Pre-modern Japanese Zen (Buddhism)

Premodern Japanese Zen
Taigen Leighton
LAST MODIFIED: 13 SEPTEMBER 2010
DOI: 10.1093/OBO/9780195393521-0182
Introduction

Japanese Zen developed in distinctive ways after the Chan traditions were imported from China during the Kamakura period (1185–1333) and during the subsequent Muromachi period (1336–1573). The two main schools of Japanese Zen are Rinzai (initiated from the Chinese Linji tradition) and Sōtō (developed from the Chinese Caodong lineage). One stereotype about the two schools is that Rinzai was for samurai and Sōtō for peasants. While there are exceptions, it is true that Rinzai was the dominant form of Zen in the capitals of Kyoto and Kamakura, whereas Sōtō came to have many more temples and parishioners in the countryside, where it spread more widely. The word “Zen” comes from the Chinese chan as a transliteration of the Sanskrit dhyāna, in China implying meditation generally. So Zen is the meditation school, although another, misleading stereotype is that Sōtō specializes in seated meditation, or zazen, while Rinzai specializes in the study of koans, the classic teaching stories. The reality is that both schools included both zazen and koan practice. Rinzai was more influential in Zen culture as a leading force in the development of many unique Japanese aesthetic and art forms. Arguably Zen had its largest impact in Japan generally through Japanese everyday arts, many associated with the Way of Tea, such as calligraphy, landscape painting, garden design, pottery, flower arrangement, and architecture. Both schools of Zen, though perhaps Rinzai somewhat more, were influential in supporting samurai religion and codes. This entry is organized somewhat chronologically in terms of the medieval periods (Kamakura and Muromachi) and then the Tokugawa (1600–1867), thus covering material up to the mid-19th century. Entries are divided for convenience between Rinzai and Sōtō developments and figures, although many practitioners and teachers had some exposure to both schools as well as other branches of Japanese Buddhism. Between the medieval and Tokugawa headings, entries that pervaded all of these periods are presented thematically, that is, the arts, monasticism, koan practice, meditation, and samurai Zen.

General Overviews

Dumoulin 2005 (new edition), Foster and Shoemaker 1996, and Addiss, et al. 2008 are reliable surveys of Zen worth consulting. Matsunaga and Matsunaga 1976 and De Bary, et al. 2001 are surveys of Japanese Buddhism with useful sections on Zen. Despite scholars’ critiques that the author romanticizes Zen and ignores the complexity of religious practices, Suzuki 1970 remains a classic, seminal work arguing the strong relationship between Japanese Zen and culture. Stevens 1993 gives popular accounts of three major Zen figures—Ikkyū, Hakuin Ekaku, and Ryōkan Taigu—all discussed further in other sections of this entry. Kasulis 1981 is a wide-ranging philosophical survey of aspects of Zen practice and thought.

Addiss, Stephen, with Stanley Lombardo and Judith Roitman, eds. Zen Sourcebook: Traditional Documents from China, Korea, and Japan. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett, 2008.
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This useful selection of primary Zen sources from China, Korea, and Japan includes selections from Japan by Eihei Dōgen, Musō Soseki, Ikkyū Sōjun, Bankei Yōtaku, Hakuin Ekaku, and Daigu Ryōkan, all discussed further in other sections of this entry.
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De Bary, William Theodore, Donald Keene, George Tanabe, and Paul Varley, comps. Sources of Japanese Traditions. Vol. 1, From Earliest Times to 1600. 2d ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001.
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This survey of Japanese history is a much-improved second edition that includes new contributions by many excellent scholars with a fine introduction and primary material on Japanese Zen contributed by William M. Bodiford. First edition was published in 1958.
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Dumoulin, Heinrich. Zen Buddhism: A History. Vol. 2, Japan. Bloomington, IN: World Wisdom, 2005.
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A useful detailed historical survey, although some included perspectives are questioned by more recent scholarship. This second volume, following a first on Zen in India and China, is not to be confused with the earlier and significantly less detailed or useful single-volume Macmillan edition of 1963. The 2005 edition features a useful introduction by Victor Sōgen Hori.
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Foster, Nelson, and Jack Shoemaker, eds. The Roaring Stream: A New Zen Reader. Hopewell, NJ: Ecco, 1996.
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A very helpful anthology with excerpts of primary texts with introductions for major figures. More than half of the book is for Chinese figures, but the eighteen for Japanese Zen figures, from Eihei Dōgen to Ryōkan Taigu chronologically, are useful, including bibliographies.
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Kasulis, T. P. Zen Action/Zen Person. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1981.
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An insightful philosophical survey of Zen practice, thought, and personhood, reaching back to Nāgārjuna and Taoism but discussing Japanese Zen approaches from Eihei Dōgen, Hakuin Ekaku, and others.
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Matsunaga, Alicia, and Daigan Matsunaga. Foundations of Japanese Buddhism. Vol. 2, The Mass Movement (Kamakura and Muromachi Periods). Tokyo: Buddhist Books International, 1976.
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A useful and fairly detailed survey of Japanese Buddhist history including sections on Zen. See pp. 183–264.
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Stevens, John. Three Zen Masters: Ikkyū, Hakuin, Ryōkan. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1993.
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An accessible popular account of the lives with colorful anecdotes of three of the most celebrated Zen figures, all discussed further in other sections of this entry.
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Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro. Zen and Japanese Culture. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University, 1970.
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This classic work argues the major influence of Zen in Japanese culture, including its influence on samurai culture, poetry, and the arts of tea, all imbued with the Japanese veneration of nature. First published in 1938 as Zen Buddhism and Its Influence on Japanese Culture (Kyoto: Eastern Buddhist Society).
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Medieval Sōtō

Aspects of Zen practice appeared in the Tendai school, in which most of the Japanese Zen founders started, including the Rinzai figures Myōan Eisai and Enni Ben’en along with the Sōtō founder Eihei Dōgen (b. 1200–d. 1253) and many of his disciples. Another early version of Zen was the Daruma school, named after the legendary Chan founder Bodhidharma. This school was severely criticized both by early Rinzai teachers and by Dōgen, who had many disciples from that school. The Sōtō lineage (Chinese Caodong) was introduced by Dōgen when he returned from China. After teaching in Kyoto from 1233 to 1243, Dōgen moved his community to the remote mountains of Echizen (now Fukui) and established the Eiheiji monastery, still one of the two headquarter temples of Sōtō Zen. Dōgen is now best known for his voluminous philosophical and poetic writings. His teaching emphases include the practice of zazen, which he calls “just sitting” or “dropping body and mind”; the teaching that Buddha nature pervades phenomena; the multifold dimensions of temporality as the experience of beings; and the importance of ethical conduct. While Dōgen is celebrated as the great founding figure of Japanese Sōtō, the several generations of his successors spread his lineage widely through the Japanese countryside.

