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*''Born: [[1200]]''
*''Died: [[1253]]''
*''Japanese'': 道元 ''(Dougen)''
Dôgen is considered the founder of the [[Soto|Sôtô]] school of [[Zen]] [[Buddhism]] in Japan.
Dôgen was adopted by his samurai half-brother [[Minamoto no Michitomo]] in [[1205]]. In [[1227]], after traveling to China, he introduced the Sôtô (C: Caodao) school of Zen to Japan. In contrast to the [[Rinzai]] Zen advocated by [[Eisai]] around the same time, which emphasized the contemplation of ''[[koan|kôans]]'', Dôgen's Sôtô Zen emphasized ''[[zazen]]'' - seated meditation.
Dôgen distanced himself from centers of religious and secular authority, building a small temple in a remote, mountainous area in [[Echizen province]] (today, [[Fukui prefecture]]); this temple later came to be known as [[Eihei-ji]], and is today one of two head temples of Sôtô Zen in Japan.
The 2009 film ''Zen'' features [[kabuki]] actor Nakamura Kankurô as Dôgen, and relates a fictionalized version of Dôgen's life.
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==References==
*"[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1156470/ Zen]," Internet Movie Database (IMDB).
*Conrad Schirokauer, et al, ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage (2013), 81.
[[Category:Kamakura Period]]
[[Category:Religious Figures]]