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{{Short description|Japanese buddhist monk (1141–1215)}}
{{For|the pharmaceutical company|Eisai (company)}}
{{Infobox religious biography
| name               = Eisai
| image              = Myoan-Eisai-Kennin-ji-Portrait.png
| caption            = 
| birth name         = 
| alias              = 
| dharma name        = 
| birth_date         = 27 May 1141
| birth_place        = [[Bitchū Province]], [[Heian Japan|Japan]]
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1215|8|1|1141|4|20|df=yes}}
| death_place        = [[Heian-kyō]], [[Kamakura shogunate|Japan]]
| nationality        = [[Japanese people|Japanese]]
| religion           = [[Buddhism]]
| school             = [[Rinzai]]
| lineage            = 
| title              = [[Zen Master]]
| location           = 
| education          = 
| occupation         = 
| teacher            = 
| reincarnation of   = 
| predecessor        = 
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| students           = 
| spouse             = 
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| children           = 
| website            = 
}}
{{Zen Buddhism}}{{Japanese Buddhism}}
{{nihongo|'''Myōan Eisai''' or '''Yōsai'''|明菴 栄西||{{IPA|ja|eꜜi.sai, eꜜː-, joꜜː-}},<ref>{{cite book|script-title=ja:NHK日本語発音アクセント新辞典|publisher=NHK Publishing|editor=NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute|date=24 May 2016|lang=ja}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|script-title=ja:新明解日本語アクセント辞典|edition=2nd|editor-last=Kindaichi|editor-first=Haruhiko|editor-link=Haruhiko Kindaichi|editor-last2=Akinaga|editor-first2=Kazue|publisher=[[Sanseidō]]|date=10 March 2025|lang=ja}}</ref>　27 May 1141 – 1 August 1215}} was a Japanese [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] priest, credited with founding the [[Rinzai school]], the Japanese line of the [[Linji school]] of [[Zen Buddhism]].<ref name="Princeton"/> In 1191, he introduced this Zen approach to Japan, following his trip to China from 1187 to 1191, during which he was initiated into the [[Linji school]] by the master Hsü an. It is also said that he popularized [[green tea]] in Japan, following this same trip. He was also the founding abbot of [[Shōfuku-ji (Fukuoka)|Shōfuku-ji]] and [[Kennin-ji]], two of the earliest Zen temples in Japan. He is often known simply as '''Eisai/Yōsai Zenji''' (栄西禅師), literally "Zen master Eisai".

==Biography==

Born in [[Bitchū Province]] (modern-day [[Okayama, Okayama]]), Eisai was ordained as a monk in the [[Tendai]] sect.  Dissatisfied with the state of Buddhism at the time, in 1168 he set off on his first trip to [[Mount Tiantai]] in China, the origin of the sect, where he learned of the primacy of the [[Zen|Chan]] (later known in Japan as [[Zen]]) school in [[Chinese Buddhism]] of the time.  He spent only six months in China on this first trip, but returned in 1187 for a longer stay as a disciple of [[Xuan Huaichang]], a master in the [[Linji school|Linji]] ([[Rinzai]]) line, at Jingde Si (Ching-te-ssu, 景德寺) monastery.<ref>Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1962). ''Sovereign and Subject,'' p. 238.</ref><ref name="bodiford">{{cite book | last = Bodiford | first = William M. | author-link=William Bodiford|title = Soto Zen in Medieval Japan (Studies in East Asian Buddhism) | publisher = University of Hawaii Press | year = 2008 | isbn = 978-0-8248-3303-9 | pages=22–36}}</ref>

After his certification as a Zen teacher, Eisai returned to Japan in 1191, bringing with him Zen scriptures and [[green tea]] seeds.<ref name="Princeton">Robert E. Buswell Jr. & Donald S. Lopez Jr., ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism'', 2014, Princeton, Princeton University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-691-15786-3}} p. 557.</ref> He immediately founded the [[Shōfuku-ji (Fukuoka)|Shōfuku-ji]] in [[Kyūshū]], Japan's first Zen temple. The prayer rituals and recitation of sutras that Eisai integrated into his monastic routines can be traced back to the [[Chanyuan Qinggui|Rules of Purity]] established during the Chinese [[Song dynasty]].<ref name="Heine">{{Cite book |last1=Heine|last2=Wright |first1=Steven|first2=Dale S. |title=Zen Classics: Formative Texts in the History of Zen Buddhism |date=October 6, 2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0195175264|location=Oxford, United Kingdom |pages=141–142| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=HAoZ-BELposC&dq=Kennin-ji+was+modeled+after+the+Chinese+Baizhang+Monastery+of+the+%5B%5B+%22Tang%22+Dynasty%5D%5D&pg=PA142}}</ref>