Dōgen

Eihei Dōgen’s evocative writings are extensive, but his two major works include the Shōbōgenzō (True dharma eye treasury), featuring in the largest version ninety-five essays, often extended reflections and elaborations on a particular teaching theme or traditional image or on a particular traditional Zen story or koan with related stories and his own commentaries. Good translations with useful annotations are in the Soto Zen Text Project, Waddell and Abe 2002, and Tanahashi 2010 (this complete edition includes materials from Kazuaki Tanahashi’s three previous useful volumes of Shōbōgenzō translations). Dōgen’s other major work, Eihei Kōroku (Dōgen’s extensive record), includes all of his short jōdō, or formal dharma talks, along with a koan collection and his collected Chinese poetry and provides most of what we know about his mature teaching in Echizen; see Leighton and Okumura 2004. Kim 2004 is an excellent comprehensive introduction to Dōgen’s teaching and practice. LaFleur 1985 is a collection of informative scholarly essays about varied aspects of Dōgen studies. Heine 2006 counters much previous scholarship in Dōgen studies that argues the relative merits of “early Dōgen,” emphasizing the universality of awakening capacity, as opposed to “late Dōgen,” emphasizing Karma and ethical conduct. Heine 2006 presents a nuanced study of the details of Dōgen’s teaching career that argues for the complexity of his teaching and its underlying consistency. With his extensive commentary on the traditional Zen encounter dialogues, or koans, and his extraordinary mastery of this literature, Dōgen clearly introduced comprehensive koan literature to Japan, even though Rinzai is more commonly associated with koans than Sōtō. Heine 1994 shows how Dōgen’s approach to koans offers its own praxis possibilities though contrary to more familiar Rinzai approaches, which involve concentration on a single turning phrase or headword.

Bielefeldt, Carl, and Griffith Foulk, eds. and trans. Soto Zen Text Project: An Initiative of the Sotoshu Shumucho International Division. Translated also by William M. Bodiford, John McRae, and Stanley Weinstein.
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This remains incomplete, but with new Shōbōgenzō fascicles appearing regularly it is one of the most accurate and fully annotated presentations of Eihei Dōgen by highly esteemed academic scholars.
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Heine, Steven. Dōgen and the Kōan Tradition: A Tale of Two “Shōbōgenzō” Texts. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994.
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Heine persuasively theorizes that Eihei Dōgen takes a “scenic route” to koans, examining them through expansive, intertextual consideration of thematically or imagistically related stories. Heine contends that Dōgen presents a legitimate mode of koan praxis, though different from the more familiar Rinzai approach.
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Heine, Steven. Did Dōgen Go to China? What He Wrote and When He Wrote It. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
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Gives a detailed, nuanced, and illuminating view of Eihei Dōgen’s teaching career, criticizing the simplistic “early” and “late” stereotypes about Dōgen’s teaching. Heine argues that the shifts in Dōgen’s teaching are mostly reflections of altering genres of talks or writings as well as shifting audiences.
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Kim, Hee-Jin. Eihei Dōgen: Mystical Realist. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2004.
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This excellent introduction presents key philosophical teachings of Eihei Dōgen, such as the oneness of practice and realization, nonduality, abiding in one’s dharma position, self-fulfilling activity, and existence time, while arguing that Dōgen’s priority was practical religious teaching over the abstract. Originally published in 1975 (Tucson: University of Arizona Press).
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LaFleur, William R., ed. Dōgen Studies. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1985.
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An important anthology of articles by leading figures in Dōgen studies, including Carl Bielefeldt on historical reframing of Eihei Dōgen’s career, Hee-Jin Kim on Dōgen’s use of language, T. P. Kasulis on Dōgen and modern philosophy, Masao Abe on oneness of practice and attainment, Francis Cook on socioethical implications, and LaFleur on the state of the field of Dōgen studies.
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Leighton, Taigen Dan, and Shohaku Okumura, trans. Dōgen’s Extensive Record: A Translation of the Eihei Kōroku. Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2004.
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A full, annotated translation of Eihei Kōroku, the primary source for Eihei Dōgen’s mature teachings at Eiheiji. Though in a more formal format than Shōbōgenzō, these teachings paradoxically reveal more of Dōgen’s personality and pedagogical style. Includes extensive introductions, a koan collection with Dōgen’s verse comments, and his complete Chinese poetry.
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Tanahashi, Kazuaki, ed. and trans. Treasury of the True Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dōgen’s Shōbō Genzō. 2 vols. Boston: Shambhala, 2010.
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Tanahashi’s translations feature practice perspectives as they were prepared in collaboration with various senior American Zen practitioners, mostly from the San Francisco Zen Center. This complete edition includes materials from Tanahashi’s three previous useful volumes of Shōbōgenzō translations: Moon in a Dewdrop: Writings of Zen Master Dōgen (1985), Enlightenment Unfolds: The Essential Teachings of Zen Master Dōgen (1999), and Beyond Thinking: Meditation Guide by Zen Master Dōgen (2004)
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Waddell, Norman, and Masao Abe, trans. The Heart of Dōgen’s Shōbōgenzō. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2002.
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These are among the earliest but still among the most accurate translations, with helpful annotations; first appeared in the 1970s in The Eastern Buddhist. These express perspectives from the Kyoto school of philosophical appreciation of Eihei Dōgen.
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Kamakura and Muromachi Sōtō Developments

Eihei Dōgen’s successors spread his lineage widely through the Japanese countryside. The early version of Zen called the Daruma school was severely criticized by Dōgen, perhaps because many of his disciples, including some of his main successors, came from that school, with impacts considered in Faure 1987. Bodiford 1993 is an excellent, detailed presentation of how Sōtō Zen developed in both the Kamakura (1185–1333) and the Muromachi (1336–1573) periods. The most important of Dōgen’s Sōtō successors is Keizan Jōkin (b. 1264–d. 1325), three generations later, who is considered the second founder of Sōtō because of the major role he and his immediate disciples played in spreading Sōtō. Faure 1996 and Bodiford 1999 focus on the important role of dreams and visions in Keizan’s career. Cook 2003 presents a translation of Keizan’s best-known work, a hagiographic study of the transmission lineage in India (now verified as nonhistorical) and in China claimed by Dōgen and still in Japanese Sōtō. Dumoulin 2005 is a useful historical survey with information on the history of Sōtō after Dōgen, though Heinrich Dumoulin’s account of the supposed dispute over the third-generation successor, involving Keizan’s teachers, is challenged by William M. Bodiford. (Dumoulin 2005, following a first volume on Zen in India and China, is not to be confused with the earlier significantly less detailed or useful single-volume edition by Dumoulin published by Macmillan in 1963.) Braverman 2002 presents the teachings of Bassui Tokushō (b. 1327–d. 1387), whose independence shows the provisional nature of these sectarian distinctions but whose teachings include much Sōtō influence.

