Myōan Eisai明菴栄西

1141–1215RinzaiAlso: Yōsai

Born: 1141
Died: 1215
Dharma heir: Butsuju Myōzen
Founded: Kennin-ji (1202)
School: Rinzai

Tendai monk who received a Linji transmission in China and returned in 1191; founded Kennin-ji in Kyoto in 1202. The first of some twenty monks of the Kamakura period to bring a Linji line to Japan, he is traditionally counted the founder of Rinzai there.

Related people

Butsuju Myōzen仏樹明全

1184–1225Rinzai

Sources

Myōan Eisai, Kōzen gokokuron 興禪護國論 (1198), Taishō T.2543 · link
Sōtōshū Shūmuchō, Record of the Transmission of Illumination by the Great Ancestor, Zen Master Keizan (2017), translators’ notes, by chapter · link

Checked against sources 2026-11-03 by pipeline/opus@dc63b27. Report an error.