Lanxi Daolong

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Lanxi Daolong ( Chinese  蘭溪 道 隆 , Pinyin Lánxī Dàolóng , W.-G. Lan-hsi Tao-long ; Japanese 蘭 渓 道 隆 , Rankei Dōryū ; * 1213 in Sichuan ; † 1278 ) was a Chinese Chan master and calligrapher who worked in was active in Japan during the early Kamakura period and made a significant contribution to establishing Zen as an independent school. His posthumous title is Daikaku Zenji ( 大 覺 禅師 ), from which the name of the Daikaku-ha ( 大 覺 派 ) tradition that he founded was derived, which was strongly represented in the warrior class until it was isolated in the Kamakura of the Muromachi period .

Important direct students of Lanxi in Japan were a. Nampo Jōmin ( 南浦 紹明 , also Nampo Jōmyō ; 1235-1308) and Yakuō Tokken ( 約 翁 徳 儉 ; 1245-1320).

Lanxi left behind writings are the Zazenron ( 坐禅論 ; " Treatise on the sitting meditation ") and the collection of sayings Daikaku Zenji goroku ( 大覺禅師語録 ; " Analects of Daikaku Zenji").

Life

Lanxi was a Zen priest in China who was ordained in the Linji zong ( Chinese  臨濟 宗 , Pinyin Línjì zōng , W.-G. Lin-chi tsung , forerunner of the Japanese Rinzai-shū ). He was the Dharma successor of Wuming Huixing ( Chinese  無 明慧 性 , Pinyin Wúmíng Huìxìng , W.-G. Wu-ming Hui-hsing ; 1162-1237). Other masters from Lanxi were Wuzhun Shifan ( Chinese  無 準 師範 ; 1177–1249) and Chijue Daochong ( Chinese  癡 絶 道 冲 ; 1169–1250).

Lanxi arrived in Hakata in 1246 at the invitation of Hōjō Tokiyori . Immediately after his arrival in Kamakura, Hōjō Tokiyori appointed him head of Jōraku-ji , which had been converted into a Zen temple for him . One of Lanxi's first official acts was the establishment of its own monk's hall ( 僧堂 , sōdō ). The pure Zen practiced there (until now Zen was only practiced in Japan in connection with the rituals of other schools) turned out to be too successful, the facilities of Jōraku-ji quickly turned out to be too small for the mass of new students.

For this reason, Hōjō Tokiyori had a new temple built for Lanxi, which was completed in 1253 and was designed entirely based on the architectural model of Chinese Chan monasteries: the Kenchō-ji (named after the Kenchō era, 1249 to 1256). Lanxi was appointed as the founding director. Lanxi's most important student from this period was Nampo Jōmin . In 1256 Lanxi ordained Hōjō Tokiyori. Due to the great popularity of the temple under Lanxi (there were over 200 monks), he quickly achieved great fame in the country and was called to the Kennin-ji in the capital Kyōto in 1259 . Lanxi's successor at Kenchō-ji was Wuan Puning ( Chinese 兀 菴 普寧 , Pinyin Wùān Pǔníng , W.-G. Wu-an P'u-ning ; Japanese Gottan Funei ; 1197-1276).  

At Kennin-ji, previously restored by Enni Ben'en (1201–1280), Lanxi was the eleventh ruler until 1261, when he also introduced the practice of pure Zen at the temple. At the imperial court, meanwhile, he held lectures on Zen at the invitation of the abdicated Go-Saga - tennō , whom he also taught meditation.

Soon after his time in Kyoto, Lanxi worked again, as the successor to Wuan Puning, as head of the Kenchō-ji. After the death of his patron Hōjō Tokiyori, however, Lanxi fell victim to defamation; he was accused of being a Yuan China spy in 1265 and was therefore exiled. He was allowed to stay on Jufuku-ji for a short time . Only shortly before his death was he pardoned and was able to take up his post at Kenchō-ji again. Tokiyori's son Hōjō Tokimune tried to bring him back to old fame and planned to build Lanxi his own temple for this purpose. This was to become the Engaku-ji , but Lanxi did not live to see its completion.

literature

  • Heinrich Dumoulin : History of Zen Buddhism. Volume II: Japan . Francke-Verlag, Bern 1986. ISBN 3-317-01596-9 .
  • Daigan Lee Matsunaga and Alicia Orloff Matsunaga: Foundation of Japanese Buddhism; Vol. II; The mass movement (Kamakura & Muromachi periods) . Buddhist Books International, Los Angeles and Tokyo 1976. ISBN 0-914910-27-2 .
  • Helmut Brinker: Zen Buddhist portrait painting in China and Japan from the beginning to the end of the 16th century. Franz Steiner Verlag, Munich 1973.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Matsunaga 1976, p. 219.
  2. ↑ Dumoulin 1986, p. 166 f.
  3. ↑ Dumoulin 1986, p. 32.
  4. ↑ a b c Dumoulin 1986, p. 30.
  5. ↑ http://zen.rinnou.net/whats_zen/history.html
  6. ↑ Matsunaga 1976, p. 221.
  7. ↑ Matsunaga 1976, p. 148.
  8. ↑ Dumoulin 1986, p. 30 f.
  9. ↑ a b Dumoulin 1986, p. 31.
personal data
SURNAME Lanxi Daolong
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 蘭溪 道 隆 (Chinese); Lánxī Dàolóng (Pinyin); Lan-hsi Tao-long (Wade-Giles); 蘭 渓 道 隆 (Japanese); Rankei Dōryū (Japanese); Daikaku Zenji (posthumous title); 大 覺 禅師 (posthumous title, Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Chinese Chan master
DATE OF BIRTH 1213
PLACE OF BIRTH Sichuan
DATE OF DEATH 1278