Enni
Enni Ben'en was a Japanese Rinzai Zen monk known for his journeys in China. He is regarded as possibly the first to introduce Song Dynasty Neo-Confucianism into Japan.
He left for China in 1235 and remained there roughly six years, returning to Japan in 1241. When he returned, he brought a number of books of Song Dynasty books of Neo-Confucian teachings back with him; according to sources associated with the Satsunan school of Confucianism, this marked the first introduction of such materials into Japan, though other accounts differ.
At some point after returning from China, Enni wrote in his diary that he was visited by Tenjin (a kami of scholarship) in a dream, and that Tenjin expressed a wish to study Zen. Enni replied that the god should go to China, to study with the same master who Enni himself studied under, and Tenjin did so, magically flying or walking across the sea.[1]
References
- Takatsu Takashi, “Ming Jianyang Prints and the Spread of the Teachings of Zhu Xi to Japan and the Ryukyu Kingdom in the Seventeenth Century,” in Angela Schottenhammer (ed.), The East Asian Mediterranean: Maritime Crossroads of Culture, Harrassowitz Verlag, 2008. 254.
- ↑ Gallery labels, "Tenjin Crossing the Ocean to China," Konoe Nobutada, Metropolitan Museum.[1]