Fukuda Gyōkai (福田行誡, 1809 – 1888) was a Japanese Buddhist priest, particularly the head priest of the

Jōdo-shū Jōdo-shū (浄土宗, "The Pure Land School"), is a Japanese branch of Pure Land Buddhism derived from the teachings of the Kamakura era monk Hōnen (1133–1212). The school is traditionally considered as having been established in 1175 and i ...

sect. He fought for the preservation of Buddhism in Japan during the early

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

and was therefore called the "Supreme Chief Priest of the Meiji Period" (明治第一の高僧, Meiji daiichi no kōsō).

Life and work

Fukuda Gyōkai left home at the age of 6 and joined the “Koishikawa Denzūin” (小石川伝通院) in Edo. At the age of 19 he went to

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

to further his education. He studied the

Tendai , also known as the Tendai Dharma Flower School (天台法華宗, ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just ''Hokkeshū''), is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition with significant esoteric elements that was officially established in Japan in 806 by t ...

school of Buddhism, the Risshu school and the

Kusha Kusha () is a Chandravamsha king in Hindu mythology. He was the father of Kushanabha Kushanabha () is a king featured in Hindu texts. He is described to be the king of the Amavasu dynasty and belongs to the Chandravamsha line. He is stated to ...

school in the “Saga Shōjōin” (嵯峨正定院), on

Mount Hiei is a mountain to the northeast of Kyoto, lying on the border between the Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures, Japan. The temple of Enryaku-ji, the first outpost of the Japanese Tendai (Chin. Tiantai) sect of Buddhism, was founded atop Mount Hiei by ...

under Echō (慧澄; 1780–1862). He then returned to Denzū-in and studied the Jōdo school of Buddhism under the scholar Tokuhon (徳本; 1758–1818). Under Echō, who had moved from Hiezan to

Kan'ei-ji (also spelled Kan'eiji or Kaneiji) is a Tendai Buddhist temple in Tokyo, Japan, founded in 1625 during the Kan'ei era by Tenkai, in an attempt to emulate the powerful religious center Enryaku-ji, in Kyoto. The main object of worship is .Nihon ...

, Fukuda continued to study in the Tendai and Kusha directions of Buddhism. He had a strong spirit of inquiry and became known in the Buddhist world for his outstanding scholarship and humanity. Influenced by the Buddhist scholarship of Jiyun (慈雲; 1718–1805), at the age of 26 he taught the Buddhist Sutras (仏遺教経節要), the four Tendai religions (天台四教儀), and the Bodhisattva Vows (菩薩戒).経義疏). In 1852 Fukuda became senior teacher at Denzū-in, then retired to the Shoseiritsu-in (処静律院) and lived alternately there or in the Shōjōshin-in (清浄心院). In response to the “

Haibutsu Kishaku (literally "abolish Buddhism and destroy Shākyamuni") is a term that indicates a current of thought continuous in Japan's history which advocates the expulsion of Buddhism from Japan.Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

and wrote criticisms of it. He urged monks to think about the history of Buddhism in Japan and tried to revive Buddhism. He criticized "Shaku Norimasa byōsaiyabu" (釈教正謬再破) - "Breaking the Buddhist Ritual Again", written by co-religionist Ukai Tetsujō (鵜飼徹定; 1814–1891) and "Buppō jikken-ron" (仏法実験論) - “Theory of Buddhist Experiment”, written by Hara Tanzan (原坦山; 1819–1892). Fukuda became abbot of

Zōjō-ji is a Jōdo-shū Buddhist temple in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It is the main temple of the Jōdo-shū ("Pure Land") Chinzei sect of Buddhism in the Kantō region. Its mountain name is San'en-zan (三縁山). Zōjō-ji is notable for its relations ...

shortly before becoming abbot of

Chion-in in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, Japan is the headquarters of the Jōdo-shū (Pure Land Sect) founded by Hōnen (1133–1212), who proclaimed that sentient beings are reborn in Amida Buddha's Western Paradise (Pure Land) by reciting the ''nembutsu'' ...

in Kyoto.{{Cite web , last=知恩院 , first=浄土宗総本山 , title=福田行誡上人の足跡を訪ねて｜浄土宗総本山知恩院 , url=https://www.chion-in.or.jp/kacho/2077/ , access-date=2024-03-20 , website=浄土宗総本山知恩院 , language=ja He was the head of the eastern part of the Jōdo sect, and then in 1877 head of the entire Jōdo sect. He wrote many books and was known for his paintings. With the aim of publishing the "Okura Sutra" (大蔵経), he studied the "Okura Sutra" in the editions of the

Song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

, Yuan,

Ming The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of China ruled by the Han people, t ...

, and

Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean state founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korea, Korean Peninsula until the establishment of Joseon in 1392. Goryeo achieved what has b ...

dynasties, corrected them and published a complete edition of the Okura Sutra.

References

Jōdo-shū Buddhist priests Jōdo-shū Japanese Buddhist clergy 1888 deaths 1809 births