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Sûden was a [[Zen Buddhism|Zen]] [[Rinzai]] monk who acted as an advisor to [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] on both religious matters and on foreign affairs. As a result, he played a notable role in those spheres in the foundation of the [[Tokugawa clan|Tokugawa]] shogunate.  

Sûden was a [[Zen Buddhism|Zen]] [[Rinzai]] monk who acted as an advisor to [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] on both religious matters and on foreign affairs. As a result, he played a notable role in those spheres in the foundation of the [[Tokugawa clan|Tokugawa]] shogunate.  

Sûden was tasked by Ieyasu with recording the shogunate's diplomatic activities and communications; his records were then compiled into the ''Ikoku nikki'' (Chronicle of Foreign Countries). He also oversaw the administration of the country's [[Buddhist temple]]s and [[Shinto shrine]]s along with [[Itakura Katsushige]], and inaugurated two temples called [[Konchi-in]], one in [[Sunpu]], where he made his home, and another in [[Edo]].

Sûden was tasked by Ieyasu with recording the shogunate's diplomatic activities and communications; these records, collected over the period from [[1608]] to [[1629]], were compiled into a volume titled ''Ikoku nikki'' ("Chronicle of Foreign Countries").<ref>Cesare Polenghi, ''Samurai of Ayutthaya: Yamada Nagamasa, Japanese warrior and merchant in early seventeenth-century Siam''. Bangkok: White Lotus Press (2009), 6.</ref> Sûden also oversaw the administration of the country's [[Buddhist temple]]s and [[Shinto shrine]]s along with [[Itakura Katsushige]], and inaugurated two temples called [[Konchi-in]], one in [[Sunpu]], where he made his home, and another in [[Edo]].

In [[1612]] he was tasked with composing a letter to the governor of New Spain inviting Spanish trade; during his service to the Tokugawa, he would be involved in drafting a number of communications with the Spanish colonies, Korean court, various Ming Chinese officials, and other foreign powers. Negotiations with the Ming court over the reopening of trade between China and Japan, and over the issue of piracy (''[[wako|wakô]]'') formed a significant part of this work. In [[1617]], and again in [[1624]], he rejected requests from the Korean court that the shogun be referred to by the term "king" (王, ''ô'') in diplomatic documents; this would imply submission to within the Sinocentric world order, to the Chinese Emperor, and would lead to the identification of Japan as a [[tribute|tributary]] state to China.

In [[1612]] he was tasked with composing a letter to the governor of New Spain inviting Spanish trade; during his service to the Tokugawa, he would be involved in drafting a number of communications with the Spanish colonies, Korean court, various Ming Chinese officials, and other foreign powers. Negotiations with the Ming court over the reopening of trade between China and Japan, and over the issue of piracy (''[[wako|wakô]]'') formed a significant part of this work. In [[1617]], and again in [[1624]], he rejected requests from the Korean court that the shogun be referred to by the term "king" (王, ''ô'') in diplomatic documents; this would imply submission to within the Sinocentric world order, to the Chinese Emperor, and would lead to the identification of Japan as a [[tribute|tributary]] state to China.