Editing Ennin

{{Short description|9th century Japanese monk known for travels in China}}
{{Infobox religious biography
|name = Ennin (圓仁)
|image= Yunogo2000.jpg
|caption = A statue of Ennin.
|birth_name = 
|alias = Jikaku Daishi (慈覺大師)
|dharma name =
|birth_date = 793 or 794 CE
|birth_place = [[Mibu]], [[Tochigi Prefecture]], [[Japan]]

|death_date = {{Death date and age|864|2|24|794|}}
|death_place = 
|nationality =
|religion = [[Buddhism]]
|school = [[Tendai]] school
|lineage = [[Jimon and Sammon|Sammon lineage]]
|title = Third ''zasu'', head of the Tendai Order
|location =
|education =
|occupation =
|teacher =
|reincarnation of =
|predecessor = Enchō (円澄)
|successor = An'e (安慧)
|students =
|spouse =
|partner =
|children =
|website =
}}

{{nihongo|'''Ennin'''|圓仁 or 円仁||793 CE <ref name="travelers">[[Donald Keene]], in his ''[[Travelers of a Hundred Ages]]'' gives Ennin's birth year as 793, not 794.</ref> or 794 CE – 864 CE}}, better known in [[Japan]] by his [[posthumous name]], '''Jikaku Daishi''' ({{lang|ja|慈覺大師}}), was a priest of the [[Tendai]] school of Buddhism in Japan, and its third {{nihongo|''Zasu''|座主||"Head of the Tendai Order"}}.  

Ennin was instrumental in expanding the Tendai Order's influence, and bringing back crucial training and resources from China, particularly esoteric Buddhist training and [[Pure Land]] teachings. He is most well known for integrating esoteric practices (''[[Taimitsu]]'') with the teachings of the ''Lotus Sutra.'' His journey to Tang China (838–847) and his subsequent writings profoundly influenced Japanese Buddhism.

== Life ==

=== Birth and origin ===
{{JapaneseBuddhism}}
He was born into the [[Mibu]] ({{lang|ja|壬生}}) family in Shimotsuke Province (present-day [[Tochigi Prefecture]]), Japan and entered the [[Buddhist]] priesthood at [[Enryaku-ji]] on [[Mt. Hiei]] (Hieizan) near [[Kyoto]] at the age of 15. Studying under Saichō, the founder of Japanese Tendai Buddhism, Ennin excelled in his studies, particularly in the ''Lotus Sutra'' and Tiantai meditation practices. After Saichō’s death, Ennin sought to deepen his understanding of Buddhism by traveling to Tang China.<ref name=":0">Sakayose Masashi, [https://www.kokugakuintochigi.ac.jp/tandai/common/pdf/about/alignment/01/03.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com Ennin and the Lotus Sutra 円仁と『法華経』]</ref> 

=== Trip to China ===
In 838, Ennin was in the party which accompanied [[Fujiwara no Tsunetsugu]]'s [[Japanese_missions_to_Imperial_China|diplomatic mission]] to the [[Tang dynasty]] Imperial court.<ref>Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2QnPijAEmEC&pg=PA211&dq= "Fujiwara no Tsunetsugu"] in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 211.</ref><ref name=Sansom>{{Cite book |last=Sansom |first=George |title=A History of Japan to 1334 |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=1958 |isbn=0804705232 |page=138,221}}</ref>  The trip to [[China]] marked the beginning of a set of tribulations and adventures which he documented in [[Ennin's Diary|his journal]]. The journal describes an account of the workings of the government of China, which saw strong and able administrative control of the state and its provinces, even at a time of a supposed decline of the Tang dynasty. His writings also expanded on religious matters and commerce. He stayed in [[Xi'an]] for five years.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Roberts |first=J. A. G. |url=http://archive.org/details/historyofchina0000robe_l0n0 |title=A history of China |date=1996 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-0-312-16334-1 |location=New York |pages=102 |language=en}}</ref>

Initially, he studied under two masters and then spent some time at [[Wutaishan]] ({{lang|ja|五臺山}}; Japanese: ''Godaisan''), a mountain range famous for its numerous Buddhist temples in [[Shanxi]] Province in China. Here, he learned {{nihongo|''go-e nembutsu''|五会念仏||"Five tone [[nembutsu]]"}} among other practices. Later he went to [[Chang'an]] (Japanese: Chōan), then the capital of China, where he was ordained into both [[mandala]] rituals: the [[Mahavairocana_Tantra|Mahāvairocana-sūtra]] and the [[Vajrasekhara_Sutra|Vajraśekhara-sūtra]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Profile of Jikaku Daishi| language=Japanese| url=https://www.tendai.or.jp/daihoue/profile/jikaku.html| accessdate = 2022-02-12}}</ref> along with initiation and training in the [[Susiddhikara Sūtra]] tantra.<ref name="お寺">{{cite book | title = うちのお寺は天台宗 わが家の宗教を知る (双葉文庫) | publisher = 双葉社 | year = 2016 | asin = B01LWMY8TD | page=114}}</ref>  He also wrote of his travels by ship while sailing along the [[Grand Canal of China]].

