Ennin

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Ennin (794-864) was a Japanese monk who founded the Sammon branch of the Tendai sect. He studied Esoteric Buddhism in T'ang China.

The family name of Ennin was Mibu, and he was born in the Tsuga district of Shimotsuke Province (modern Tochigi Prefecture). Becoming a disciple of Saicho, the founder of the Tendai sect in Japan, Ennin led a rather colorless life as a monk and teacher at the Enryakuji (another name for this temple was Sammon). He was sent to China for study in 838. His Nyuto Gubo Junreiki (Record of the Pilgrimage to China in Search of the Holy Law) is full of fascinating details of his adventures, from the time he sailed from Japan until his return in 847.

At first unable to obtain the necessary Chinese authorization to visit either of China's two most important Buddhist centers on Mt. Wu-t'ai and Mt. T'ien-t'ai, Ennin later managed to secure the help of an influential general to reach Mt. Wu-t'ai and other holy sites. Ennin returned to Japan after extensive study with the masters of each of the Tendai disciplines.

Upon his return to Mt. Hiei, the Emperor conferred upon Ennin the rank of daihosshi (great monk). Ennin then organized study of the two Mandalas, initiated Esoteric baptism, and promoted other branches of Esoteric learning. He taught the invocation of Buddha's name (nembutsu), which he had heard on Mt. Wu-t'ai and which was to become in some of the popular sects an all-sufficient means of gaining salvation, though for Ennin it appeared to be of less importance than Esoteric learning.

Ennin stayed on Mt. Hiei as zasu (chief abbot) for more than 20 years, and during his ministry he founded the monastery called Onjoji (more usually known as Miidera) at the foot of Mt. Hiei on the shore of Lake Biwa. A measure of Ennin's success is the fact that the bestowal by the court in 866 of the posthumous title of Jikaku Daishi on him and that of Dengyo Daishi on his master Saicho marks the beginning of the custom of posthumous titles in Japan.

Further Reading

There is a brief discussion of Ennin's diary describing the hazards of his trip to T'ang China and the introduction of Esoteric cults to Japan in Edwin O. Reischauer and John K. Fairbank, East Asia: The Great Tradition (1960). A cogent discussion of the spread of Esoteric Buddhism in Japan is in Ryusaku Tsunoda and others, Sources of Japanese Tradition (1958). For a brief discussion of Ennin's role in the development of the Heian Society see George B. Sansom, A History of Japan (3 vols., 1958-1963).

Early Tendai monk and third abbot of the Enryakuji, the main temple and headquarters of the school on Mt. Hiei. He began training with Tendai founder Saichō at age 15. In 838 he travelled to China, and remained there until 847, studying all aspects of Buddhism including Sanskrit language, esoteric rites, Ch'an and T'ien-t'ai meditation techniques among others. His sojourn spanned the Hui-ch'ang persecution of 845, and the diary he kept during this time provides an invaluable historical source for that period. His promotion of the T'ien-t'ai ‘constantly walking’ meditation, which centres upon chanting the name of the Buddha Amitābha and seeking a vision of him, helped establish Pure Land practice as a part of the Tendai repertoire and laid the groundwork for the later development of the Pure Land schools.

Ennin

Ennin (Japanese: 圓仁 or 円仁) (AD 793 ^[1] or 794 - 864), who is better known in Japan by his posthumous name, Jikaku Daishi (慈覺大師), was a priest of the Tendai school.

Contents 1 Birth and origin 2 Trip to China 3 Return to Japan 4 Literary Work 5 Sources 6 References 7 External links

Birth and origin

Japanese Buddhism

Schools Tendai • Shingon Pure Land • Zen Nichiren

Founders Saichō • Kūkai Hōnen • Shinran Dōgen • Eisai • Ingen Nichiren

Sacred Texts Avatamsaka Sutra Lotus Sutra Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra Infinite Life Sutra

Glossary of Japanese Buddhism

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He was born into the Mibu (壬生) family in present-day Tochigi Prefecture, Japan and entered the Buddhist priesthood at Enryakuji on Mt. Hiei (Hieizan) near Kyoto at the age of 14.

Trip to China

In 838, his trip to Tang Dynasty China marked the beginning of a set of tribulations and adventures. Initially, he studied under two masters and then spent some time at Wutaishan (五臺山; Japanese: Godaisan), a mountain range famous for its numerous Buddhist temples in Shanxi Province in China. Later he went to Chang'an (Japanese: Chōan), then the capital of China, where he was ordained into both mandala rituals. He also wrote of his travels by ship while sailing along the Grand Canal of China.

Ennin was in China when the anti-Buddhist emperor Wuzong of Tang took the throne in 840, and he lived through the Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution of 842-846. As a result of the persecution, he was deported from China, returning to Japan in 847.^[2]

Return to Japan

In 847 he returned to Japan and in 854, he became the chief priest of the Tendai sect at Enryakuji, where he built buildings to store the sutras and religious instruments he brought back from China. Ennin also founded the temple of Ryushakuji at Yamadera.

Literary Work

He authored more than 100 books. His diary of travels in China, Nittō Guhō Junrei Kōki (入唐求法巡礼行記^?), was translated into English by Professor Edwin O. Reischauer under the title Ennin's Diary: The Record of a Pilgrimage to China in Search of the Law. Sometimes ranked among the best travelogues in world literature, it is a key source of information on life in Tang China and Silla Korea and offers a rare glimpse of the Silla personality Jang Bogo.

Sources

• Edwin O. Reischauer, Ennin's Diary: The Record of a Pilgrimage to China in Search of the Law (New York: Ronald Press, 1955).
• Edwin O. Reischauer, Ennin's Travels in T'ang China (New York: Ronald Press, 1955).

References

1. ^ Donald Keene, in his Travelers of a Hundred Ages gives Ennin's birth year as 793, not 794.
2. ^ Reischauer, Ennin's Travels in T'ang China.

External links

• Retracing the steps of Ennin, a travelog of a partial retracing of Ennin's journey made in 2006, with photographs.

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