(1121-1206), also known as , was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

monk. From 1181 he devoted twenty-five years of his life to the endowment and rebuilding of

Tōdai-ji is a Buddhist temple complex that was once one of the powerful Nanto Shichi Daiji, Seven Great Temples, located in the city of Nara, Nara, Nara, Japan. Though it was originally founded in the year 738 CE, Tōdai-ji was not opened until the year ...

after its destruction in war.

Sources

A contemporary record known as the ''Benevolent Deeds of Namu-Amidabutsu'' provides the fullest evidence for Chōgen's life and career. This may be supplemented by diaries such as the of

Fujiwara no Kanezane , also known as , is the founder of the Kujō family (at the encouragement of Minamoto no Yoritomo), although some sources cite Fujiwara no Morosuke (908-960) as its founder. Kanezane organised the compilation of the Kitano Tenjin Engi, the histo ...

; temple records; documents including ''Solicitation for Funds by Chōgen in

Genkyū was a after ''Kennin'' and before ''Ken'ei''. This period spanned the years from February 1204 through April 1206. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1204 : The new era name was created to mark an event or a number of events. The previo ...

2''; and inscriptions including one on stone dating to 1202 from

Kawachi Province was a province of Japan in the eastern part of modern Osaka Prefecture. It originally held the southwestern area that was split off into Izumi Province. It was also known as . Geography The area was radically different in the past, with Kawachi ...

recording his repair of irrigation channels first constructed by Gyōki Bosatsu. By the time of the

illustrated An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, video ...

''Tōdaiji Daibutsu engi'' of the 1530s, which includes a scene of Chōgen at sea conveying logs for the great rebuilding, invocation of his memory could include a "mixture of fact and fable".

Biography

Born most likely in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

in 1121, Chōgen was initiated into religious life at the

Shingon file:Koyasan (Mount Koya) monks.jpg, Shingon monks at Mount Koya is one of the major schools of Buddhism in Japan and one of the few surviving Vajrayana lineages in East Asia, originally spread from India to China through traveling monks suc ...

centre of

Daigo-ji is a Shingon Buddhist temple in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan. Its main devotion ('' honzon'') is Yakushi. ''Daigo'', literally "ghee", is used figuratively to mean " crème de la crème" and is a metaphor of the most profound part of Buddhist thoug ...

at age thirteen. Later in his teens he undertook ascetic practices in

Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), '' ...

and at

Mount Ōmine , is a sacred mountain in Nara, Japan, famous for its three tests of courage. Officially known as , it is more popularly known as Mount Ōmine due to its prominence in the Ōmine mountain range. It is located in Yoshino-Kumano National Park in t ...

, followed in his early twenties by time at Koyasan. After assorted pious deeds, including chanting the

nembutsu Nianfo (, Japanese: , , vi, niệm Phật) is a term commonly seen in Pure Land Buddhism. In the context of Pure Land practice, it generally refers to the repetition of the name of Amitābha. It is a translation of Sanskrit '' '' (or, "recoll ...

a million times and the donation of statues and sutras to a number of temples, involvement in public works in the manner of

Gyōki was a Japanese Buddhist priest of the Nara period, born in Ōtori county, Kawachi Province (now Sakai, Osaka), the son of Koshi no Saichi. According to one theory, one of his ancestors was of Korean descent. Gyōki became a monk at Asuka-dera, ...

and

Kūya Kūya (空也; 903-972) was an itinerant Japanese Buddhist monk, or ''hijiri'' (聖), later ordained in the Tendai Buddhist sect, who was an early proselytizer of the practice of the nembutsu amongst the populace. Kuya's efforts helped promote th ...

, and possible trips to China, in 1181 Chōgen was appointed to raise funds for the reconstruction of Tōdai-ji. Over the next twenty-five years he oversaw repairs to the Giant Buddha, the hall in which it was housed, the south gate, and numerous other buildings in the temple complex, as well as being involved in the commissioning of numerous replacement images. He also continued his civic works, repairing bridges, driving robbers from the mountains, and easing the distress of man and beast. He finally died in the

Pure Land A pure land is the celestial realm of a buddha or bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism. The term "pure land" is particular to East Asian Buddhism () and related traditions; in Sanskrit the equivalent concept is called a buddha-field (Sanskrit ). Th ...

hall at Tōdai-ji at the age of eighty-five in 1206.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chogen Japanese Buddhist clergy People of Heian-period Japan People of Kamakura-period Japan 1121 births 1206 deaths Heian period Buddhist clergy Kamakura period Buddhist clergy

Sources

Biography

See also

References