was a Japanese

Buddhist nun 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 gra ...

in the 13th century who was largely responsible for the restoration of the

Chūgū-ji is a temple in Nara Prefecture, Japan, that was founded as a nunnery in the seventh century by Shōtoku Taishi. Located immediately to the northeast of Hōryū-ji, its statue of Miroku and Tenjukoku mandala are National Treasures. History Ch� ...

temple in

Nara Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,321,805 and has a geographic area of . Nara Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the northwest, Wakayama P ...

Biography

Shinnyo's father was a poor scholar named Shōen. Shōen had written a Buddhist commentary titled ''Rokuchō no meimoku'', which was the only thing of any value he possessed; after his death, Shinnyo and her sisters were able to make a living by charging scholars to view his work. The proceeds allowed Shinnyo sufficient leisure time to study Buddhism, and she became well-educated in Buddhist doctrine, composing a number of commentaries and studying under the monk Ze-Amidabutsu. In 1243, the priest Sōji submitted a petition to his uncle

Eison (1201–1290) was a Japanese Buddhist monk who founded the Shingon Risshu sect. Eison entered religious training when he was eleven years old, studying initially at Daigo-ji and later at Kongōbu-ji. At the age of 34, while at Saidai-ji, he made ...

, the founder of the

Shingon Risshu The is a comparatively small medieval sect of Buddhism in Japan that arose in the Kamakura period as an offshoot of Shingon Buddhism. Its founder was a monk named Eison (叡尊 1201-1290), a disciple of Jōkei, and carried further by Eison's disci ...

sect, requesting that the Chūgū-ji temple be revived as a nunnery; Eison chose Shinnyo to head this project. The following year, Shinnyo decided to seek full ordination as a nun, an honour that had not been granted for several hundred years. She approached Eison's associate Kakujō requesting ordination, but was initially refused. Kakujō stated that he would only accept her request if he received a sign from Heaven, which he experienced shortly after his refusal. He therefore contacted Shinnyo and by 1249 had bestowed upon her the full precepts of a Buddhist nun (''bhikkhuni''). Around 1262 Shinnyo moved to Chūgū-ji to begin the restoration work. Her initial efforts focused on the restoration of the ''Tenjukoku Shūchō'' Mandala, a large embroidered artwork commemorating

Prince Shōtoku , also known as or , was a semi-legendary regent and a politician of the Asuka period in Japan who served under Empress Suiko. He was the son of Emperor Yōmei and his consort, Princess Anahobe no Hashihito, who was also Yōmei's younger half-s ...

. Shinnyo's interest in the work stemmed from her researches into Shōtoku's mother, , the patroness of Chūgū-ji, whose date of death was included in the mandala; it was Shinnyo's intention to hold a commemorative ceremony honouring Hashihito. After obtaining the mandala, Shinnyo took it on a fund-raising tour, and by 1282 had raised enough money to create a replica of the mandala and to fund the ceremony for Hashihito. During this time, she became moderately well known at the Imperial Court, and made patrons of many highly ranked ladies of the nobility. In 1282 Shinnyo recorded her biography in a work known as the ''Ama Shinnyo ganmon'' ("Vows of Shinnyo"); this work emphasises the importance of her actions in the restoration of Chūgū-ji, and downplays the contributions of Eison and Sōji.

References

{{Authority control 1211 births Japanese Buddhist nuns Year of death unknown 13th-century Buddhist nuns