Eisai set about slowly propagating the new faith, trying to gain the respect of both the Tendai school and the Imperial court through careful diplomacy. Faced with the sometimes violent opposition of traditional schools of Buddhism such as [[Tendai]], [[Shingon]] and [[Pure Land]], Eisai finally left Kyoto for the north-east to [[Kamakura, Kanagawa|Kamakura]] in 1199, where the ''[[shōgun]]'' and the newly ascendant warrior class enthusiastically welcomed his teachings. [[Hōjō Masako]], Yoritomo's widow, allowed him to build [[Jufuku-ji]], the first Zen temple in Kamakura. Eisai founded [[Kennin-ji]] in [[Kyoto]] in 1202 on land gifted to him by Yoritomo's son, the second Kamakura ''shōgun'' [[Minamoto no Yoriie]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=elcqAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Minamoto+no+Yoritomo%22,+%22Kennin-ji%22 Japanese Buddhism: a cultural history, Tamura, Kosei, p.96]</ref> Eisai died in 1215 at the age of 74, and is buried in Kennin-ji's temple grounds.

One feature of Eisai's activity not often noted is his continued eclecticism.  He never renounced his status as a Tendai monk, and until the end of his life continued to engage in Tendai esoteric practices.  Though he is credited with transmission of the Rinzai line to Japan, it remained for later teachers to establish a distinctly Japanese Zen free of admixture with the teachings of other schools. Among his notable disciples was Eihei [[Dōgen]], who himself traveled to China and returned to found the [[Sōtō]] school of Zen in Japan.

==Importing green tea==

Eisai is also credited with the beginning of the tea tradition in Japan, by bringing green tea seeds from China, back from his second trip in 1191, and writing the book {{Lang|ja|喫茶養生記}}, {{Lang|ja-Latn|Kissa Yōjōki}} (in English, ''Drinking Tea for [[Yangsheng (Daoism)|Health]]'').  Legend says that he planted the seeds "in the garden of the Ishigamibo at Seburiyama in Hizen".

In addition to his book, Eisai also garnered attention from another act involving his tea; using it as treatment for ''shōgun'' Sanetomo. This is a record of his treatment from the ''Azuma Kagami'':<blockquote>The ''shōgun'' was taken a bit ill, and various attendants attempted to treat him. This was not so serious but was from overindulgence in wine the previous evening. The priest Yojo, who had come to perform incantations and learned the situation, brought a bowl of tea from his temple, saying it was good medicine. He also asked the attendants to give the ''shōgun'' a scroll of writings about the virtues of tea, and the ''shōgun'' was said to have been greatly pleased. Priest Yojo indicated he had written it recently during his breaks from meditation.</blockquote>Eisai was more focused on the medicinal aspects than anything else, and the main reason for this was the common conception of the time that the world was in ''mappō'', the Latter age of the Dharma, which was considered by many to be a time of decline. Eisai lived through an era of heavy fighting in Japan, so ''mappō'' played a big role in his promotion of tea, as he thought it was a cure for many ailments and hence would help people get through this perceived difficult time.

In ''Kissa Yōjōki'', the beginning bulk of text after the prefaces concern the alignment of the five elements of Chinese science (earth, fire, water, wood, and metal) with five major organs (the liver, lungs, heart, spleen, and kidneys) and the respective five flavors that each major organ preferred (acidic, pungent, bitter, sweet, and salty). Eisai claimed that the standard Japanese fare of the time contained abundant amounts of each, except for the bitter flavor, which was the cause of the many heart diseases the Japanese suffered from. He asserted that his green tea was essential for providing the bitter flavor, and thereby keeping the heart healthy.<ref>Hansō, Sōshitsu. (1998). [https://books.google.com/books?id=MQmuSSimVyQC&pg=PA75 ''The Japanese Way of Tea: From Its Origins in China to Sen Rikyū,'' p.75] .</ref>

== Promotion of Buddhism ==
During the Nara and Heian periods in Japan, Buddhism was used as a tool to unify the country.  Eisai was a firm believer that it should be Zen Buddhism to aid the protection of the country.  He identified previously established schools of Buddhism as responsible for contributing to Japan's struggles.<ref name="Hodge 2002 p86-87">{{Cite book|title=Hodge, Stephen. Zen Master Class: A course in Zen Wisdom from Traditional Masters. Godsfield Press, 2002. Pg 86-87.}}</ref>