Bodiford, William M. Sōtō Zen in Medieval Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1993.
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This astute, detailed presentation surveys the development and activities of the Sōtō school in the centuries after Eihei Dōgen through the early Tokugawa (17th century). It includes material on Dōgen’s major disciples and the aftereffects of his teaching. Bodiford discusses institutional arrangements, popular and monastic practices, and the development of doctrine.
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Bodiford, William M. “Keizan’s Dream History.” In Religions of Japan in Practice. Edited by George J. Tanabe Jr., 501–522. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999.
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Keizan Jōkin used dreams and visions as guidance in establishing and developing the practice in his training monasteries. Thus these translations with an introduction by Bodiford are revealing of monastic forms as well as of Keizan’s spiritual worldview.
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Braverman, Arthur, trans. Mud and Water: The Collected Teachings of Zen Master Bassui. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2002.
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Bassui Tokushō was an independent teacher considered to be formally in the Rinzai lineage but who avoided the gozan temples and studied intently with Sōtō teachers, including Keizan Jōkin’s major disciple Gasan Jōseki. Bassui was eclectic in spirit and emphasized meditation on sound.
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Cook, Francis, trans. The Record of Transmitting the Light: Zen Master Keizan’s Denkōroku. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2003.
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Annotated translation of Keizan Jōkin’s major work tracing the lineage claimed in Sōtō from Śākyamuni to Eihei Dōgen. Keizan especially focuses on the transmission stories of each generation, presented as encounter dialogues to be used for Sōtō koan study. Originally published in 1991 (Los Angeles: Center Publications).
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Dumoulin, Heinrich. Zen Buddhism: A History. Vol. 2, Japan. Bloomington, IN: World Wisdom, 2005.
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A useful detailed historical survey, including a section on the expansion of the Sōtō school during the Muromachi period. Dumoulin’s traditional account of the purported dispute over the third-generation successor, involving Keizan Jōkin’s teachers, is challenged by William M. Bodiford. See pp. 121–147, 207–214.
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Faure, Bernard. “The Daruma-shū, Dōgen, and Sōtō Zen.” Monumenta Nipponica 42.1 (Spring 1987): 25–55.
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Important, helpful article on the origins of many of Eihei Dōgen’s students as former disciples with the Japanese proto-Zen Daruma school, whose antinomian views are argued to have strongly impacted Dōgen’s teaching. Dōgen’s emphasis on practice and occasional harsh language dispelled Daruma views and related traditional teachings.
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Faure, Bernard. Visions of Power: Imagining Medieval Japanese Buddhism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1996.
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Keizan Jōkin, the dharma successor three generations after Eihei Dōgen who is considered the second founder of Sōtō Zen, spread Sōtō widely with his disciples. This informative study focuses on the role of dream and imagination in Keizan’s life and teachings and takes deconstructionist approaches to undercut misleading stereotypes about Zen.
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Medieval Rinzai

Although some aspects of Zen practice were included previously in Japanese Tendai, Zen as a separate school was initiated in Japan by Myōan Eisai, who returned from studying in China to introduce a Rinzai lineage and found the Kenninji monastery in Kyoto and who is also known for importing tea. However, Eisai’s lineage did not survive into later centuries. Other important early figures were Enni Ben’en, who founded Tofukuji; the Chinese master Rankei Dōryu, who settled in Kamakura; and Nanpō Jōmyō, or Daiō Kokushi. It was the lineage of Daiō and his successor Shuhō Myōchō, or Daitō (the founder of the Daitōkuji monastery), that survived and eventually dominated Japanese Rinzai later in the Tokugawa period. Crucial to the development of Rinzai and all Japanese Zen was the gozan “five mountains” institution, which organized Rinzai temples through affiliation with five headquarter monasteries in Kyoto and in Kamakura. The gozan monks returned from China with art forms and neo-Confucian philosophies that were transformed and became important in developing Japanese culture. Significant Rinzai figures in this later medieval period include Musō Soseki and Ikkyū. See also Zen and the Arts for more on gozan culture.

Studies Covering Medieval Rinzai

The gozan “five mountains” monastic system was home to many of the important developments of Rinzai Zen, as explicated in Collcutt 1981. Cleary 1978 includes excerpts of writings with brief introductions from many figures instrumental in medieval Rinzai, including Enni Ben’en (b. 1202–d. 1280); the Chinese master Rankei Dōryu (b. 1213–d. 1278); Nanpō Jōmyō, or Daiō (b. 1235–d. 1309); Jakushitsu Genkō (b. 1290–d. 1367); Bassui Tokushō (b. 1327–d. 1387); and Ikkyū (b. 1394–d. 1481). Foster and Shoemaker 1996 and Matsunaga and Matsunaga 1976 also have useful excerpts concerning medieval Rinzai Zen.

Cleary, Thomas, trans. and ed. The Original Face: An Anthology of Rinzai Zen. New York: Grove, 1978.
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An anthology of writings with introductions from important Kamakura Rinzai figures, including Rankei Dōryu, also known as Daikaku, a Chinese master who emigrated to Japan; Enni Ben’en, or Shōitsu; and Nanpō Jōmyō, or Daiō; as well as Muromachi Rinzai figures, such as Jakushitsu Genkō, Ikkyū, Bassui Tokushō, and Bankei Yōtaku.
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Collcutt, Martin. Five Mountains: The Rinzai Zen Monastic Institution in Medieval Japan. Cambridge, MA: Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University, 1981.
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A seminal study of the gozan “five mountains” system that organized headquarter Rinzai monasteries in Kyoto and Kamakura and was a major force in the development of Japanese Zen. This important work covers major figures and teachings and also the institutional structure and patronage support of these monasteries.
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Foster, Nelson, and Jack Shoemaker, eds. The Roaring Stream: A New Zen Reader. Hopewell, NJ: Ecco, 1996.
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Includes sections on the medieval Rinzai figures Enni Ben’en, Rankei Dōryu (Daikaku), Nanpō Jōmyō (Daitō), Jakushitsu Genkō, Bassui Tokushō, Musō Soseki, and Ikkyū.
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Matsunaga, Alicia, and Daigan Matsunaga. Foundations of Japanese Buddhism. Vol. 2, The Mass Movement (Kamakura and Muromachi Periods). Tokyo: Buddhist Books International, 1976.
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Has a useful introduction to early Rinzai Zen. See pp. 183–233.
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Kamakura Rinzai Founders

Myōan Eisai (b. 1141–d. 1215; also known as Yōsai) is usually considered the founder of Japanese Rinzai upon his return from studying in China. Welter 1999 discusses writings by Eisai that promote Zen as a support for the nation, and Welter 2006 describes how these writings have been dismissed based on later historical prejudices. Eisai’s lineage did not survive into later centuries. Bielefeldt 1995 presents a short talk on meditation by another major early Rinzai figure, Enni Ben’en, or Shōitsu (b. 1202–d. 1280), who founded the important Tōfukuji monastery. The lineage of Nanpō Jōmyō, or Daiō, and that of his student Shuhō Myōchō, or Daitō Kokushi (b. 1282–d. 1338), eventually became most prevalent; see Kraft 1992. Bodiford 1999 shows Kokan Shiren (b. 1278–d. 1346), a leading early gozan monk, establishing the importance of Zen by linking its lineage to bodhisattva precepts.

