Eisai

The Japanese Buddhist monk Eisai (1141-1215) introduced the Zen Buddhist Rinzai sect to Japan, and under him Zen first became acknowledged as an independent school of Buddhism. He is also responsible for popularizing the cultivation of tea in Japan.

Also known by his honorific title of Zenko kokushi (national teacher), Eisai came from a family of Shinto priests in the district of Okayama. Like many famous priests in his period, he studied at the great Tendai center on Mt. Hiei. In 1168 he made his first trip to China, where he visited Zen centers, especially those flourishing on Mt. T'ien-t'ai. He was much impressed by what he saw and felt with growing conviction that Zen could greatly contribute to a reawakening of Buddhist faith in Japan.

In 1187 he undertook a second trip to the continent for the purpose of tracing the origins of Buddhism to India. The authorities, however, refused him permission to go beyond Chinese borders. He studied on Mt. T'ient'ai until 1191, where he was ordained in the Rinzai (Chinese, Lin-ch'i) sect and returned to Japan. He constructed the first Rinzai temple, the Shofukuji, at Hakata in Kyushu.

Eisai proclaimed the superiority of Zen mediation over other Buddhist disciplines, thus provoking the ire of the Tendai monks who sought to outlaw the new sect. However, Eisai enjoyed the protection of the shogun Minamoto Yoriie, and in 1202 he was given the direction of the Kenninji in Kyoto. Like Saicho, and particularly Nichiren, Eisai associated his type of Buddhism with national welfare and promoted Zen by publishing a tract entitled Kozen Gokoku Ron (The Propagation of Zen for the Protection of the Country).

But Eisai was constantly obliged to face Tendai and Shingon opposition. As a compromise, Eisai conducted the Kenninji not as a purely Zen establishment but also with places for Tendai and Shingon worship. Indeed, he continued to recite Shingon magic formulas. Shortly before his death, Eisai established by government order the third Zen monastery at Kamakura, the Jufukuji, and the close relationship of Zen with the military caste dates from this time.

Introduction of Tea

Although tea had been introduced to Japan about 800 by Buddhist monks who had gone to China, its cultivation and consumption were not widespread before Eisai's time. Eisai, returning from China in 1191, brought tea seeds with him and planted them near Kyoto. In 1214 he composed the Kissa Yojoki (Drink Tea to Improve Health and Prolong Life), in which he set forth the hygienic and curative value of tea. Tea was considered an important adjunct to Zen mediation, for it acted as a mild stimulant against sleepiness.

Further Reading

A discussion of Eisai and excerpts from his writings may be found in Ryusaku Tsunoda and others, eds., Sources of the Japanese Tradition (1958). A good book on the history of Zen is Heinrich Dumoulin, A History of Zen Buddhism (trans. 1963). □

Eisai (1141–1215). The founder of the Rinzai school of Japanese zen. Born into a temple family, Eisai originally entered the Tendai sect and lived at the Miidera. However, the violent factionalism of the Tendai school at that time repulsed him, and he travelled from place to place seeking teaching. In 1168 he went to China to visit the famous sites of the T'ien-t'ai school (Tendai's Chinese root). He arrived at a time when Ch'an was dominant, and was very excited by its vibrance and novelty. He had no time for formal training, however, since he returned to Japan after only six months. After his return, he continued to serve the Tendai school. Eighteen years later, he returned to China once again, this time staying for four years and studying Ch'an intensively with masters of the Lin-chi school in various temples. He had an enlightenment experience, and returned to Japan in 1191 with the robes and certifications of a Ch'an master. After this, he worked to establish places that would be devoted solely to the study and practice of Ch'an. It is not clear that he wished to found a new school; in fact, he criticized his contemporary Dainichibō Nōnin for wanting to do just that. He remained a Tendai monk for the rest of his life and worked at many other projects as well, but it is clear that he at least wanted Zen practice to have a place of its own within the overall framework of Japanese Buddhism.

Despite the difficulties imposed by the jealousy of the Tendai establishment, Eisai gained increasing patronage among the aristocracy and rising military class, who were attracted by the vigour and action-orientation of his southern Sung-style Zen, as well has by his presentation of Zen as a practice that would help to protect the nation. In 1202 he was granted abbotship of the Kennin-ji, a temple in a government-controlled district of Kyoto. There he continued to teach Zen even while the court kept him busy overseeing building and restoration projects and performing Tendai-style esoteric rituals. He died in 1215, without having enjoyed any discernible success in establishing a self-standing Zen institution, and it fell to his spiritual descendants to set up Rinzai as an independent school. Nevertheless, he is honoured as the first transmitter of Rinzai Zen to Japan and the de jure founder of the school.

Eisai or Yōsai (1141–1215). A Tendai monk who established the Rinzai Zen Buddhist school in Japan. He began his career at Mount Hiei, studying Tendai esotericism, but went to China in 1168. He returned to Japan in 1191 and built the first Rinzai Zen temple, Shōfukuji. In spite of the strong opposition from Mount Hiei against the establishment of Zen, he was successful in founding Kenninji (monastery) in Kyōto and Jufukuji in Kamakura. His polemical work, Kōzen gokoku ron (Dissemination of Zen for the Defence of the Nation), argues for the need of an independent Zen school, although he himself taught a synthesis of Tendai, esotericism, and Zen. He is also famous for introducing the cultivation of tea (see CHADŌ) to Japan and writing the first book on the merits of tea drinking, Kissa yōjōki. He instructed Dōgen, and for that reason, although his own lineage died out, he is often regarded as the founding figure of Zen in Japan. He was given the posthumous title of Senkō Kokushi.