Dōshō

Dōshō (道昭, 629–700 C.E.) was a Japanese monk credited with playing an influential role in establishing Buddhism in Japan.

In C.E. 653, Dōshō traveled to China, where he studied for eight years under Xuanzang, the author of the Cheng Weishi Lun, who is credited as a founder of the East Asian Yogācāra tradition. He was also exposed to Chinese Chán, which would later lead to his influence on the founding of Japanese Zen.

After returning from China, Dōshō became a priest at Gangō-ji, one of the Nanto Shichi Daiji ("seven great temples"), in Nara, Japan. His teachings were based on the Yogacara philosophy taught by Xuanzang, which in Japanese he called Hossō. It was at Gangō-ji that later he founded Japan's first meditation hall.

There is a legend about his return from China that says Xuanzang had given him a magical kettle in which he could prepare medicines that could cure any illness. The monk travelling with Dōshō was supposedly cured before embarking on the sea trip back to Japan. However, while at sea a great storm came upon them. A diviner on board said that the sea god wanted the kettle. Dōshō at first resisted, but eventually gave in, and the storm immediately abated.

Bibliography

• Jonathan Morris Augustine (2004). Buddhist Hagiography in Early Japan: Images of Compassion in the Gyoki Tradition. Routledge. pp. 90–. ISBN 978-1-134-35290-6. 
• Marian Ury (1979). Tales of Times Now Past: Sixty-two Stories from a Medieval Japanese Collection. University of California Press. pp. 84–86. ISBN 978-0-520-03864-6.