Zen Under The Toku-gana Shogunate
: HISTORY OF ZEN IN JAPANPeace was at last restored by Iye-yasu, the founder of the Toku-gana
Shogunate (1603-1867). During this period the Shogunate gave
countenance to Buddhism on one hand, acknowledging it as the state
religion, bestowing rich property to large monasteries, making
priests take rank over common people, ordering every householder to
build a Buddhist altar in his house; while, on the other hand, it did
everything to extirpate
period (1544). All this paralyzed the missionary spirit of the
Buddhists, and put all the sects in dormant state. As for Zen[FN#98]
it was still favoured by feudal lords and their vassals, and almost
all provincial lords embraced the faith.
[FN#98] The So To Sect was not wanting in competent teachers, for it
might take pride in its Ten-kei (1648-1699), whose religious insight
was unsurpassed by any other master of the age; in its Shi getsu, who
was a commentator of various Zen books, and died 1764; in its Men-zan
(1683-1769), whose indefatigable works on the exposition of So To Zen
are invaluable indeed; and its Getsu-shu (1618-1696) and Man-zan
(1635-1714), to whose labours the reformation of the faith is
ascribed. Similarly, the Rin Zai Sect, in its Gu-do (1579-1661); in
its Isshi (1608-1646); in its Taku-an (1573-1645), the favourite
tutor of the third Shogun, Iye-mitsu; in its Haku-in (1667-1751), the
greatest of the Rin Zai masters of the day, to whose extraordinary
personality and labour the revival of the sect is due; and its To-rei
(1721-1792), a learned disciple of Haku-in. Of the important Zen
books written by these masters, Ro-ji-tan-kin, by Ten-kei;
Men-zan-ko-roku, by Men-zan; Ya-sen-kwan-wa, Soku-ko-roku,
Kwai-an-koku-go, Kei-so-doku-zui, by Haku-in; Shu-mon-mu-jin-to-ron,
by To-rei, are well known.
It was about the middle of this period that the forty-seven vassals
of Ako displayed the spirit of the Samurai by their perseverance,
self-sacrifice, and loyalty, taking vengeance on the enemy of their
deceased lord. The leader of these men, the tragic tales of whom can
never be told or heard without tears, was Yoshi-o (O-ishi died 1702),
a believer of Zen,[FN#99] and his tomb in the cemetery of the temple
of Sen-gaku-ji, Tokyo, is daily visited by hundreds of his admirers.
Most of the professional swordsmen forming a class in these days
practised Zen. Mune-nori[FN#100](Ya-gyu), for instance, established
his reputation by the combination of Zen and the fencing art.
[FN#99] See Zen Shu, No. 151.
[FN#100] He is known as Ta-jima, who practised Zen under Taku-an.
The following story about Boku-den (Tsuka-hara), a great swordsman,
fully illustrates this tendency:
On a certain occasion Boku-den took a ferry to cross over the Yabase
in the province of Omi. There was among the passengers a Samurai,
tall and square-shouldered, apparently an experienced fencer. He
behaved rudely toward the fellow-passengers, and talked so much of
his own dexterity in the art that Boku-den, provoked by his brag,
broke silence. 'You seem, my friend, to practise the art in order to
conquer the enemy, but I do it in order not to be conquered,' said
Boku-den. 'O monk,' demanded the man, as Boku-den was clad like a
Zen monk, 'what school of swordsmanship do you belong to?' Well,
mine is the Conquering-enemy-without-fighting-school.' 'Don't tell a
fib, old monk. If you could conquer the enemy without fighting, what
then is your sword for?' 'My sword is not to kill, but to save,'
said Boku-den, making use of Zen phrases; 'my art is transmitted from
mind to mind.' 'Now then, come, monk,' challenged the man, 'let us
see, right at this moment, who is the victor, you or I.' The
gauntlet was picked up without hesitation. 'But we must not fight,'
said Boku-den, 'in the ferry, lest the passengers should be hurt.
Yonder a small island you see. There we shall decide the contest.'
To this proposal the man agreed, and the boat was pulled to that
island. No sooner had the boat reached the shore than the man jumped
over to the land, and cried: 'Come on, monk, quick, quick!'
