Ennin

Ennin (793 or 794 – 864), posthumous name, Jikaku Daishi, was a priest of the Tendai school, becoming the third abbot of Enryaku-ji. He came from the Mibu family, a family of hereditary high-ranking governmental officials. He entered the Buddhist priesthood at Enryaku-ji on Mt. Hiei at 14.

In 838, Ennin accompanied Fujiwara no Tsunetsugu’s diplomatic mission to Tang Dynasty Imperial Court in China. There he studied in the famous temple area at Wataishan (Japanese: Godaisan) and in the capital, Chang’an (Japanese: Chōan). It was his misfortune to be in China during the Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution of 842 – 846 under Emperor Wuzong. He was deported and sent back to Japan in 847.

Ennin returned a hero in Japan and in 854 he became the third abbot of the Tendai sect at Enryaku-ji. He made many physicals improvements at Enryaku-ji, engaging in a building project to expand the complex and made special storage buildings for the materials he had brought back from China. Under his leadership the Tendai sect prospered as well as Enryaku-ji. He also introduced the Pure Land recitation practices (nembutsu) that laid the foundation for the independent Pure Land movements during the Kamakura Period (1185 – 1333).

He was a prolific author, writing more than one hundred books. His writing about his travels in China, Nittō Guhō Junrei Kōki, was translated into English by the famous translator, Professor Edwin O. Reischauer, entitled Ennin’s Diary: The Record of a Pilgrimage to China in Search of the Law, which can be purchased today. It was an important source about Tang China and Silla Korea.