Baizhang Huaihai - Hyakujo Ekai

A Chinese Zen monk in the mid-Tang dynasty. His secular surname was Wang, and his posthumous name was Daichi Zenji, also known as Kakusho and Hongzong Myogyo. He was from Changle County, Fuzhou, and at the age of 20 he became a monk under Nishiyama Esho, and received full precepts under the monk Nanyue Fachao, becoming a great monk. He then went to the Fusa Temple in Lujiang, where he read the Tripitaka and clarified the doctrines of Mahayana Buddhism. He then studied Zen with Baso Daoyi in Nankang (Jiangxi Province), and is said to have attained enlightenment after three days of chanting so loudly that he became deaf. Later, at the request of his followers, he lived at the Da Zhi Shou Sheng Zen Temple on Mount Baizhang, which was built at Daiyu Feng in Jiangxi Province, and he greatly promoted the Zen style. In particular, he established the "Baizhang Rules," a code of conduct for monastic life unique to Zen temples that was not limited to the precepts of Mahayana and Xiana, and his achievement of making Zen temples independent from Vinaya is particularly notable in the history of Chinese Buddhism. Outstanding disciples such as Huishan Reiyu and Obaku Xiun appeared under his tutelage, and they went on to form the Hui Gyo sect and the Rinzai sect, one of the Five Houses and Seven Schools. He passed away on January 17, 1612, at the age of 66. Regarding his birth year, there is a theory that it was 720, but the "Biographies of Great Monks of the Song Dynasty" and "Records of the Lantern of Jingde" state that he died at the age of 95.

[Kiyutaka Kosaka, April 18, 2017]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、唐代中期の禅僧。俗姓は王氏、諡号(しごう)は大智(だいち)禅師、また覚照(かくしょう)、弘宗妙行(ぐしゅうみょうぎょう)ともいわれる。福州長楽県の人で、20歳のとき西山慧照(せいざんえしょう)について出家し、南岳法朝(なんがくほっちょう)律師のもとで具足戒(ぐそくかい)を受けて大僧となった。ついで廬江(ろこう)の桴槎(ふさ)寺に赴いて大蔵経を閲読し大小乗の教理を明らかにした。さらに南康（江西省）において馬祖道一(ばそどういつ)に参禅し、3日間、耳が聾(ろう)するほどの一喝によって開悟したという。その後、帰信者の請いに応じて江西省の大雄峯(だいゆうほう)に建立された百丈山大智寿聖禅寺(だいちじゅしょうぜんじ)に住し、大いに禅風を鼓吹した。ことに大小乗の戒律に限定されない禅院独自の修道生活の規範、すなわち『百丈清規(しんぎ)』を制定し、禅院を律院から独立せしめた功績は、中国仏教史上に特筆されている。門下に潙山霊祐(いさんれいゆう)、黄檗希運(おうばくきうん)ら優れた弟子が現れ、五家七宗の一翼、潙仰(いぎょう)宗・臨済(りんざい)宗を形成するに至る。元和9年正月17日示寂。世寿66歳。なお、生年については720年とする説もあり、『宋(そう)高僧伝』『景徳伝燈録(けいとくでんとうろく)』では95歳で没したとする。

［小坂機融　2017年4月18日］

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