Takuan Sōhō

Tomb of Takuan Sōhō in Tōkai-ji, Shinagawa , Tokyo

Takuan Sōhō ( Japanese 沢 庵 宗 彭 ; * 1573 ; † 1645 ) was a Zen master in Japan in the 17th century . His writings comprise six volumes, which exerted a great influence on the further development of Zen and the Japanese martial arts .

Live and act

Takuan was a member of the Miura clan . He became a monk of the Jōdo direction of Buddhism and entered the Shōfuku-ji temple at the age of 14, where he was known for his virtues. He traveled the provinces, preaching, teaching to live in poverty and penance. Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu felt offended by him and banished him to the remote province of Dewa , but pardoned him four years later so that he could return to Kyoto. The retired Emperor Go-Yōzei and Shōgun Hidetada listened to him and valued him. In 1634 he founded the Tōkai-ji temple in Shinagawa ( Musashi Province ).

According to legend, Takuan was the spiritual teacher of Miyamoto Musashi , the most famous swordsman in Japan. For Yagyū Munenori (Yagyu Shinkage-ryū) and Mikogami Tenzen (一刀 流, Ittō-ryū) he wrote two lesson letters.

Takuan invented a method to preserve radish (大 根, daikon), which is named after him Takuanzuke (澤 庵 付 け).

literature

• Takuan Soho: The gateway to serenity. Zen and martial arts . Frankfurt: Angkor Verlag, 2007. ISBN 978-3-936018-46-2
• Papinot, Edmond: Takuan In: Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan. Reprinted by Tuttle, 1972 edition of 1910 edition. ISBN 0-8048-0996-8 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Takuan Sōhō in the catalog of the German National Library