Bielefeldt, Carl. “A Discussion of Seated Zen.” In Buddhism in Practice. Edited by Donald S. Lopez Jr., 197–206. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995.
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Translation with an introduction of a short vernacular talk on Zen meditation by Enni Ben’en, an important figure in early Rinzai. The text is structured as a series of questions and responses focusing on the Buddha mind and its relation to meditation.
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Bodiford, William M. “Kokan Shiren’s Zen Precept Procedures.” In Religions of Japan in Practice. Edited by George J. Tanabe Jr., 98–108. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999.
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Kokan Shiren was an important figure in the Rinzai gozan monastic community. Kokan Shiren’s text, with a helpful introduction by Bodiford, links the Zen precept procedures to traditional bodhisattva precepts, advocating the Zen lineage as their epitome.
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Kraft, Kenneth. Eloquent Zen: Daitō and Early Japanese Zen. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1992.
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Shuhō Myōchō, better known as Daitō Kokushi (or National Teacher), studied with Nanpō Jōmyō, or Daiō, and established the influential Daitokuji monastery in Kyoto. Daitō was instrumental in establishing the role of poetic capping phrases as commentaries in the Rinzai koan study between teachers and disciples.
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Welter, Albert. “Eisai’s Promotion of Zen for the Protection of the Country.” In Religions of Japan in Practice. Edited by George J. Tanabe Jr., 63–70. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999.
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Translation with an introduction of writings by the Rinzai founder Myōan Eisai arguing that a Zen school with Zen practice and discipline would reform and heal corruption and the decline of the Japanese state and Japanese Buddhism.
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Welter, Albert. “Zen Buddhism as the Ideology of the Japanese State: Eisai and the Kōzen Gokokuron.” In Zen Classics: Formative Texts in the History of Zen Buddhism. Edited by Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright, 65–112. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
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Welter further considers Myōan Eisai’s writing on the role of Zen monasticism for the moral culture of Japan, seen from a historical context in which later notions of a “pure” Zen have undeservedly led to the dismissal of this writing as a text of interest.
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Muromachi Rinzai Developments

In the Muromachi period the Rinzai school’s cultural impact grew significantly. Through the gozan “five mountains” institution, the Rinzai temples were organized around their affiliation with five headquarter monasteries in Kyoto and in Kamakura. The exact five mountain temples shifted at times, but the monks therein became important in developing Japanese culture. Some traveled to China and brought back art forms and neo-Confucian philosophies that were then adapted to transform Japanese society. Parker 1999b challenges traditional views of Zen artwork as frivolous and decadent by describing how gozan monks intentionally used landscape painting to inform their culture with Zen awareness. Parker 1999a presents translations of short writings that illustrate the varying views of gozan orthodoxy related to syncretic use of teachings and artistic expression. Musō Soseki (b. 1275–d. 1351) was a major figure in the gozan. After training and wandering in his younger years, he reluctantly accepted positions in Kyoto, including founding the major monastery Tenryūji, and became a leading gozan teacher. He also skillfully mediated between conflicting political forces, including Emperor Go-Daigo and the Ashikaga shoguns, and was an important poet and Zen garden designer. Merwin and Shigematsu 1985 translates much of Musō’s poetry. Cleary 1996 presents writings on Zen by Musō. Braverman 2002 presents material about Bassui Tokushō (b. 1327–d. 1387), an independent figure who reflects both Rinzai and Sōtō teachings. The highly iconoclastic Rinzai figure Ikkyū (b. 1394–d. 1481) is celebrated for his incisive wit and teaching as well as his unabashed involvement with alcohol and women. Of the many books available in English about Ikkyū, Sanford 1981 is perhaps the most careful and thorough. Stevens 1993 includes an accessible popular account of Ikkyū and his life. See also Zen and the Arts for more on gozan culture.

Braverman, Arthur, trans. Mud and Water: The Teachings of Zen Master Bassui. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2002.
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Bassui was an independent teacher formally in the Rinzai lineage but who avoided the gozan temples and was eclectic in spirit, emphasizing meditation on sound.
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Cleary, Thomas, ed. and trans. Dream Conversations on Buddhism and Zen. Boston: Shambhala, 1996.
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Musō Soseki produced these clear, incisive Zen teachings in letters he exchanged with one of the Ashikaga shoguns.
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Merwin, W. S., and Soiku Shigematsu. Sun at Midnight: 23 Poems. New York: Nadja, 1985.
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Elegant translations of many of Musō Soseki’s subtle poems.
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Parker, Joseph D. “Contested Orthodoxies in Five Mountains Zen Buddhism.” In Religions of Japan in Practice. Edited by George J. Tanabe Jr., 423–434. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999a.
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Discusses the varied views of orthodoxy among “five mountains” monks related to cultural expressions and syncretic adoption of non-Zen teachings. Includes discussion of contestation for patronage, for example, between Daitō Kokushi (Shuhō Myōchō) and the more successful Musō Soseki, along with translations of gozan inscriptions from paintings and other short writings.
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Parker, Joseph D. Zen Buddhist Landscape Arts of Early Muromachi Japan (1336–1573). Albany: State University of New York Press, 1999b.
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A detailed, highly useful study of Muromachi gozan monks, who intentionally used landscape painting as a means of expressing Zen values, such as playfulness and nondualism, thereby informing Japanese art and perspectives on nature.
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Sanford, James H. Zen Man-Ikkyū. Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1981.
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Ikkyū was a unique character whose iconoclastic spirit is still popular in Japan. Sanford provides a careful biography with extensive selections from Ikkyū’s colorful poetry and religious prose as well as the hagiographic legends that grew about him in the Tokugawa period.
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Stevens, John. Three Zen Masters: Ikkyū, Hakuin, Ryōkan. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1993.
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An accessible popular account of Ikkyū (pp. 9–57) with poetry and colorful anecdotes.
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Zen and the Arts

Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki and others have argued that Zen most impacted Japanese culture through the art forms of the everyday, in large part created and nurtured by Japanese Zen adepts and monks. Such forms include landscape painting, garden design, calligraphy, flower arranging, pottery, and poetry, many of which are incorporated in the Way of Tea. Much 20th- and 21st-century Zen scholarship involves critique of the version of Zen introduced to the West by Suzuki, which was received as a minimalist, aesthetic, and paradoxical philosophy, ignoring the messiness and irrationality of popular religious ritual and belief. Yet Suzuki 1970 remains a classic, seminal work that argues the strong relationship between Japanese Zen and culture. Parker 1999 is more recent and focused, describing how gozan monks used landscape painting to intentionally inform their social context with Zen awareness. Most of the books on the unique art form of Zen-influenced garden design focus on art history presentations. Holborn 1978 offers, along with pictures, text describing the development of garden design from landscape painting in the context of Japanese Zen history, aesthetics, and thought. Hirota 1995 is a comprehensive account of the links between the Way of Tea and Buddhism, including both Zen and Pure Land, with primary writings and commentary. Hirota 1995 also shows the literary and aesthetic background of tea as it was developed by the seminal figure Sen Rikyū (b. 1522–d. 1591) and others. Sen 1979 provides a nonscholarly but intimate account of the inner meaning and form of the Way of Tea and its relationship to Zen from one of tea’s major modern figures. Pollack 1985 and Ury 1992 provide introductions to the poetry of the gozan monks. Barnhill 2005 presents excellent translations of the haiku of the renowned master Matsuo Bashō (b. 1644–d. 1694) in their actual spiritual and literary context.

Barnhill, David Landis, trans. Bashō’s Journey: The Literary Prose of Matsuo Bashō. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2005.
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Presents the haiku of Matsuo Bashō in their original context of prose description of Bashō’s extensive pilgrimage practice. The haiku translations are exemplary, preserving the dramatic structure of the originals.
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Hirota, Dennis, ed. Wind in the Pines: Classic Writings of the Way of Tea as a Buddhist Path. Fremont, CA: Asian Humanities Press, 1995.
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Written by a Pure Land scholar, this comprehensive work presents writings with commentary showing how the Way of Tea expresses Buddhist viewpoints generally and how it was developed in the context of Kyoto Rinzai monasteries by the celebrated Sen Rikyū and others.
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Holborn, Mark. The Ocean in the Sand: Japan, from Landscape to Garden. Boulder, CO: Shambhala, 1978.
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Traces the development of Japanese garden design as a high art, responding to the appreciation of nature expressed as landscape. Holborn describes how garden design expresses the context of Shinto and Japanese mythology as well as Zen history and thought.
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Parker, Joseph D. Zen Buddhist Landscape Arts of Early Muromachi Japan (1336–1573). Albany: State University of New York Press, 1999.
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A very useful study of Muromachi landscape painting, with writings from gozan monks who explicitly saw this art-form as a means of introducing Zen values into Japanese art and culture.
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Pollack, David. Zen Poems of the Five Mountains. Decatur, GA: Scholars Press, 1985.
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A very useful and readable collection of translations with introductions to a range of poetry by gozan monks written in Chinese. Includes gozan landscape illustrations, monk portraits, and calligraphy, many by the poets translated.
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Sen, Soshitsu, XV. Tea Life, Tea Mind. New York: Weatherhill, 1979.
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An account of the inner meaning of chadō, the Way of Tea, and its relationship to Zen from a direct descendant of Sen Rikyū and head of the prominent Urasenke tea school.
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Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro. Zen and Japanese Culture. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University, 1970.
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This classic work defines Zen in terms of its formative influence on Japanese culture. Suzuki especially celebrates samurai culture, poetry, the arts of tea, and veneration of nature as unique expressions of Japanese Zen. First published in 1938 as Zen Buddhism and Its Influence on Japanese Culture (Kyoto: Eastern Buddhist Society).
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Ury, Marian, trans. Poems of the Five Mountains: An Introduction to the Literature of the Zen Monasteries. 2d rev. ed. Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies 10. Ann Arbor: Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan, 1992.
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Translations with introductions of poetry written in Chinese by gozan monks, many on nature, aesthetics, or explicitly Buddhist topics.
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Zen Monasticism

Throughout Japanese history, the heart of training of Zen clerics and teachers has been the monastic institution. Yifa 2002 is an annotated translation of the major Chinese Chan monastic code, highly influential in Japanese Zen. Leighton and Okumura 1996 is the Sōtō founder Eihei Dōgen’s major writing on monastic forms and spiritual attitudes. While he often quotes for monastic procedures a traditional Vinaya text and the Chanyuan qinggui (see Yifa 2002), Dōgen emphasizes the awakening attitude over literal obedience to rules. Collcutt 1981 is a major study of the development of the Rinzai gozan monastery institutions. Foulk 1995 presents a brief writing of daily monastic procedures that was influential in Japanese Zen. Bodiford 1999 presents an early Rinzai description of the meaning of precepts by Kokan Shiren (b. 1278–d. 1346). Foulk 2006 is a highly informative historical survey of the development of monastic standards in Japan.

Bodiford, William M. “Kokan Shiren’s Zen Precept Procedures.” In Religions of Japan in Practice. Edited by George J. Tanabe Jr., 98–108. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999.
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Kokan Shiren was an important figure in the Rinzai gozan monastic community. This writing details the use of bodhisattva precepts ceremonies and their link to Zen lineage.
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Collcutt, Martin. Five Mountains: The Rinzai Zen Monastic Institution in Medieval Japan. Cambridge, MA: Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University, 1981.
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A seminal study of the gozan “five mountains” system that organized Rinzai monasteries in Kyoto and Kamakura. This important work details monastic forms, regulations, and building layout as well as the institutional structure and patronage support of these monasteries.
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Foulk, T. Griffith. “Daily Life in the Assembly.” In Buddhism in Practice. Edited by Donald S. Lopez Jr., 455–472. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995.
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Translation of a relatively brief but influential Chinese writing about monastic rules for daily monastic life, important in the introduction of such standards into all of Japanese Zen. In his introduction Foulk argues that such rules were not distinctive to the Chan school but widespread in Chinese Buddhism.
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Foulk, T. Griffith. “‘Rules of Purity’ in Japanese Zen.” In Zen Classics: Formative Texts in the History of Zen Buddhism. Edited by Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright, 137–169. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
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This article is a thorough, informative survey of the introduction and development of monastic rules throughout the history and schools of Japanese Zen.
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Leighton, Taigen Daniel, and Shohaku Okumura, trans. Dōgen’s Pure Standards for the Zen Community: A Translation of Eihei Shingi. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1996.
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Annotated translation of Eihei Dōgen’s major work on monastic practice and standards. Includes the celebrated “Tenzokyōkun” (Instructions for the cook) and “Chiji Shingi” (Standards for temple administrators), depicting many encounter dialogues and the appropriate Zen spirit of exemplary major Chan figures who held these positions.
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Yifa. The Origins of Buddhist Monastic Codes in China: An Annotated Translation and Study of the Chanyuan Qinggui. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2002.
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Translation of the major Chan monastic code text written in 1103, translated from a Japanese edition. Yifa’s introduction mentions this text’s significant use in Japan, where it is frequently quoted in Eihei Dōgen’s monastic code and is very important in gozan monastic writings (see Leighton and Okumura 1996 and Collcutt 1981).
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Japanese Koan Collections and Practice

