddhist master.

Kamakura

In 1299 (during the reign of Temür Khan, Emperor Chengzong of Yuan) Yuan government sent him on a diplomatic mission to Japan to restore the relations with Bakufu government.[1] On arriving in Kamakura he was arrested by the then regent Hojo Sadatoki on charges of spying. However, soon Sadatoki came to respect his prisoner and set him free.

Yishan Yinging stayed in Japan to become one of the major Zen teachers of the Kamakura period.

In Kamakura, he served in monasteries Kenchō-ji, Engaku-ji and Jochi-ji (淨智寺).

Kyoto

In 1313[3] the resigned emperor Go-Uda invited him to Kyoto to become the abbot of Nanzen-ji, the most influential Zen center of the time. He is still remembered in this monastery today.[5]

Influence

He popularized Zen in the circles of new military aristocracy and, mastering variety of literary genres ranging from historiography to poetry, he started the literary orientation of Japanese monkhood to the standards of Song literature of China. This added to the standard zazen practice of Zen monasteries such ordeals as studies in Confucian canon and writings of the Song Confucian scholars.[6]

Among his students there werу such key figures of the subsequent development of Zen as Muso Soseki,[7] Sesson Yubai and Kokan Shiren.[1]

Death

Yishan Yining committed suicide in 1317 after several attempts to resign from the duties of abbot on grounds of severe illness.

The Japanese Imperial Court granted him the posthumous title of the Teacher of State (国师 Kokushi).

Bibliography

External links

Further reading

References

  1. ^ a b c Louis-Frédéric, Käthe Roth. Japan encyclopedia. Harvard University Press, 2005. ISBN 0674017536, 9780674017535 Стр. 402
  2. ^ Turner, Jane. The dictionary of art. Grove's Dictionaries, 1996. ISBN 1884446000, 9781884446009 Стр. 756
  3. ^ a b The Transmission of Zen to Japan
  4. ^ Isle of Mount Putuo 2007, Putuoshan Scenic Area Management Committee web site
  5. ^ Heine, Steven, Dale S. Wright. Zen classics: formative texts in the history of Zen Buddhism. Oxford University Press US, 2006. ISBN 0195175255, 9780195175257 стр. 144
  6. ^ Brinker, Helmut. Zen in the art of painting. Taylor & Francis, 1987. ISBN 1850630585, 9781850630586 Стр. 51
  7. ^ Deal, William E. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press US, 2007. ISBN 0195331265, 9780195331264 Стр. 38