Nanpo Shōmyō (

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 ...

: なんぽしょうみょう,

Kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

: 南浦紹明; 1235 – 9 February 1309) is a Japanese

Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

monk of Rinzai school during the

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...

. Although his exact origin is unknown, he is from Inomiya village,

Abe District, Shizuoka was formerly a rural district located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. The entire area of the district is now within modern Shizuoka City, with the original core area corresponding to the extension of Aoi Ward. History Abe District was one of ...

(now Inomiya-chō,

Aoi-ku, Shizuoka is one of three wards of the city of Shizuoka in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, located in the northern part of the city. Aoi-ku borders Suruga-ku in the south and Shimizu-ku to the southeast; the west faces Shimada, Fujieda and Kawanehon an ...

). Shōmyō is his

true name A true name is a name of a thing or being that expresses, or is somehow identical to, its true nature. The notion that language, or some specific sacred language, refers to things by their true names has been central to philosophical study as wel ...

(also "Jyōmin"), Nampo is his

Dharma name A Dharma name or Dhamma name is a new name acquired during both lay and monastic Buddhist initiation rituals in Mahayana Buddhism and monastic ordination in Theravada Buddhism (where it is more proper to call it Dhamma or Sangha name). The nam ...

. His imperial name is the Entsū Daiō Kokushi.

Life

Nanpo Shōmyō grew up and studied at his hometown's temple, Takyō-ji. In 1249 he began studying Zen under

Lanxi Daolong Lanxi Daolong ( zh, t=蘭溪道隆, s=兰溪道隆, first=t, p=Lánxī Dàolóng, w=Lan-hsi Tao-long; ja, 蘭渓道隆, Rankei Dōryū; c. 1213-1278), born in Sichuan Province, China in 1213 A.D. ( Southern Song Dynasty), was a famous Chinese B ...

at Kenchō-ji. In 1259 he traveled to

Song China The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

and inherited the law from the monk Kidō Chigu. In 1267 he returned to Japan and Kenchō-ji, staying until 1270, when he moved Kōtoku-ji in

Chikuzen Province was an old province of Japan in the area that is today part of Fukuoka Prefecture in Kyūshū. It was sometimes called or , with Chikugo Province. Chikuzen bordered Buzen, Bungo, Chikugo, and Hizen Provinces. History The original provincial ...

. In 1272 years he became the chief priest at Sōfuku-ji. In 1304, at the invitation of

Emperor Go-Uda was the 91st emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1274 through 1287. This 13th-century sovereign was named after the 9th-century Emperor Uda and ''go-'' (後), translates literall ...

, he entered

Manju-ji is a Rinzai Buddhist temple in Higashiyama-ku Kyoto, Japan. Owing to the influence of the Ashikaga, Manju-ji was designated a Jissatsu temple for a time. At present, it is a sub-temple of Tōfuku-ji. It is considered to be one of the so-cal ...

. In 1307 he returned to Kenchō-ji. He died at the age of 75 in 1309. He was the master of Kyōō Unryō and Shūhō Hyōchō. In December 1309, Emperor Go-Uda awarded him the Kokushi name of "Entsū Daiō", which is the beginning of Zen monks receiving the Kokushi name in Japan. Following him, Shūhō Hyōchō received Daitō Kokushi and then Kanzan Egen received Muso Daishi. The names of the three monks formed the Ōtōkan lineage.What is Zen? - History: The Transmission of Zen to Japan
Official Website of Rinzai and Ōbaku Zen

Historical landmark

Nanpo Shōmyō's birthplace in now Inomiya-chō, Aoi-ku, Shizuokain Shoichi has a hot water well that is now a Cultural Property of

Shizuoka City is the capital city of Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, and the prefecture's second-largest city in both population and area. It has been populated since prehistoric times. the city had an estimated population of 690,881 in 106,087 households, an ...

known as "Daiō Kokushi Well".

Biography

* Araki, Kengo 荒木見悟, (1994). ''Daiō : Goroku''. Tōkyō: Kōdansha.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nanpo Shomyo 1235 births 1309 deaths Japanese Zen Buddhists Kamakura period Buddhist clergy Rinzai Buddhists