Buddhist Priest Zenju
92 views
Skip to first unread message
Ross Bender
Jun 15, 2026, 6:18:11 PMJun 15
to pmjs
The Nihon Kōki obituary of the Chief Abbot Zenju
僧正善珠 mentions a rumor that he was the illegitimate son of Genbō and the Retired Empress Miyako. Nihon Ryōiki does not seem to include this story, but it does have the very unusual account of a diviner who, near the priest's death, pronounces that he will be reborn in the womb of Emperor Kanmu's wife as a prince. The next year, says the account, he was indeed reborn as a prince.
[See Nihon Kōki
Enryaku 16.4.21 (May 21, 797) and
Nihon Ryōiki tr. Nakamura (284-5); or tr. Watson (198-9).]
The reason I'm interested in this account is because of the story that the priest Dōkyō was the lover of Female Emperor Shotoku. However, in that case the tale is not recorded in the official chronicle, Shoku Nihongi, but it does first appear in Nihon Ryōiki.
My question is whether any Buddhist scholars can further trace the strange accounts of Zenju's life, particularly the Genbō story. Also, are there similar miraculous accounts of eminent Buddhist priests having such unusual births or rebirths as imperial princes?
Ross Bender
Leonardo Wolfe
Jun 18, 2026, 4:45:59 AMJun 18
to PMJS: Listserv
Dear Dr Bender,
Regarding, "[...] are there similar miraculous accounts of eminent Buddhist priests having such unusual births or rebirths as imperial princes?", the below notes may be of interest. The notes in question are taken from my personal slides on Ikkyū's life and poetry.
1393: Ikkyū’s mother, possibly a member of the influential Fujiwara clan or the Kusunoki clan, is allegedly forced to leave the imperial court whilst still pregnant with Ikkyū.
1394: Ikkyū is born and lives in Saga, a suburb of Kyoto, with his mother.
1399: At the age of five, Ikkyū is placed in the care of Ankoku-ji, a Rinzai Zen temple in Kyoto, by his mother.
For more than 50 years, clashes had been occurring between the senior (Southern) and junior (Northern) imperial lines.
Approximately two years before Ikkyū’s birth, the Shogun Yoshimitsu had arranged a peace treaty in which the imperial throne would pass alternately between the Northern and Southern lines, but never intending to let the senior, Southern, line return to power.
The sixteen-year-old emperor had allegedly become attracted to an imperial concubine of Southern lineage, Ikkyū’s mother. It is believed that she was possibly the daughter of the South’s best general, Kusunoki Masashige, and was exchanged as part of the peace treaty, although her origin is unknown.
As the emperor’s first child was to appear with blood from the politically defeated side, this would have created a problem.
The painter Bokusai provides the only contemporary biographical treatment of Ikkyū, the Tōkai Ikkyū Oshō Nempu (東海一休和尚年譜), or The Chronicle of Life of the Reverend Ikkyū of Tōkai. Bokusai was a disciple of Ikkyū. Despite this…
“The bare idea that an emperor’s son might become a monk is not problematic; many historical examples exist. Nor would the existence of an unrecognized imperial child be particularly surprising.”
“[…] if the assertion that Gokomatsu was Ikkyū’s father were based only on in-house, sectarian documents and some otherwise unsupported speculations, it might be reasonable to dismiss it at once. However, at least two other, rather different, primary sources strengthen Bokusai’s claim.”
“The first of these is an entry in the diary of Sugawara Kazunaga (dated first day, eighth month, 1494), which states, ‘The monk Ikkyū was the illegitimate child of Emperor Gokomatsu and therefore an imperial prince, though most people don’t know this fact.’”
The second primary source is Ikkyū himself via his poetry, particularly several poems within his Kyōun-shū (Crazy Cloud Anthology).
N.B. One of the main sources for the above, particularly the quotes, is Zen-man Ikkyu (1981) by James H. Sanford.
Regarding, "[...] are there similar miraculous accounts of eminent Buddhist priests having such unusual births or rebirths as imperial princes?", the below notes may be of interest. The notes in question are taken from my personal slides on Ikkyū's life and poetry.
1393: Ikkyū’s mother, possibly a member of the influential Fujiwara clan or the Kusunoki clan, is allegedly forced to leave the imperial court whilst still pregnant with Ikkyū.
1394: Ikkyū is born and lives in Saga, a suburb of Kyoto, with his mother.
1399: At the age of five, Ikkyū is placed in the care of Ankoku-ji, a Rinzai Zen temple in Kyoto, by his mother.
For more than 50 years, clashes had been occurring between the senior (Southern) and junior (Northern) imperial lines.
Approximately two years before Ikkyū’s birth, the Shogun Yoshimitsu had arranged a peace treaty in which the imperial throne would pass alternately between the Northern and Southern lines, but never intending to let the senior, Southern, line return to power.
The sixteen-year-old emperor had allegedly become attracted to an imperial concubine of Southern lineage, Ikkyū’s mother. It is believed that she was possibly the daughter of the South’s best general, Kusunoki Masashige, and was exchanged as part of the peace treaty, although her origin is unknown.
As the emperor’s first child was to appear with blood from the politically defeated side, this would have created a problem.
The painter Bokusai provides the only contemporary biographical treatment of Ikkyū, the Tōkai Ikkyū Oshō Nempu (東海一休和尚年譜), or The Chronicle of Life of the Reverend Ikkyū of Tōkai. Bokusai was a disciple of Ikkyū. Despite this…
“The bare idea that an emperor’s son might become a monk is not problematic; many historical examples exist. Nor would the existence of an unrecognized imperial child be particularly surprising.”
