Seisetsu Shōchō Explained

Seisetsu Shōchō (Ch'ing-cho Cheng-ch'eng, Japanese: 清拙正澄; 1274–1339) was a Chinese Buddhist missionary to Japan.

A disciple of Ku-lin Ch'ing-mao (古林清茂), of the Rinzai school, Seisetsu was an adherent of the gozan movement, which subsumed religious practices to secular authority.^[1]

Seisetsu emigrated to Japan in 1326, with three disciples. Unimpressed with the native Buddhist clergy's adherence to traditional Japanese customs, he instituted major reforms in Zen Buddhism, based on Chinese practices.^[2] He travelled widely, visiting Kamakura and Kyoto, and was abbot of Nanzen-ji for a time.^[3] He compiled the Daikan Shingi, a treatise on Buddhist practices and etiquette, as a guide for Japanese priests. Seisetsu was also influential in the secular world, being a mentor of Ogasawara Sadamune.^[4]

Notes and References

1. Book: Heinrich Dumoulin. Zen Buddhism : a History: Japan. 27 June 2012. 30 August 2005. World Wisdom, Inc. 978-0-941532-90-7. 170–171.
2. Book: H. Paul Varley. Isao Kumakura. Tea in Japan: Essays on the History of Chanoyu. registration. 27 June 2012. 1989. University of Hawaii Press. 978-0-8248-1717-6. 14.
3. Book: Kenneth Kraft. Eloquent Zen: Daitō and Early Japanese Zen. 27 June 2012. 1997. University of Hawaii Press. 978-0-8248-1952-1. 172.
4. Book: Kōzō Yamamura. The Cambridge History of Japan: Medieval Japan. 27 June 2012. 27 April 1990. Cambridge University Press. 978-0-521-22354-6. 602.