Musō Soseki

Musō Soseki (1275 – 1351) was a Rinzai Zen Buddhist monk and teacher. He was the most famous monk of his time and Emperor Go-Daigo bestowed on him the honorific of Musō Kokushi (“national Zen teacher”). He was also a calligraphist, poet and garden designer. His mother was the daughter of Hōjō Masamura (1264-1268), seventh shikken (regent) of the Kamakura shogunate.

Musō Soseki was originally from Ise Province, now part of modern-day Mie Prefecture. Musō Soseki was a descendant of Emperor Uda. He entered the temple of Hirashioyama under the guidance of priest Kūa at the age of four after his mother died. In 1292 he took his vows at Tōdai-ji in Nara, and was given the name Chikaku. In 1293 he had a dream of visiting certain temples in China and was given a portrait of Daruma Daishi and told to keep it safe. From his dream he concluded that he would practice Zen and went to study Zen at Kennin-ji Temple in Kyoto. The dream influenced him to compose a new name for himself, Musō Soseki (dream, window).

In 1325 Emperor Go-Daigo requested that he come to Kyoto to become head priest of the great temple of Nanzen-ji. In the following years he founded several temples throughout Japan. In Kyoto, he founded Saihō-ji,  Rinkawa-dera, and his most famous temple, Tenryū-ji  in 1345. For his work he was given the name Musō Kokushi by imperial decree.

During the 1330s Japan saw the end of the military regime at Kamakura, an attempt at restoring imperial power (Kenmu Restoration), and the rise of the Ashikaga.  The leader of the Ashikaga was Takauji, who ruled together with his brother, Tadayoshi. Musō Kokushi worked with Emperor Go-Daigo, and then aligned himself with the Ashikaga, especially Tadayoshi.

Working with the Ashikaga, Musō Soseki successfully expanded the Five Mountain System and its subsidiary, the Ankoku-in network of temples. The Five Mountain System was a network of Zen temples throughout Japan that spread Zen Buddhism and strengthened the Ashikaga Shogunate.

Musō Soseki working with Ashikaga Tadayoshi and Shihon a wealthy merchant helped reopen trade relations with China.

The temples in the Five Mountain System were not only places of worship but also centers of learning of Confucianism, Chinese poetry, painting, calligraphy, printing, architecture, garden design, and ceramics. Musō Soseki taught Zen to thousands of students and left a huge body of poetry and other writings.

Musō Soseki was famous for his garden designs, which he considered an integral part of Zen. Several gardens are known to have been made or attributed to Musō Soseki.  However the Ōnin War destroyed many of them and those that survive are replicas.

In Kyoto, the following gardens were made or attributed to Musō Soseki: Saihō-ji (Koke-dera) and Tenryū-ji are UNESCO World Heritage Sites and included in Japan’s Special Places of Scenic Beauty, as well as Tōnanzen and Rinsen-ji.

Soseki died in 1351 at the age of 77.  He taught seven emperors and is known as “the Teacher to Seven Emperors” (Nanachō Teishi). His teachings and work have left a lasting impression upon Kyoto to this day.