Dao-xuan (, 702-760) or ''Dōsen'' in Japanese was a prominent Chinese monk in early Japanese Buddhism, responsible for importing Northern School Chan teachings, Huayan school teachings and the Bodhisattva Precepts to Japan in 736. He also served as the for ordination prior to the arrival of

Ganjin Jianzhen (688–763), also known by his Japanese language, Japanese name Ganjin (,), was a Tang dynasty, Tang Han people, Chinese Buddhist monk, monk who helped to propagate Buddhism in Japan. In the eleven years from 743 to 754, Jianzhen attem ...

, and presided over the opening of the

Tōdai-ji is a Buddhist temple complex that was once one of the powerful Nanto Shichi Daiji, Seven Great Temples, located in the city of Nara, Nara, Nara, Japan. The construction of the temple was an attempt to imitate Chinese temples from the much-admir ...

Temple. Dao-xuan was born in

Hunan Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

Province in 702, and ordained at an early age in the

Vinaya The Vinaya (Pali and Sanskrit: विनय) refers to numerous monastic rules and ethical precepts for fully ordained monks and nuns of Buddhist Sanghas (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). These sets of ethical rules and guidelines devel ...

school in China () at Dafu () temple in

Loyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengz ...

. After learning the Vinaya, he traveled and practiced Chan meditation for a time followed by intensive study of

Tiantai Tiantai or T'ien-t'ai () is an East Asian Buddhist school of Mahāyāna Buddhism that developed in 6th-century China. Drawing from earlier Mahāyāna sources such as Madhyamaka, founded by Nāgārjuna, who is traditionally regarded as the f ...

doctrines before returning to his home temple where he hosted lectures. In 733, two Japanese monks, Eiei () and Fushō () came to China in search of a Vinaya master who would accompany them to Japan to provide orthodox Buddhist ordinations there. Dao-xuan agreed to go, and arrived in 736. However, the rules of the Vinaya state that a minimum of 10 ''

bhikkhu A ''bhikkhu'' (, ) is an ordained male in Buddhist monasticism. Male, and female monastics (''bhikkhunī''), are members of the Sangha (Buddhist community). The lives of all Buddhist monastics are governed by a set of rules called the pratimok� ...

'' monks was required for new ordinations, and so Dao-xuan was unable to conduct an ordination service until 754 when

and his disciples arrived in Japan. In the meantime, Dao-xuan had brought the latest Buddhist teachings from China and lectured actively on such topics as the Brahma Net Sutra and the precepts. Dao-xuan's lectures on the

Flower Garland Sutra Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants (angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, mo ...

and his knowledge of Huayan School teachings inspired

Emperor Shōmu was the 45th Emperor of Japan, emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 聖武天皇 (45)/ref> according to the traditional List of Emperors of Japan, order of succession. Shōmu's reign spanned the years 724 through 749, duri ...

to construct the Tōdai-ji temple as the center for further studies of the Huayan school. It is also recorded that he chanted ''

dharani Dharanis (IAST: ), also known as (Skt.) ''vidyās'' and ''paritas'' or (Pal.) ''parittas'', are lengthier Buddhist mantras functioning as mnemonic codes, incantations, or recitations, and almost exclusively written originally in Sanskrit while Pa ...

'' during the opening ceremony of the Great Buddha at Tōdai-ji temple. In 751, he was appointed as "precept master", and greeted Ganjin upon arrival as well as Bodhisena. By 760, his health declined and he was forced to withdraw to Hisodera temple in Yoshino Province, where he died.

References

Tang dynasty Buddhist monks 702 births 760 deaths People from Xuchang {{Japan-reli-bio-stub