Genbō

Genbō (玄昉, d. 746) was a Japanese scholar-monk and bureaucrat of the Imperial Court at Nara.

Hossō sect of Buddhism and as the adversary of Fujiwara no Hirotsugu.^[2]

Career

In 717–718, Genbō was part of the Japanese mission to Tang China (Kentōshi) along with Kibi no Makibi,^[3] Abe no Nakamaro.^[4] Later Bodhisena also joined as their companion.^[5] Genbō stayed in China for 17 years.^[6] Genbō brought many esoteric Buddhist texts with him when he returned to Japan.^[7]

At Kōfuku-ji, he was appointed abbot (sōjō)^[8] by Emperor Shōmu.^[1]

Timeline

740 (military campaign
in the 9th month of the same year.

745 (Tenpyō 17): Genbō was exiled to Dazaifu on the island of Kyushu.^[10]

At the time of Genbō's death, it was popularly believed that he was killed by the
vengeful spirit of Hirotsugu.^[11]

See also

Japanese missions to Imperial China

Japanese missions to Tang China

Dōkyō

Notes

^
Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Gembō" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 235, p. 235, at Google Books
.

^ Eliot, Charles. (1935). Japanese Buddhism, pp. 212-213.

^ Nussbaum, "Kibi no Makibi" at p. 512.

^ Nussbaum, "Abe no Nakamaro" at p. 3.

ISSN 0971-751X
. Retrieved 2021-02-05.

^ Fogel, Joshua. (1996). The Literature of Travel in the Japanese Rediscovery of China, p. 22, p. 22, at Google Books; excerpt, "Like Genbō, Kibi no Makibi remained in China after the embassy ships returned to Japan, returning home himself at the same time as Genbō seventeen years later."

^ Tyler, Royall. "Kōfukuji and Yamato," Japan Review: Bulletin of the International Research Center for Japanese Studies (Kokusai Nihon Bunka Kenkyū Sentā), Issue 1-4 (1990), p. 164.

^ Nussbaum, "Sōjō" at p. 899.

^ Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, p. 57; excerpt, "Gembo, having made improper overtures to the beautiful wife of Fujiwara no Hirotsugu, the Viceroy of Dazaifu, the latter petitioned for the ...."; Matsunaga, Daigan. (1996). Foundation of Japanese Buddhism: The Aristocratic Age, p. 124; excerpt,"Since the account [in Shoku Nihongi] is somewhat contradictory and ambiguous in classical Japanese, some historians mistakenly believed that Gembo had seduced Empress Komyo, the wife of Shomu, while others thought that this was the wife of Fujiwara no Hirotsugu...'

^ Grapard, Allan G. (1992). The Protocol of the Gods: A Study of the Kasuga Cult in Japanese History, p. 67; excerpt, "We have no information concerning Gembo's exile; the Shoku-Nihongi states simply that Gembo behaved in a manner that did not befit his ecclesiastic position and that he died in 746 as he was trying to escape"; Matsunaga, p. 125; excerpt, "... the degree of Gembo's corruption remains equivocal"

^ Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du Japon, p. 72., p. 72, at Google Books; Herman Ooms. (2009).Imperial Politics and Symbolics in Ancient Japan: the Tenmu Dynasty, 650-800, p. 219., p. 219, at Google Books

References

OCLC 58053128

Ooms, Herman. (2009). Imperial Politics and Symbolics in Ancient Japan: the Tenmu dynasty, 650-800. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
OCLC 213495459

Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 194887

OCLC 5850691

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Genbō&oldid=1145062934"

[nussbaum235-1] 
Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Gembō" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 235, p. 235, at Google Books
.

[2] Eliot, Charles. (1935). Japanese Buddhism, pp. 212-213.

[3] Nussbaum, "Kibi no Makibi" at p. 512.

[4] Nussbaum, "Abe no Nakamaro" at p. 3.

[5] ISSN 0971-751X
. Retrieved 2021-02-05.

[6] Fogel, Joshua. (1996). The Literature of Travel in the Japanese Rediscovery of China, p. 22, p. 22, at Google Books; excerpt, "Like Genbō, Kibi no Makibi remained in China after the embassy ships returned to Japan, returning home himself at the same time as Genbō seventeen years later."

[7] Tyler, Royall. "Kōfukuji and Yamato," Japan Review: Bulletin of the International Research Center for Japanese Studies (Kokusai Nihon Bunka Kenkyū Sentā), Issue 1-4 (1990), p. 164.

[8] Nussbaum, "Sōjō" at p. 899.

[9] Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, p. 57; excerpt, "Gembo, having made improper overtures to the beautiful wife of Fujiwara no Hirotsugu, the Viceroy of Dazaifu, the latter petitioned for the ...."; Matsunaga, Daigan. (1996). Foundation of Japanese Buddhism: The Aristocratic Age, p. 124; excerpt,"Since the account [in Shoku Nihongi] is somewhat contradictory and ambiguous in classical Japanese, some historians mistakenly believed that Gembo had seduced Empress Komyo, the wife of Shomu, while others thought that this was the wife of Fujiwara no Hirotsugu...'

[10] Grapard, Allan G. (1992). The Protocol of the Gods: A Study of the Kasuga Cult in Japanese History, p. 67; excerpt, "We have no information concerning Gembo's exile; the Shoku-Nihongi states simply that Gembo behaved in a manner that did not befit his ecclesiastic position and that he died in 746 as he was trying to escape"; Matsunaga, p. 125; excerpt, "... the degree of Gembo's corruption remains equivocal"

[11] Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du Japon, p. 72., p. 72, at Google Books; Herman Ooms. (2009).Imperial Politics and Symbolics in Ancient Japan: the Tenmu Dynasty, 650-800, p. 219., p. 219, at Google Books

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