Ennin was in China when the anti-Buddhist [[Emperor Wuzong of Tang]] took the throne in 840, and he lived through the [[Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution]] of 842–846.  As a result of the persecution, he was deported from China, returning to Japan in 847.<ref>Reischauer, ''Ennin's Travels in T'ang China''.</ref>

=== Return to Japan ===
Upon returning to Japan in 847, Ennin brought back numerous Buddhist texts, maṇḍalas, and ritual implements. In 854, he became the third abbot of the Tendai sect at [[Enryaku-ji]], where he built buildings to store the [[sutra]]s and religious instruments he brought back from China. He played a pivotal role in the [[Vajrayana|esotericization]] of Tendai Buddhism, reconciling the ''Lotus Sutra''’s teachings with the practices of [[Chinese Esoteric Buddhism]].<ref name=":0" /> Ennin introduced rituals such as the ''Lotus Repentance'' (''Hokke Senbō'') and the ''Constant Walking Samādhi'' (''Jōgyō Samādhi''), which became central to Tendai practice. He also established Sōji-in, a center for esoteric rituals, and built the ''Prabhūtaratna Stūpa'' to enshrine the ''Lotus Sutra''.<ref name=":0" /> 

His dedication to expanding the monastic complex and its courses of study assured the Tendai school a unique prominence in Japan. While his chief contribution was to strengthen the Tendai tantric Buddhist traditio n, the Pure Land recitation practices (''nenbutsu'') that he introduced also helped to lay a foundation for the independent Pure Land movements of the subsequent Kamakura period (1185–1333).<ref>{{Cite book|title = Encyclopedia of Buddhism|last = Buswell|first = Robert E.|publisher = Macmillan Reference USA|year = 2004|isbn = 978-0028657189|location = New York|pages = 249–250}}</ref> Ennin also founded the temple of [[Ryushakuji]] at [[Yamadera]].

Ennin's efforts laid the foundation for ''Taimitsu'' (Tendai Esotericism), which was further developed by later monks like [[Enchin]] and [[Annen]]. In 866, [[Emperor Seiwa]] posthumously awarded him the title ''Jikaku Daishi'', recognizing his contributions to Japanese Buddhism. Ennin's synthesis of exoteric and esoteric teachings, along with his emphasis on the ''Lotus Sutra'', solidified Tendai Buddhism's influence in Japan. His writings and rituals continue to be studied and practiced, making him one of the most important figures in Japanese Buddhist history.<ref name=":0" />  

== Works ==
Ennin was a prolific writer, producing over one hundred works. Some of his most important works are two commentaries on the ''[[Vajrasekhara Sutra|Vajraśekhara Sūtra]]'' and ''[[Susiddhikara Sūtra]].<ref name=":0" />''  

His diary of travels in China, {{nihongo|''Nittō Guhō Junrei Kōki''|入唐求法巡礼行記||}}, was translated into English by Professor [[Edwin O. Reischauer]] under the title ''[[Ennin's Diary: The Record of a Pilgrimage to China in Search of the Law]]''.  Sometimes ranked among the best travelogues in world literature, it is a key source of information on life in Tang China and [[Silla]] [[Korea]] and offers a rare glimpse of the Silla personality [[Jang Bogo]].

