was a Japanese scholar-monk and bureaucrat of the Imperial Court at Nara. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Gembō" in . He is best known as a leader of the Hossō sect of

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

and as the adversary of

Fujiwara no Hirotsugu Fujiwara (, written: 藤原 lit. "''Wisteria'' field") is a Japanese surname. (In English conversation it is likely to be rendered as .) Notable people with the surname include: ; Families * The Fujiwara clan The was a powerful family of imperia ...

Career

In 717–718, Genbō was part of the Japanese mission to Tang China (''Kentōshi'') along with

Kibi no Makibi was a Japanese scholar and noble during the Nara period. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Kibi no Makibi"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 512. Also known as . Early life Kibi no Makibi was born in Shimotsumichi County, Bitchu Province (present- ...

Abe no Nakamaro , also known by his Chinese name Chao Heng ( zh, c=晁衡, pronounced ''Chōkō'' in Japanese), was a Japanese scholar and '' waka'' poet of the Nara period. He served on a Japanese envoy to Tang China and later became the Tang '' duhu'' (prot ...

. Later

Bodhisena Bodhisena or Bodaisenna (704–760) was a Buddhist scholar and monk from India known for traveling to Japan and China and establishing the Kegon school, the Japanese transmission of the Huayan school of Chinese Buddhism. His stay has been not ...

also joined as their companion. Genbō stayed in China for 17 years. Genbō brought many esoteric Buddhist texts with him when he returned to Japan. At

Kōfuku-ji is a Buddhist temple that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples in the city of Nara, Japan. The temple is the national headquarters of the Hossō school. It is part of Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara, a World Heritage Site. H ...

, he was appointed abbot (''sōjō'') by

Emperor Shōmu was the 45th Emperor of Japan, emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 聖武天皇 (45)/ref> according to the traditional List of Emperors of Japan, order of succession. Shōmu's reign spanned the years 724 through 749, duri ...

Timeline

* 740 (''

Tenpyō was a after '' Jinki'' and before ''Tenpyō-kanpō.'' This period spanned the years from August 729 through April 749. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 729 : The new era name was created to mark an event or series of events. The p ...

12''): Hirotsugu petitioned for the removal of Genbō; and then

and Genbō used this complaint as a

pretext A pretext (: ''pretextual'') is an excuse to do something or say something that is not accurate. Pretexts may be based on a half-truth or developed in the context of a misleading fabrication. Pretexts have been used to conceal the true purpose or r ...

to discredit Hirotsugu. As a result, Hirotsugu initiates a futile

military campaign A military campaign is large-scale long-duration significant military strategy plan incorporating a series of interrelated military operations or battles forming a distinct part of a larger conflict often called a war. The term derives from th ...

in the 9th month of the same year. * 745 (''Tenpyō 17''): Genbō was exiled to Dazaifu on the island of

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

. At the time of Genbō's death, it was popularly believed that he was killed by the

vengeful spirit In mythology and folklore, a vengeful ghost or vengeful spirit is said to be the spirit of a dead person who returns from the afterlife to seek revenge for a cruel, unnatural or unjust death. In certain cultures where funeral and burial or crem ...

of Hirotsugu.Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). ; Herman Ooms. (2009).; Bingenheimer (2001: 110-112).

Notes

References

* Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005)
''Japan encyclopedia.''
Cambridge:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

. ; * Ooms, Herman. (2009). ''Imperial Politics and Symbolics in Ancient Japan: the Tenmu dynasty, 650-800.'' Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ; * Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan.'' Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 194887 * Titsingh, Isaac. (1834)
''Annales des empereurs du Japon''
(''

Nihon Odai Ichiran Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea in t ...

''). Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. * Bingenheimer, Marcus. (2001). ''A Biographical Dictionary of the Japanese Student-Monks of the Seventh and Early Eighth Centuries''. München: Iudicium Verlag. {{DEFAULTSORT:Genbo Year of birth unknown 746 deaths Japanese Buddhist clergy People of the Nara period Japanese ambassadors to the Tang dynasty Buddhist clergy of the Nara period

Career

Timeline

See also

Notes

References