The lineage of Japanese pilgrim monk Jōgyō and the Chinese monasteries where he studied in the Tang period: with complementary discussions on Kūkai’s disciples and Ximing Monastery

Abstract

ABSTRACTAfter returning to Japan, did the Japanese pilgrim monks think about the monasteries or teachers they had studied with in China? Taking this as a point of entry, the current paper has selected Kūkai’s 空海 (774–835) disciples from the 18th Japanese mission to Imperial China as subjects of discussion, and investigates the relationship between these Japanese pilgrim monks and Ximing Monastery 西明寺, and the monks at the monastery. One of these Japanese pilgrim monks was Jōgyō 常暁 (?–867). Even though Jōgyō was not Kūkai’s direct disciple, he had studied alongside Kūkai’s disciples in China. Following their teacher’s footsteps, Kūkai’s disciples, Shūei 宗叡 (809–884) and Shinnyo 真如 (799–865), also went to study at Ximing Monastery. From the above, we can see that during this Dharma-seeking pilgrimage, even though the aim was to learn practices of the Tiantai and Esoteric schools, Ximing Monastery, where Kūkai received training and lived, had a certain amount of influence on these Japanese pilgrim monks. Buddhist exchange between Imperial China and Japan was not simply on the state level, but even more so the connection with and transmission of Dharma lineages, with relationships that were continued by later generations.