During this time, three major scriptures were used to promote this idea of a unified Buddhist Japan: the ''[[Lotus Sutra]]'', ''[[Golden Light Sutra]]'', and the ''[[Humane King Sutra]]'' (''Ninnōkyō'').  Eisai's famous written piece, {{nihongo|''The Promotion of Zen for the Protection of the Country''|興禅護国論|Kōzen gokokuron}}, was heavily influenced by the ''Humane King Sutra'', which states, "The preservation of Buddhism is inextricably bound to the preservation of their own country".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Anderl, Christoph. Zen Buddhist Rhetoric in China, Korea, and Japan. 2012. Pg 80.}}</ref>  The {{Lang|ja-Latn|Kōzen gokokuron}} was written with the intention to correct established schools of Buddhism by giving them examples of moral practice and to convince the Minamoto military rulers to support Zen Buddhism and a Zen government.  The writing promotes the Zen ideals to bring Buddhism back to its morals and practices.<ref name="Hodge 2002 p86-87"/>

Eisai's writing depends heavily on the idea that Buddhism is critical for a functioning society.  The {{Lang|ja-Latn|Kōzen gokokuron}} is often regarded as nationalistic propaganda, and due to the compromises he made when working to install Zen Buddhism in Japan, people disregard the significance of the {{Lang|ja-Latn|Kōzen gokokuron}} when reading it from a "pure" Zen perspective.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Zen Classics. Heine, Steven and Dale S. Wright. Oxford University Press, 2006. Pg 94, 97.}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Buddhism in Japan]]
*[[List of Rinzai Buddhists]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
* Anderl, Christoph. Zen Buddhist Rhetoric in China, Korea, and Japan. 2012.
* Hodge, Stephen. Zen Master Class: A course in Zen Wisdom from Traditional Masters. Godsfield Press, 2002.
* Mano, Shinya (2011). Yosai and Esoteric Buddhism. In: Orzech, Charles D.; Sorensen, Henrik H.; Payne, Richard K., Esoteric Buddhism and Tantras in East Asia, Leiden/Boston: Brill
* Marsone, Pierre. Aux origines du Zen, édition bilingue, commentée et annotée, du ''Kōzen gokoku ron'' 興禪護國論 de Eisai. Paris : Éditions You-feng. 2002.
* McRae, John; Tokiwa, Gishin; Yoshida, Osamu; Heine, Steven, trans. (2005). [https://web.archive.org/web/20150322042457/http://www.bdk.or.jp/pdf/bdk/digitaldl/dBET_ZenTexts_2005.pdf Zen texts], Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research (A Treatise on Letting Zen Flourish to Protect the State by Eisai)
* [[Richard Ponsonby-Fane|Ponsonby-Fane]], Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1962).  [https://books.google.com/books?id=0gweAAAAMAAJ&q=sovereign+and+subject ''Sovereign and Subject.''] Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. {{OCLC|1014075}}
* Welter, Albert (2008). Buddhist Rituals for protecting the Country in Medieval Japan: Myosan Eisai's "Regulations of the Zen School". In: Heine, Stephen; Wright, Dale, Zen Ritual, Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press
* Zen Classics. Heine, Steven and Dale S. Wright. Oxford University Press, 2006.

==External links==
* [https://theosophytrust.org/259-eisai Theosophy Trust: Eisai]
* [http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=44,6297,0,0,1,0 Buddhist Channel TV: First chief priest Eisai revered for spreading Zen and stimulating drink to nation]
* [http://21dzk.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/SAT/ddb-sat2.php?mode=detail&useid=2543_,80,0001a04&key=興禅護国&ktn=&mode2=2 興禪護國論]

{{Authority control}}

{{Kibi clan}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eisai}}
[[Category:1141 births]]
[[Category:1215 deaths]]
[[Category:Japanese religious leaders]]
[[Category:Japanese Buddhist clergy]]
[[Category:Zen Buddhist priests]]
[[Category:Rinzai Buddhists]]
[[Category:Japanese Zen Buddhists]]
[[Category:People from Okayama]]
[[Category:Founders of Buddhist sects]]
[[Category:Buddhist clergy of the Heian period]]
[[Category:Buddhist clergy of the Kamakura period]]
[[Category:Kibi clan]]