== Thought ==
[[File:SIDDHAM_LETTER_A.svg|thumb|Letter A in [[Siddhaṃ script|Siddham]] script]]
Ennin played a crucial role in developing the Esoteric Buddhist tradition within Japanese Tendai Buddhism, known as Taimitsu (台密). Drawing from his experiences studying in Tang China, Ennin sought to expand and refine the Esoteric teachings that Saichō had introduced but left incomplete.<ref name=":74">Asai Endō 浅井円道, [https://jstone.mycpanel2.princeton.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Asai-End%C5%8D.Lotus-Sutra-as-the-Core-of-Japanese-Buddhism-2014.pdf "The Lotus Sutra as the Core of Japanese Buddhism Shifts in Representations of its Fundamental Principle."] ''Japanese Journal of Religious Studies'' 41/1: 45–64 © 2014 Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture</ref> Central to Ennin's Esoteric metaphysics was his theory that [[A in Buddhism|the syllable "A"]], as the foundational vowel in the [[Sanskrit]] alphabet, represented the ultimate reality that is [[Anutpada|unborn]] and undying. This reality is equated with the inner enlightenment of the cosmic Buddha [[Vairocana|Mahāvairocana]] (Jp. Dainichi, 大日), the central figure in [[Chinese Esoteric Buddhism|East Asian Esoteric Buddhism]].<ref name=":7">Asai Endō 浅井円道, [https://jstone.mycpanel2.princeton.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Asai-End%C5%8D.Lotus-Sutra-as-the-Core-of-Japanese-Buddhism-2014.pdf "The Lotus Sutra as the Core of Japanese Buddhism Shifts in Representations of its Fundamental Principle."] ''Japanese Journal of Religious Studies'' 41/1: 45–64 © 2014 Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture</ref>

Ennin identified the syllable "A" as the scriptural essence of key Esoteric texts such as the ''[[Vajrasekhara Sutra|Vajraśekhara-sūtra]]'' and the ''[[Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sūtra|Mahāvairocana-sūtra]]''. In his commentary on the ''Vajraśekhara-sūtra'', he declared that the syllable "A" unified the sutra's diverse meanings. Citing the ''Mahāvairocana'', Ennin maintained that the Esoteric teachings in their entirety are encapsulated by the syllable "A." He asserted that this syllable is the source of all phenomena, and in response to differing conditions, it manifests either as the enlightened realm symbolized by Esoteric [[Mandala|mandalas]] or as the realm of delusion experienced by ordinary beings. This framework echoes [[Saichō|Saichō's]] doctrine of "Suchness according with conditions," in which ultimate reality manifests itself in response to changing circumstances.<ref name=":72">Asai Endō 浅井円道, [https://jstone.mycpanel2.princeton.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Asai-End%C5%8D.Lotus-Sutra-as-the-Core-of-Japanese-Buddhism-2014.pdf "The Lotus Sutra as the Core of Japanese Buddhism Shifts in Representations of its Fundamental Principle."] ''Japanese Journal of Religious Studies'' 41/1: 45–64 © 2014 Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture</ref>

Ennin further linked the "A" syllable to the differentiated expressions of truth symbolized by the various sounds and characters in Buddhist [[Mantra|mantras]]. He claimed that the single syllable "A" expands into all syllables, reflecting the principle that [[Tathātā|Suchness]] manifests in accordance with conditions.<ref name=":73">Asai Endō 浅井円道, [https://jstone.mycpanel2.princeton.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Asai-End%C5%8D.Lotus-Sutra-as-the-Core-of-Japanese-Buddhism-2014.pdf "The Lotus Sutra as the Core of Japanese Buddhism Shifts in Representations of its Fundamental Principle."] ''Japanese Journal of Religious Studies'' 41/1: 45–64 © 2014 Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture</ref> In the question-and-answer section of his commentary, Ennin affirmed that the Buddha's enlightened realm—depicted in the [[Diamond Realm|vajra realm]] mandala—is established through the conditioned arising of the [[Dharmadhatu|dharma-realm]], which itself embodies dharma-nature. Here, Ennin emphasized that the syllable "A" manifests in accordance with conditions to produce the phenomenal world. He further maintained that this understanding aligned with the Tendai doctrine of the [[Buddha-nature]] of insentient beings (cf. [[Zhanran]]), reinforcing the idea that all things participate in the ultimate reality of Suchness according with conditions.<ref name=":73" />

== See also ==

* [[Enchin]]

== References ==
<references/>

== Sources ==
* Edwin O. Reischauer, ''Ennin's Diary: The Record of a Pilgrimage to China in Search of the Law'' (New York: Ronald Press, 1955).
* Edwin O. Reischauer, ''Ennin's Travels in T'ang China'' (New York: Ronald Press, 1955).

== External links ==
*[http://pratyeka.org/ennin/ Retracing the steps of Ennin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141231103121/http://www.pratyeka.org/ennin/ |date=2014-12-31 }}, a travelog of a partial retracing of Ennin's journey made in 2006, with photographs.

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[[Category:790s births]]
[[Category:864 deaths]]
[[Category:Japanese scholars of Buddhism]]
[[Category:Japanese Buddhist clergy]]
[[Category:Tendai Buddhist monks]]
[[Category:People of Heian-period Japan]]
[[Category:People of Nara-period Japan]]
[[Category:Japanese ambassadors to the Tang dynasty]]
[[Category:Buddhist clergy of Heian-period Japan]]