“[…] if the assertion that Gokomatsu was Ikkyū’s father were based only on in-house, sectarian documents and some otherwise unsupported speculations, it might be reasonable to dismiss it at once. However, at least two other, rather different, primary sources strengthen Bokusai’s claim.”
“The first of these is an entry in the diary of Sugawara Kazunaga (dated first day, eighth month, 1494), which states, ‘The monk Ikkyū was the illegitimate child of Emperor Gokomatsu and therefore an imperial prince, though most people don’t know this fact.’”
The second primary source is Ikkyū himself via his poetry, particularly several poems within his Kyōun-shū (Crazy Cloud Anthology).
N.B. One of the main sources for the above, particularly the quotes, is Zen-man Ikkyu (1981) by James H. Sanford.
Kind regards,
Leonardo Wolfe
GUELBERG Niels
Jun 18, 2026, 7:15:44 PMJun 18
to pm...@googlegroups.com
Dear Ross,
Fukihara Shoshin has a lengthly report on that subject in his 'History of the Japanese Pure-Conscoiusness Thought' (『日本唯識思想史』富貴原章信仏教学選集第三巻), pp. 191-198. Fukihara points out, that Zenju was born in 723, but Genbo came back from China in 735 and only after
his return came into contact with the court, so it is impossible that Genbo could be Zenju's father.
The story that Zenju was reborn as a prince may be an interpolation with the story of Sawara shinno (早良親王) told by Fukihara: when Sawara resigned as crown prince, most of the temples refused his messengers except Zenju (sources: Fuso ryakki and Kojidan).
Niels
差出人: pm...@googlegroups.com <pm...@googlegroups.com> が Ross Bender <rosslyn...@gmail.com> の代理で送信
送信日時: 2026年6月16日 7:14
宛先: pmjs <pm...@googlegroups.com>
件名: [PMJS] Buddhist Priest Zenju
送信日時: 2026年6月16日 7:14
宛先: pmjs <pm...@googlegroups.com>
件名: [PMJS] Buddhist Priest Zenju
--
PMJS is a forum dedicated to the study of premodern Japan.
To post to the list, email pm...@googlegroups.com
For the PMJS Terms of Use and more resources, please visit www.pmjs.org.
Contact the moderation team at mod...@pmjs.org
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PMJS: Listserv" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pmjs+uns...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAMEQgpF%3DtkL%2BFuGgzE%3DYnrh0tLExqySRu_UAzkRW-tQfq9fq8w%40mail.gmail.com.
PMJS is a forum dedicated to the study of premodern Japan.
To post to the list, email pm...@googlegroups.com
For the PMJS Terms of Use and more resources, please visit www.pmjs.org.
Contact the moderation team at mod...@pmjs.org
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PMJS: Listserv" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pmjs+uns...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAMEQgpF%3DtkL%2BFuGgzE%3DYnrh0tLExqySRu_UAzkRW-tQfq9fq8w%40mail.gmail.com.
Ross Bender
Jun 19, 2026, 4:55:39 PMJun 19
to pm...@googlegroups.com
Thanks for these responses - I hadn't known that Ikkyū was the son of an emperor. I imagine there might be more cases of Buddhist monks being presumed descendants of emperors.
As to Prince Sawara, there are of course many tales surrounding his angry spirit. It is well documented that he was a son of Emperor Kōnin, and that Emperor Kanmu, upon his enthronement, named him, his younger brother, as Crown Prince. (Senmyō 60, 781 CE). The tradition is that he had previously been a Buddhist priest. Shoku Nihongi records that he was present at the new capital of Nagaoka when Tanetsugu was assassinated in late October of 785, although it does not accuse him of involvement - that is, it does not name him as one of the dozen conspirators. However, only two weeks later Kanmu removed him from his position, giving no reason.
Then, in Nihon Kōki, in 792 there is the following: " [Enryaku 11.6.10 (July 3, 792)]
"The Crown Prince remained ill for a long time. Divination revealed a curse from Emperor Sudō.[1] Prince Chōshi, head of the Bureau of Mausolea and others were sent to Awaji Province to offer apologies to his spirit."
A week later: [Enryaku 11.6.17 (July 10, 792)]
"Imperial edict: “In Enryaku 9 (790) it was ordered that a certain Imperial Prince (later known as Emperor Sudō) be assigned a tomb and guardian household in Awaji Province. Moreover neighboring district chiefs were also appointed to this duty. However due to a lack of reverence in guarding the tomb there was a curse. From now on a moat around the tomb shall be constructed so that there will be no further irreverent defilement.”
Thereafter it was common to send messengers to pray at his tomb. In 800 Kanmu formally awarded him the title of Emperor, although it had been recognized previously, as seen above. This was apparently the only example of a person who never actually reigned being named posthumously an emperor. I hadn't known of his apparent connection with Zenju. But Sawara was a case of a priest later being named Crown Prince, then emperor. Fascinating stuff.
[1] 祟道天皇Imperial Prince Sawara, a son of Emperor Kōnin. He was presumably implicated in the assassination of Fujiwara no Tanetsugu in 785, and apparently exiled to Awaji, although this is not recorded in Shoku Nihongi.
Ross Bender
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages