(b Hangzhou Prefect., Zhejiang Prov., 1596; d Nagasaki, 1672). Chinese Obaku Zen monk, calligrapher, poet, seal-carver and medical expert, active in Japan. Dokuryu was one of many learned men from south-east China to emigrate to Japan during the political turmoil following the collapse of the Ming dynasty in 1644. He arrived in Nagasaki in 1653 accomplished in several disciplines and quickly became a major force in the development of these arts and skills in Japan. Together with TOKO SHIN'ETSU, Dokuryu is revered for having introduced techniques and practices of late Ming literati seal-carving to Japan. On his arrival there, Dokuryu became an itinerant scholar and medical specialist, establishing ties with ?migr? Chinese abbots and Japanese political figures. When the distinguished Chinese prelate Yinyuan Longqi (known in Japan as INGEN RYUKI) arrived in 1654, Dokuryu was ordained as his disciple and received the Buddhist names Dokuryu and Shoeki.
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