Boku-den, however, slowly rising, said: 'Do not hasten to lose your
head. It is a rule of my school to prepare slowly for fighting,
keeping the soul in the abdomen.' So saying he snatched the oar from
the boatman and rowed the boat back to some distance, leaving the man
alone, who, stamping the ground madly, cried out: 'O, you fly, monk,
you coward. Come, old monk!' 'Now listen,' said Boku-den, 'this is
the secret art of the Conquering-enemy-without-fighting-school.
Beware that you do not forget it, nor tell it to anybody else.'
Thus, getting rid of the brawling fellow, Boku-den and his
fellow-passengers safely landed on the opposite shore.[FN#101] The
O Baku School of Zen was introduced by Yin Yuen (In-gen) who crossed
the sea in 1654, accompanied by many able disciples.[FN#102] The
Shogunate gave him a tract of land at Uji, near Kyo-to, and in 1659
he built there a monastery noted for its Chinese style of
architecture, now known as O-baku-san. The teachers of the same
school[FN#103] came one after another from China, and Zen[FN#104]
peculiar to them, flourished a short while.
[FN#101] Shi-seki-shu-ran.
[FN#102] In-gen (1654-1673) came over with Ta-Mei (Dai-bi, died
1673), Hwui Lin (E-rin died 1681), Tuh Chan (Doku-tan, died 1706),
and others. For the life of In-gen: see Zoku-ko-shu-den and
Kaku-shu-ko-yo.
[FN#103] Tsih Fei (Soku-hi died 1671), Muh Ngan (Moku-an died 1684),
Kao Tsuen (Ko-sen died 1695), the author of Fu-so-zen-rin-so-bo-den,
To-koku-ko-so-den, and Sen-un-shu, are best known.
[FN#104] This is a sub-sect of the Rin Zai School, as shown in the
following table:
TABLE OF THE TRANSMISSION OF ZEN FROM CHINA TO JAPAN.
1. Bodhidharma.
2. Hwui Ko (E-ka).
3. San Tsang (So-san).
4. Tao Sin (Do-shin).
5. Hung Jan (Ko nin).
---THE NORTHERN SECT
6. Shang Siu (Jin-shu).
---THE SOUTHERN SECT
6. Hwui Nang (E-no).
---THE RIN ZAI SCHOOL.
7. Nan Yoh (Nan-gaku).
---10. Gi-ku.
---11. Lin Tsi (Rin-zai).
---21. Yuen Wu (En-go).
---22. Fuh Hai (Bukkai).
---28. Kaku-a.
---THE O BAKU SCHOOL.
42. In-gen.
---25. Hti Ngan (Kyo-an).
---26. Ei-sai.
---THE SO TO SCHOOL.
7. Tsing Yuen (Sei-gen).
---8. Shih Teu (Seki-to).
---11. Tung Shan (To-zan).
---23. Ju Tsing (Nyo-jo).
---24. Do-gen.
The O Baku School is the amalgamation of Zen and the worship of
Amitabha, and different from the other two schools. The statistics
for 1911 give the following figures:
The Number of Temples:
The So To School 14,255
The Rin Zai School 6,128
The O Baku School 546
The Number of Teachers:
The So To School 9,576
The Rin Zai School 4,523
The O Baku School 349
It was also in this period that Zen gained a great influence on the
popular literature characterized by the shortest form of poetical
composition. This was done through the genius of Ba-sho,[FN#105] a
great literary man, recluse and traveller, who, as his writings show
us, made no small progress in the study of Zen. Again, it was made
use of by the teachers of popular[FN#106] ethics, who did a great
deal in the education of the lower classes. In this way Zen and its
peculiar taste gradually found its way into the arts of peace, such
as literature, fine art, tea-ceremony, cookery, gardening,
architecture, and at last it has permeated through every fibre of
Japanese life.
[FN#105] He (died 1694) learned Zen under a contemporary Zen master
(Buccho), and is said to have been enlightened before his reformation
of the popular literature.
[FN#106] The teaching was called Shin-gaku, or the 'learning of
mind.' It was first taught by Bai-gan (Ishi-da), and is the
reconciliation of Shintoism and Buddhism with Confucianism. Bai-gan
and his successors practised Meditation, and were enlightened in
their own way. Do-ni (Naka-zawa, died 1803) made use of Zen more
than any other teacher.
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