Jōzō - Jōzō

Japanese: 浄蔵 - じょうぞう

Year of death: 21 November 1964 (27 December 964)
Year of birth: Kanpei 3 (891)
A Tendai Buddhist monk in the mid-Heian period. Also known as Jozo Kisho. Son of Miyoshi Kiyoyuki. According to one theory, his mother was the granddaughter of Emperor Saga, and he became pregnant after dreaming that a heavenly being entered his pocket. He read the Thousand Character Classic at the age of four, and at the age of seven, he persuaded his father to return to Buddhism, and undertook ascetic practices, traveling to sacred mountains such as Kumano and Kinpusen. In Engi 2 (902), at the age of 12, he met Emperor Uda and became his disciple. He received the precepts and the Three Great Treasures under Seiryobo Gensho, and mastered the phonology of Siddham under Daie Daihoshi. At the age of 19, he retreated to Yokokawa on Mount Hiei, where he recited the six parts of the Lotus Sutra every day and performed the 6,000-fold prayer every night. As a master of incantations, he seems to have displayed considerable miraculous virtues, from national prayers to treating illnesses of nobles, and there are many stories of his miraculous powers, such as subduing Taira no Masakado when he entered the capital, and resuscitating his dead father Kiyoyuki. He is also said to have been talented in astronomy, medicine, divination, music and literature. He also practiced Nembutsu Samadhi in hopes of being connected to Amida Buddha, and when he passed away at the age of 74 in 964 at Unkoji Temple in Higashiyama, he was facing west in his mind, as recorded in the Ojoden (Records of the Resurrection of the Dead).

(Mitsuhashi Tadashi)

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

Japanese:

没年：康保1.11.21(964.12.27)
生年：寛平3(891)
平安中期の天台宗の僧。浄蔵貴所ともいう。三善清行の子。一説に母は嵯峨天皇の孫で,天人が懐中に入る夢を見て身ごもったという。4歳で千字文を読み,7歳で父を説得させて仏門に帰し,熊野,金峯山などの霊山を遍歴して苦行を積んだ。延喜2(902)年,12歳のときに宇多法皇に会い,弟子となる。清涼房玄昭のもとで受戒,三部大宝などを受け,大恵大法師について悉曇の音韻を習得する。19歳で比叡山横川に籠り毎日法華六部誦経,毎夜六千反礼拝を行う。加持の名手として国家的祈祷から貴人の病気治療までかなりの験徳を発揮したようで,入京した平将門を調伏したとか,死んだ父清行を蘇生させたとかいう霊験譚が多い。その他,天文,医学,卜筮,管弦,文章などにも才能を発揮したという。また,阿弥陀仏の引接を期して念仏三昧を修し,康保1(964)年に74歳で東山の雲居寺に入滅したとき,西向きに正念していたとして往生伝にも載せられる。

(三橋正)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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