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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.

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.

He left for China in [[1235]] and remained there roughly six years, studying at the [[Wanshou-si]] in [[Hangzhou]], the chief of China's so-called "Five Mountains" of [[Zen|Chan]] temples. After returning to Japan in [[1241]], he became the first abbot of [[Joten-ji|Jôten-ji]], a temple newly established in [[Hakata]] at that time by the patronage of the local Chinese merchant community, including [[Xie Guoming]], with whom Enni had lived for some time.<ref name=glahn>Richard von Glahn, "The Ningbo-Hakata Merchant Network and the Reorientation of East Asian Maritime Trade, 1150-1350," ''Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies'' 74:2 (2014), 275.</ref> Enni also brought back from China a number 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. The following year, Enni and Xie organized to send some one thousand logs (valued at 30,000 貫 ''guan'') to Hangzhou to help rebuild the Wanshou-si, which had been damaged in a fire.<ref name=glahn/>

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.<ref>Gallery labels, "Tenjin Crossing the Ocean to China," [[Konoe Nobutada]], Metropolitan Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/9712293761/sizes/l]</ref>

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.<ref>Gallery labels, "Tenjin Crossing the Ocean to China," [[Konoe Nobutada]], Metropolitan Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/9712293761/sizes/l]</ref>