Miura and Sasaki 1965 is a classic description of the development and stages of the Rinzai koan curriculum. Kim 1985 and Heine 1994 are both illuminating presentations of the alternative Sōtō koan praxis expressed by Eihei Dōgen. Ishikawa 2000 describes the medieval Sōtō practice of using initiatory documents to transmit koan teachings. Mohr 2000 presents a stimulating, nuanced survey of the development of Rinzai koan practice. Hori 2000 is an important, highly informative article on the inner workings of Rinzai koan practice. It clarifies many misunderstandings about the koan process and aims. Hori 2003 is a translation of a comprehensive Rinzai collection of poetic jakugo, or capping phrases used in formal koan practice, with a helpful, well-informed introduction about the history and development of this genre. This edition helpfully includes Chinese characters and Japanese rōmaji transliterations with annotations. Kirchner 2004 is an excellent translation of a Tokugawa Rinzai koan collection, including Chinese original text and extremely helpful notes and biographies, updating the now out-of-print Zen Dust notes.

Heine, Steven. Dōgen and the Kōan Tradition: A Tale of Two Shōbōgenzō Texts. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994.
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In this major study Heine persuasively advocates Eihei Dōgen’s “scenic route” to koans through expansive, intertextual consideration of thematically or imagistically related stories. Heine views Dōgen’s as a legitimate mode of koan praxis, though contrary to more familiar Rinzai approaches.
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Hori, Victor Sōgen. “Kōan and Kenshō in the Rinzai Zen Curriculum.” In The Kōan: Texts and Contexts in Zen Buddhism. Edited by Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright, 280–315. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
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An extremely illuminating, rewardingly dense essay by an academic scholar with extraordinary practice experience of the Japanese Rinzai koan system. Hori insightfully critiques the notion of koans as nonrational and clarifies kenshō as a mode of realizational activity, a verb rather than an object or an experience to attain.
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Hori, Victor Sōgen, comp. and trans. Zen Sand: The Book of Capping Phrases for Kōan Practice. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2003.
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Translation of an extensive modern collection of traditional Rinzai jakugo capping phrases, poetical responses employed in formal koan practice. This edition helpfully includes Chinese characters and Japanese rōmaji transliterations with annotations. The introduction about the historical development of this genre is extremely informative, clarifying many misunderstandings (see Hori 2000).
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Ishikawa, Rikizan. “Transmission of Kirigami (Secret Initiation Documents): A Sōtō Practice in Medieval Japan.” In The Kōan: Texts and Contexts in Zen Buddhism. Edited by Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright, 233–243. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
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Ishikawa pioneered in describing esoteric practices using kirigami through much of Sōtō history. These maintained particular lineages’ teachings, especially including koan responses. Includes intriguing diagrams.
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Kim, Hee-Jin. “‘The Reason of Words and Letters’: Dōgen and Koan Language.” In Dōgen Studies. Edited by William R. LaFleur, 54–82. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1985.
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A highly stimulating article analyzing Eihei Dōgen’s complex use of wordplay in terms of the approaches to language in the koan literature, including the use of transposition, syntactic change, metaphor, and reinterpretation.
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Kirchner, Thomas Yūhō. Entangling Vines: Zen Koans of the Shūmon Kattōshū. Kyoto: Tenryu-ji Institute for Philosophy and Religion, 2004.
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A highly valuable translation of an early Tokugawa Rinzai koan collection of 282 cases, most from classic Chinese collections but 8 of Japanese origin. Complete with Chinese characters alongside all the cases, helpful footnotes, and extremely beneficial appended biographical notes, updating the now out-of-print Zen Dust notes.
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Miura, Isshū, and Ruth Fuller Sasaki. The Zen Koan: Its History and Use in Rinzai Zen. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1965.
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Classic study of the development of Rinzai koan practice and the categories of cases in the standard model derived from Hakuin Ekaku. The Zen Dust edition of this work (Zen Dust: The History of the Koan and Koan Study in Rinzai [Lin-chi] Zen [New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, 1967]), unfortunately now out of print, additionally includes exceptional glossaries and appendices.
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Mohr, Michel. “Emerging from Nonduality: Kōan Practice in the Rinzai Tradition since Hakuin.” In The Kōan: Texts and Contexts in Zen Buddhism. Edited by Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright, 244–279. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
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Informative article about the varied nuances of koan practice and its workings in Rinzai since Hakuin Ekaku, including emphasis on somatic energetic aspects, exemplified by concentration on the tanden (in the belly), and also challenging the stereotype of Rinzai emphasis on satori.
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Meditation

Meditation is the signature Zen practice, sometimes including focus on koans, described in Japanese Koan Collections and Practice. Bielefeldt 1988 is an extensive treatment of an important brief essay by Eihei Dōgen on his understanding of the attitude for zazen. Bielefeldt 1999 translates with an introduction another important Dōgen essay on the meaning of zazen. Bielefeldt 1995 translates with an introduction a talk on meditation by Enni Ben’en (b. 1202–d. 1280), a founder of Japanese Rinzai. Mohr 2006 presents the Rinzai master Hakuin Ekaku’s successor Tōrei Enji (b. 1721–d. 1792) citing a traditional text to inform his approach to meditation. Kim 2007 offers a detailed consideration of the process and philosophical implications of Eihei Dōgen’s meditation praxis. Leighton 2008 views Dōgen’s meditation as an expressive ritual. Riggs 2006 presents writing on the heart of zazen by the highly important Tokugawa Sōtō figure Menzan Zuihō (b. 1683–d. 1769). Riggs 2008 provides Menzan’s instructions for walking meditation.

