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Eisai

Type Figure Region Japan Time 1141–1215 Also known as Myōan Eisai、Zen Master Eisai、Myōan

Eisai (May 27, 1141 – August 1, 1215) founded the Rinzai school of Zen in Japan; born in Kaya District, Bitchū Province.…

Timeline

  1. 1141–1168Enryaku-ji on Mount Hiei · Mount HieiBorn in Kaya District, Bitchū Province (present-day Okayama area), not Harima. He took tonsure at Mount Hiei at age fourteen, studying Tendai. In the third year of Nin'an (1168) he first traveled to Mount Tiantong in Song China, returning after only about half a year.
  2. 1187–1202Kamakura · KamakuraHe again entered Song China in 1187, receiving Rinzai transmission under Kaifeng... at Mount Tiantong. In 1191 he returned with Zen texts and tea seeds, building Shōfuku-ji in Chikuzen. In 1202 he founded Kennin-ji in Kyoto.
  3. 1202–1215Kennin-ji, Kyoto · KyotoHe went to Kamakura in 1199; Minamoto no Yoritomo had died that first month. Hojo Masako allowed him to build Jufuku-ji. In his later years he resided at Kennin-ji, wrote the Treatise on Tea for Health, and passed away on August 1, 1215.

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