Who was this person?
A Kamakura-period monk and founder of the Ji school of Pure Land Buddhism. Born into the Kōno clan of Iyo, he became a monk as a child. Giving up home and possessions, he travelled throughout Japan handing out nenbutsu slips inscribed with the name of Amida and spread the dancing nenbutsu, chanting while dancing with ordinary people. For renouncing everything he is called the "Holy Man Who Gave Up All."
| Name | Ippen (一遍) |
|---|---|
| Born–died | 1239 – 1289 |
| Period | Kamakura period |
| Birthplace | Iyo Province |
| Also known as | Sute-hijiri; Yugyō Shōnin |
| Main achievements |
|
He was born the son of Kōno Michihiro, a powerful local family in Iyo Province (Ehime). His childhood name was Shōjumaru. The Kōno had once been influential gokenin (vassal) who fought in the Genpei War, but many of them sided with the court in the Jōkyū War and were punished, so the clan had lost much of its strength by the time Ippen was born.
He lost his mother when still a child and, on his father's advice, took the tonsure under the name Zuien. His father Michihiro had himself been a monk in his youth and is thought to have guided his son onto the Buddhist path. Losing his mother is also said to have been the starting point of Ippen's deep reflection on the impermanence of the world.
He moved to Dazaifu in Kyushu and studied Pure Land teachings under Shōtatsu, a monk of the Jōdo-shū (Pure Land) who was a second-generation disciple of Hōnen. He first learned the basics under Katai in Hizen and changed his name to Chishin. His studies under Shōtatsu lasted more than ten years, and the nenbutsu became the pillar of his faith.
When his father Michihiro died, he returned to Iyo, left monastic life and took part in the affairs of his household. Yet he was troubled by quarrels over land within the clan and reportedly found no peace of mind. It was a period when he learned the sufferings of worldly life first-hand.
He became a monk once more, visited Zenkō-ji in Shinano, and then shut himself away at Kubodera and Iwaya-ji in Iyo for severe training. At Kubodera he is said to have reached the insight of jūichi funi, that Amida's enlightenment and the rebirth of all beings are one. This became the foundation of Ippen's teaching.
Giving up his house and all his property and parting from his family, he set out on a journey spreading the nenbutsu, known as yugyō. He visited Shitennō-ji, Mount Kōya and other places and began handing out slips inscribed "Namu Amida Butsu". This journey, without even a temple of his own, continued for sixteen years until his death.
Troubled when a monk in Kii refused to accept his nenbutsu slip, he secluded himself at Kumano Hongū. There, it is said, the Kumano deity told him in a dream to hand out the slips to everyone, believers or not. After this experience he took the name Ippen, and the moment was later regarded as the beginning of the Ji school.
He travelled across Kyushu spreading the nenbutsu, but the journey was hard and he reportedly struggled even to find food. The following year Shinkyō (Taa), whom he met in Bungo (Ōita), became his disciple and joined the journey. Shinkyō would later inherit Ippen's teaching and build the Ji school into a large organisation.
At Saku in Shinano, following the example of Kūya, a Heian-period monk he revered, he began the dancing nenbutsu, in which people beat gongs and danced in a ring while chanting. It was seen as expressing with the body the joy of encountering the nenbutsu, and crowds gathered. Some, however, criticised it as noisy.
He tried to enter Kamakura with a large following but met the procession of the shikken (regent) of the shogunate and was refused entry. Undaunted, Ippen performed the dancing nenbutsu for several days at nearby Katase and, it is said, drew even larger crowds.
He entered Kyoto and performed the dancing nenbutsu at the Shaka-dō at Shijō Kyōgoku and elsewhere. The later picture scroll Ippen Hijiri-e shows huge crowds, from nobles to commoners, packed so tightly that no one could move. His teaching spread among the people of the capital regardless of rank.
After his long journeys he crossed the Inland Sea back to his native Iyo. He revisited the cave where he had trained and worshipped at Ōyamazumi Shrine on Ōmishima, long revered by his clan. Respect for Shinto shrines was another hallmark of Ippen, who visited shrines in many regions during his travels.
He fell ill on the road and died peacefully at the Kannon-dō in Hyōgo, later Shinkō-ji. Shortly before his death he burned most of his books himself, saying, it is said, that all the teachings of his life had been exhausted and become "Namu Amida Butsu". He left no organisation behind, but his disciple Shinkyō gathered his followers into the Ji school.
A. A Kamakura-period monk and founder of the Ji school of Pure Land Buddhism. Born into the Kōno clan of Iyo, he became a monk as a child. Giving up home and possessions, he travelled throughout Japan handing out nenbutsu slips inscribed with the name of Amida and spread the dancing nenbutsu, chanting while dancing with ordinary people. For renouncing everything he is called the "Holy Man Who Gave Up All."
A. Period: Kamakura period. Born in 1239, died in 1289.
A. Ippen was born in Iyo Province.
A. People danced in a circle while striking small gongs and chanting the nenbutsu, "Namu Amida Butsu." It expressed with the body the joy of being able to call on Amida, and many people joined regardless of status, helping Ippen's teaching spread.
See also: Wikipedia (ja) / Wikipedia (en) / Wikipedia (fr) / Wikipedia (zh) / Wikidata
Follow this life (autoplay)Minamoto no YoshitsuneHōjō YoshitokiShinranHōjō YasutokiDōgenNichirenHōjō TokiyoriHōjō Tokimune
People of the Kamakura period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.