Bielefeldt, Carl. Dōgen’s Manuals of Zen Meditation. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.
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This detailed study focuses on Eihei Dōgen’s Fukanzazengi (Universal recommendations for zazen), one of his earliest writings, revised several times. Bielefeldt closely compares different versions of Dōgen’s instructions and the Song Chan meditation manual that was a model for its procedural portion.
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Bielefeldt, Carl. “A Discussion of Seated Zen.” In Buddhism in Practice. Edited by Donald S. Lopez Jr., 197–206. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995.
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Translation with an introduction of a short vernacular talk on Zen meditation by Enni Ben’en, an important figure in early Rinzai, and thus an important document about early Rinzai meditation practice.
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Bielefeldt, Carl. “Dōgen’s Lancet of Seated Meditation.” In Religions of Japan in Practice. Edited by George J. Tanabe Jr., 220–234. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999.
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A translation with an introduction of an essay by Eihei Dōgen on the inner meaning of zazen that includes Dōgen’s commentaries on two koans and a Song verse related to meditation.
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Kim, Hee-Jin. Dōgen on Meditation and Thinking: A Reflection on His View of Zen. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2007.
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This provocative study examines aspects of Eihei Dōgen’s innovative meditation teaching via central issues in Dōgen’s philosophy, such as thinking and nonthinking, the intimate ambiguous interrelationship of delusion and enlightenment, the dynamic function of emptiness, and the role of rationality itself.
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Leighton, Taigen Dan. “Zazen as an Enactment Ritual.” In Zen Ritual: Studies of Zen Buddhist Theory in Practice. Edited by Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright, 167–184. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.
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Argues that the zazen praxis Dōgen teaches is expressive and performative rather than instrumental, a ritual enactment of Buddha nature, not a technique for obtaining it.
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Mohr, Michel. “Imagining Indian Zen: Tōrei’s Commentary on the Ta-mo-to-lo ch’an ching and the Rediscovery of Early Meditation Techniques during the Tokugawa Era.” In Zen Classics: Formative Texts in the History of Zen Buddhism. Edited by Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright, 215–246. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
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A fascinating study of a writing by Tōrei Enji, the main successor of Hakuin Ekaku. Tōrei investigates an Indian canonical meditation text and presents it as a source for Zen meditation practice.
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Riggs, David. “Meditation for Laymen and Laywomen: The Buddha Samādhi (Jijuyū Zanmai) of Menzan Zuihō.” In Zen Classics: Formative Texts in the History of Zen Buddhism. Edited by Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright, 247–274. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
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Informative article translating most of Menzan Zuihō’s 18th-century essay commenting on Eihei Dōgen’s main meditation teachings.
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Riggs, David. “Meditation in Motion: Textual Exegesis in the Creation of Ritual.” In Zen Ritual: Studies of Zen Buddhist Theory in Practice. Edited by Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright, 223–259. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.
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Translation with introduction of Menzan Zuihō’s ritual instruction for walking meditation, establishing the modern form for this practice in Sōtō Zen.
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Samurai Zen

The Japanese samurai or warrior class ruled the country from the beginning of the Kamakura period in the late 12th century through the Tokugawa period, ending in the mid-19th century. Samurai related to various schools of Japanese Buddhism but associated intensely with Zen, especially Rinzai, as they sought mental discipline to inform swordplay and other martial arts, and were often drawn to religious practice due to familiarity with facing death. Suzuki 1970 celebrates the art and discipline of swordsmanship as supported by Zen, featuring the samurai figures Yagyū Tajima (b. 1571–d. 1646), his renowned Zen teacher Takuan Sōhō (b. 1573–d. 1645), and the Zen swordsman Yamaoka Tesshū (b. 1836–d. 1888). Leggett 1985 is a collection of koan cases from the Kamakura period especially aimed at samurai. Takuan 1986 presents writings by one of the most influential Zen teachers of samurai from the early Tokugawa period. Braverman 1994 presents writings by a samurai who became an influential Zen teacher of samurai, Suzuki Shōsan (b. 1579–d. 1655). Stevens 1984 introduces writings by a Zen samurai layperson from the end of the Tokugawa period, Yamaoka. Although this bibliography as a whole discusses premodern Japanese Zen, an exception is made here to include works about modern ramifications of the association of the samurai class with Zen. Herrigel 1971 is a famous account of the experience of archery as a form of Zen awareness training. Yamada 2001 challenges Eugen Herrigel’s work as romanticized and falsified. Victoria 2006 is a renowned exposé of Zen’s collaboration with jingoism and militarism leading up to and during World War II. This work about modern Zen is included here as informative on the legacy and effects of premodern samurai Zen.

Braverman, Arthur, ed. and trans. Warrior of Zen: The Diamond-hard Wisdom Mind of Suzuki Shōsan. New York: Kodansha International, 1994.
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Writings by Suzuki Shōsan with an introduction. Originally a samurai retainer of the Tokugawa founder Ieyasu, Shōsan became a monk in his early forties and especially taught samurai, whom he thought had a special aptitude for Zen. Shōsan emphasized awakening in the midst of everyday activities.
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Herrigel, Eugen. Zen in the Art of Archery. New York: Vintage Books, 1971.
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Classic, influential modern depiction by a German philosopher describing his practice of archery as a Zen discipline in the 1920s, endorsed by Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki but severely criticized by some modern scholars (see Yamada 2001). Published previously by Pantheon Books in 1953.
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Leggett, Trevor. The Warrior Kōans: Early Zen in Japan. London: Arkana, 1985.
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Translation with an introduction of a mid–16th-century collection of one hundred koans associated with samurai dating back to Rinzai temples in the capital of Kamakura in the 13th century.
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Stevens, John. The Sword of No-Sword: Life of the Master Warrior Tesshu. Boulder, CO: Shambhala, 1984.
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Writings, with an introduction, by Yamaoka Tesshū, a samurai who was a lay Zen adept and calligrapher. Tesshū lived at the end of the Tokugawa era and tried to preserve samurai arts and spirit, even while in service to the new Meiji emperor. Tesshū wrote about swordsmanship from a Zen perspective.
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Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro. Zen and Japanese Culture. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University, 1970.
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This classic work arguing the major influence of Zen in Japanese culture extensively describes Zen’s relationship to samurai culture, especially the “art” of swordsmanship. Includes excerpts of writings from the swordsman Yagyū Tajima and his renowned Zen teacher Takuan Sōhō as well as the Zen swordsman Yamaoka Tesshū. See pp. 59–214, 428–435. First published in 1938 as Zen Buddhism and Its Influence on Japanese Culture (Kyoto: Eastern Buddhist Society).
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Takuan Sōhō. The Unfettered Mind: Writings of the Zen Master to the Sword Master. Translated by William Scott Wilson. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1986.
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These essays by Takuan are advice on appropriate mindful awareness for swordsmen. Takuan was teacher to the legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi as well as to prominent samurai warlords.
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Victoria, Brian A. Zen at War. 2d ed. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2006.
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Influential book exposing how many Zen and other leading Buddhist figures and establishments in the first half of the 20th century actively cooperated in support of Japanese militarism, including the World War II effort. Victoria also gives an account of a Sōtō priest executed in 1911 for opposing militarism.
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Yamada, Shōji. “The Myth of Zen in the Art of Archery.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 28.1–2 (2001): 1–30.
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Critiquing Eugen Herrigel’s account as romanticized and inaccurate, Yamada claims that Herrigel’s archery teacher was considered idiosyncratic and unreliable by archery teachers, that he furthermore had no experience or understanding of Zen, and that Herrigel’s account is further distorted due to language obstacles.
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Tokugawa Zen

The Tokugawa period (1600–1867) followed an age of civil strife and chaos and brought a long period of peace enforced by strict societal regulation in which Buddhist institutions were closely regulated and were required to become part of the census and other societal controls. This long period also featured the development of neo-Confucian philosophy, the commercial merchant class, and various new cultural forms. The period saw the birth of a third Japanese Zen school, Ōbaku, which was introduced by a Chinese master in the early 17th century and survives as a minor sect. Major figures in the period included the influential Bankei Yōtaku (b. 1622–d. 1693), nominally Rinzai but fairly original and distinctive in his teaching. Rinzai Zen was revived and took its modern form through the major figure Hakuin Ekaku (b. 1686–d. 1768). The modern approach of the Sōtō school was formed by Menzan Zuihō (b. 1683–d. 1769), although the humble and foolish Sōtō poet-monk Ryōkan Taigu (b. 1758–d. 1831) is better remembered by most Japanese. See Samurai Zen for aspects of Tokugawa Zen. For some general Tokugawa societal developments as they intersected with Zen, see Kaneko and Morrell 1999, Williams 2005, Williams 2008, and Williams 2009.

