Ennin
Encyclopedia
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
by his posthumous name
Posthumous name
A posthumous name is an honorary name given to royalty, nobles, and sometimes others, in East Asia after the person's death, and is used almost exclusively instead of one's personal name or other official titles during his life...
, Jikaku Daishi , was a priest of the Tendai
Tendai
is a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism, a descendant of the Chinese Tiantai or Lotus Sutra school.Chappell frames the relevance of Tendai for a universal Buddhism:- History :...
school.
Birth and origin
He was born into the Mibu family in present-day Tochigi PrefectureTochigi Prefecture
is a prefecture located in the Kantō region on the island of Honshū, Japan. The capital is the city of Utsunomiya.Nikkō, whose ancient Shintō shrines and Buddhist temples UNESCO has recognized by naming them a World Heritage Site, is in this prefecture...
, Japan and entered the Buddhist priesthood at Enryakuji on Mt. Hiei (Hieizan) near Kyoto
Kyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
at the age of 14.
Trip to China
In 838, his trip to Tang DynastyTang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
marked the beginning of a set of tribulations and adventures. Initially, he studied under two masters and then spent some time at Wutaishan , a mountain range famous for its numerous Buddhist temples in Shanxi
Shanxi
' is a province in Northern China. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋" , after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....
Province in China. Later he went to Chang'an
Chang'an
Chang'an is an ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history, today known as Xi'an. Chang'an literally means "Perpetual Peace" in Classical Chinese. During the short-lived Xin Dynasty, the city was renamed "Constant Peace" ; yet after its fall in AD 23, the old name was restored...
(Japanese: Chōan), then the capital of China, where he was ordained into both mandala
Mandala
Maṇḍala is a Sanskrit word that means "circle". In the Buddhist and Hindu religious traditions their sacred art often takes a mandala form. The basic form of most Hindu and Buddhist mandalas is a square with four gates containing a circle with a center point...
rituals. He also wrote of his travels by ship while sailing along the Grand Canal of China
Grand Canal of China
The Grand Canal in China, also known as the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is the longest canal or artificial river in the world. Starting at Beijing, it passes through Tianjin and the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the city of Hangzhou...
.
Ennin was in China when the anti-Buddhist emperor Wuzong of Tang
Emperor Wuzong of Tang
Emperor Wuzong of Tang , né Li Chan , later changed to Li Yan just before his death, was an emperor of the Tang Dynasty of China, reigning from 840 to 846. Emperor Wuzong is mainly known in modern times for the religious persecution that occurred during his reign...
took the throne in 840, and he lived through the Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution
Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution
The Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution initiated by Tang Emperor Wuzong reached its height in the year 845 CE. Among its purposes were to appropriate war funds and to cleanse China of foreign influences. As such, the persecution was directed not only towards Buddhism but also towards other foreign...
of 842-846. As a result of the persecution, he was deported from China, returning to Japan in 847.
Return to Japan
In 847 he returned to Japan and in 854, he became the chief priest of the Tendai sect at Enryakuji, where he built buildings to store the sutraSutra
Sūtra is an aphorism or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual. Literally it means a thread or line that holds things together and is derived from the verbal root siv-, meaning to sew , as does the medical term...
s and religious instruments he brought back from China. Ennin also founded the temple of Ryushakuji at Yamadera.
Literary Work
He authored more than 100 books. His diary of travels in China, , was translated into English by Professor Edwin O. ReischauerEdwin O. Reischauer
Edwin Oldfather Reischauer was the leading U.S. educator and noted scholar of the history and culture of Japan, and of East Asia. From 1961–1966, he was the U.S. ambassador to Japan.-Education and academic life:...
under the title Ennin's Diary: The Record of a Pilgrimage to China in Search of the Law
Ennin's Diary: The Record of a Pilgrimage to China in Search of the Law
is a four volume diary written by Ennin, a Japanese Buddhist monk in China during the ninth century. He was one of eight Japanese Buddhists who studied in China at that time. He wrote his diary while he went on a Buddhist pilgrimage to China for nine and a half years . The books are translated...
. Sometimes ranked among the best travelogues in world literature, it is a key source of information on life in Tang China and Silla
Silla
Silla was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and one of the longest sustained dynasties in...
Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
and offers a rare glimpse of the Silla personality Jang Bogo
Jang Bogo
Jang Bogo , also known as Gungbok, rose to prominence in Korea in the late Unified Silla period as a powerful maritime figure who for several decades effectively controlled the West Sea and Korean coast between southwestern Korea and China's Shandong peninsula...
.
Sources
- Edwin O. Reischauer, Ennin's Diary: The Record of a Pilgrimage to China in Search of the Law (New York: Ronald Press, 1955).
- Edwin O. Reischauer, Ennin's Travels in T'ang China (New York: Ronald Press, 1955).
External links
- Retracing the steps of Ennin, a travelog of a partial retracing of Ennin's journey made in 2006, with photographs.