Choken

Japanese: 澄憲 - ちょうけん

Year of death: 6th August 1203 (1203.9.12)
Year of birth: 1126
A Tendai Buddhist monk from the end of the Heian period to the beginning of the Kamakura period. He was called Anoin Hoin. He was a master of chanting. His father was Fujiwara Michinori, a politician and a man of great learning and talent. His mother was the daughter of Takashina Shigenaka. He received the teachings of his donna Ryuchinkane and lived in Toto Kitadani Chikurin-in, and later lived in his village house, Anoin, in Kyoto. He was exiled to Shimotsuke Province during the Heiji Rebellion (1159), but was soon pardoned and was active as a leader and lecturer at many Buddhist ceremonies, such as the Saisho-ko in the Imperial Court and at the request of monks and laypeople, including Emperor Goshirakawa. He was skilled in eloquence and dedicated himself to chanting, as praised in Gyokuyo as "graceful sermons" and "valued sermons," and in Sonpi Bunmyaku as "a master of chanting in the four seas and one heaven." In particular, his achievement of confessing his prayer for rain at the Saisho-ko in 1174 is famous, as seen in various books such as Genpei Seisuiki and Kojidan. In addition, the Nagato edition of the Tale of the Heike states that he wrote the "Record of the Extinction of the Law" when Nara burned down. His son Shokaku inherited the chanting tradition as the Anoin school. Many of his works are commentaries on Buddhist scriptures related to Pure Land Buddhism, but his chanting works are included in works such as Choken Sakubunshu, Choken Hyohakushu, and Gensenshu. <References> "Yamagishi Tokuhei Collected Works" Volume 1

(Mieko Imamura)

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

Japanese:

没年：建仁3.8.6(1203.9.12)
生年：大治1(1126)
平安末・鎌倉初期の天台宗の僧。安居院法印と号される。唱導の大家。父は政治家でかつ博学多才な藤原通憲。母は高階重仲の娘。檀那流珍兼の法門を受け東塔北谷竹林院に住み,後年,里房である京の安居院に住む。平治の乱(1159)に下野国に流されるがまもなく許され,宮中の最勝講や,後白河法皇を始め道俗に請われて多くの仏事に導師・講師として活躍する。『玉葉』に「説法優美」「説法珍重」,『尊卑分脈』に「四海大唱導一天名人也」と賞賛されるように,弁舌に長け,唱導を事とする。なかでも承安4(1174)年の最勝講における祈雨表白の功は,『源平盛衰記』『古事談』など諸書にみえて名高い。また『平家物語』長門本などには,南都炎上に際し「法滅の記」を著したとある。唱導は安居院流として子の聖覚に継がれる。著作は浄土教方面の仏典の注釈が多いが,唱導関係は『澄憲作文集』『澄憲表白集』『言泉集』などに収められている。<参考文献>『山岸徳平著作集』1巻

(今村みゑ子)

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