Chujo-hime

• Japanese: 中将姫 (Chuujou hime)

Chûjô-hime was a court lady of the early 8th century who is a legendary model of Buddhist virtue. According to legend, she was able to enter the Buddhist paradise despite being a woman.

Chûjô-hime, raised the daughter of a prominent court noble family, took the tonsure and became a nun at Taima-dera in Nara. There, as a result of her great virtue, she is said to have met the Buddha himself, and to have, in one night, woven a mandala out of lotus stems, earning herself a place in Paradise.

References

• Ono Masako, Tomita Chinatsu, Kanna Keiko, Taguchi Megumi, "Shiryô shôkai Kishi Akimasa bunko Satsuyû kikô," Shiryôhenshûshitsu kiyô 31 (2006), 252.