Good deeds - Gyozen

Japanese: 行善 - ぎょうぜん

Year of birth: Year of birth and death unknown. A monk from the Nara period. Secular surname: Katanabe. Called Kawabe Houshi. He studied in Goguryeo during the reign of Empress Suiko, and after the downfall of that country (668), he became a wanderer and arrived in Tang China. He returned to Japan in the second year of Yoro (718). In the fifth year of the same year, he was commended by imperial decree for having completed his studies despite the hardships he endured during his long study abroad, and was granted the same treatment as Sogo when he trained at various temples throughout the country. During his study abroad, he was unable to cross the river because the bridge had broken, so he prayed to the Kannon Bodhisattva, and an old man who had transformed into the Kannon Bodhisattva appeared on a boat and helped him. It is said that after that, he made veneration of the Kannon statue day and night. <References> Nihon Ryōiki (Vol. 1, Vol. 6), edited by Keikai

(Hiroyuki Sagimori)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

生年：生没年不詳
奈良時代の僧。俗姓堅部氏。河辺法師と号す。推古天皇の時代に高句麗に留学,同国の滅亡(668)にともない流離し,唐に到る。養老2(718)年帰国。同5年,勅により,長期の留学中に難行をあじわいながらも学業を修めたことを賞され,天下の諸寺に修行するときに僧綱と同じ供養を受けるという待遇を与えられた。留学中,橋が壊れて川を渡れないのに困り,観音を念じたところ,観音の化した老翁が船に乗り現れ助けてくれた。それ以後,観音像を日夜帰敬したという説話が伝えられている。<参考文献>景戒編『日本霊異記』(上巻第6巻)

(鷺森浩幸)

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