Takuan Soho

views updated

TAKUAN SŌHŌ

Takuan Sōhō (1573–1645) was a Japanese Zen (Chan) priest affiliated with the Daitokuji temple in Kyoto. In 1629 the Tokugawa government banished Takuan to northern Japan because of his open opposition to the new government regulations that had been imposed on the Zen monasteries of Kyoto. After his pardon in 1632, Takuan moved to Edo (modern Tokyo), where he eventually became adviser to the third Tokugawa shogun, Iemitsu (1604–1651). Today Takuan is best remembered for a letter he wrote to the fencing instructor Yagyu Munenori (1571–1646) in which he used swordsmanship as an example to explain the importance of imperturbability and mental freedom in the performance of one's duties. Reprinted under the title Fudōchi shinmyōroku (Record of Marvelous Immovable Wisdom), Takuan's treatise is frequently cited by people who advocate a connection between Buddhism, especially Zen, and Japanese martial arts.

See also:Chan School; Martial Arts; Zen, Popular Conceptions of

William M. Bodiford