Ōbaku Zen

A new school of Zen, Ōbaku appeared in the early Tokugawa period. Ōbaku never rivaled Rinzai and Sōtō, both of which were revitalized in response to Ōbaku and found new developments, as described in Tokugawa Rinzai, Hakuin, and Tokugawa Sōtō. Baroni 2000 details the establishment of the Ōbaku school in Japan, and Baroni 2006 describes the life of Tetsugen Dōkō (b. 1630–d. 1682), the Ōbaku monk who published the first complete edition of the Chinese canon in Japan.

Baroni, Helen J. Ōbaku Zen: The Emergence of the Third Sect of Zen in Tokugawa Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2000.
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A detailed study of the development of the Ōbaku sect in the early Tokugawa period, its difficulties with the competing Rinzai and Sōtō institutions, and its establishment as an independent institution. Also surveys the background of the sect in China.
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Baroni, Helen J. Iron Eyes: The Life and Teachings of Ōbaku Zen Master Tetsugen Dōkō. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2006.
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Describes the life and teachings of Tetsugen Dōkō, an Ōbaku monk who fundraised over many years to print the first complete edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon in Japan. His compassionate social welfare actions during natural disasters, which delayed publication, remain famous among Japanese people.
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Tokugawa Rinzai

Hakuin Ekaku (see Hakuin) renewed Rinzai, and all modern Rinzai descends from him. Other prominent Rinzai figures from this period include Bankei Yōtaku (b. 1622–d. 1693) and Hakuin’s successor Tōrei Enji (b. 1721–d. 1792). Bankei was officially from the Rinzai lineage but was quite idiosyncratic in teaching an approach to Zen of simply spontaneously seeing the “unborn” or unconditioned nature of everyday experiences. Waddell 1984 and Haskel 1984 both ably present Bankei’s teaching. Bankei and his approach were severely criticized later for laxity by Hakuin, who promoted a much more rigorous and dynamic practice. Mohr 2006 shows Tōrei examining an Indian meditation text as a source for Zen practice. Aside from developments introduced by Hakuin and Tōrei, the Rinzai koan tradition continued through the Tokugawa period, as exemplified in Hori 2003 and Kirchner 2004. Kaneko and Morrell 1999 presents Tokugawa period poetry by women who took refuge in Tōkeiji, the “divorce temple,” in Kamakura. See Samurai Zen for other aspects of Tokugawa Rinzai Zen.

Haskel, Peter. Bankei Zen: Translations from the Record of Bankei. Edited by Yoshito Hakeda. New York: Grove, 1984.
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Translations of various teachings from Bankei with an introduction.
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Hori, Victor Sōgen. Zen Sand: The Book of Capping Phrases for Kōan Practice. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2003.
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Translation of an extensive modern collection of traditional Rinzai jakugo capping phrases, poetical responses employed in formal koan practice. Hori’s informative introduction helps elucidate the historical development of Tokugawa Rinzai koan practice.
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Kaneko, Sachiko, and Robert Morrell. “Tokeiji: Kamakura’s ‘Divorce Temple’ in Edo Popular Verse.” In Religions of Japan in Practice. Edited by George J. Tanabe Jr., 523–550. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999.
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An introduction to the celebrated Rinzai temple in Kamakura established in the late 13th century as a refuge where abused women could go for a divorce. This article features translations of verses, with rōmaji transliterations and annotations, written by Tokugawa period women who took refuge there.
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Kirchner, Thomas Yūhō. Entangling Vines: Zen Koans of the Shūmon Kattōshū. Kyoto: Tenryu-ji Institute for Philosophy and Religion, 2004.
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This fine translation of an early Tokugawa Rinzai koan collection includes eight cases of Japanese origin, and in the translator’s preface and valuable notes, as well as in the text, reveals the koan emphases and much about the practice of Tokugawa Rinzai.
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Mohr, Michel. “Imagining Indian Zen: Tōrei’s Commentary on the Ta-mo-to-lo ch’an ching and the Rediscovery of Early Meditation Techniques during the Tokugawa Era.” In Zen Classics: Formative Texts in the History of Zen Buddhism. Edited by Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright, 215–246. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
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A fascinating study of the main successor of Hakuin Ekaku. Tōrei Enji’s own study of an early canonical meditation text and his attempts to see it as a root for Zen practice.
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Waddell, Norman, trans. The Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei, 1622–1693. San Francisco: North Point, 1984.
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Translations with an introduction of dharma talks and dialogues from Bankei.
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Hakuin

Hakuin Ekaku (b. 1686–d. 1769) was a major, dynamic figure in the history of Japanese Zen who established the model for koan praxis for modern Rinzai Zen and from whom all modern Rinzai is descended. His life is replete with colorful anecdotes reflecting his severe practice but warm generosity. Shaw 1963, Yampolsky 1971, Waddell 1994, and Waddell 1999 present informative excerpts of Hakuin’s writings with commentary. Cleary 2000 presents contrasting commentaries to the same koans by Hakuin and the Sōtō teacher Tenkei Denson (b. 1648–d. 1735). Later in life Hakuin did ink-brush paintings about Zen and Buddhist subjects, often reflecting a sharp sense of humor. Many of his works are in major museum collections, and many are shown and informatively discussed in Yoshizawa and Waddell 2009. Stevens 1993 presents an accessible account of Hakuin with translations and colorful anecdotes.

Cleary, Thomas, trans. Secrets of the Blue Cliff Record: Zen Comments by Hakuin and Tenkei. Boston: Shambhala, 2000.
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Presents translations of the main sections of the Blue Cliff Record (Hekigan roku), an important koan collection, along with contrasting commentaries by Hakuin Ekaku and his friend Tenkei Denson, a prominent but highly iconoclastic Sōtō teacher and scholar.
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Shaw, R. D. M., trans. “The Embossed Tea Kettle,” “Orate Gama,” and Other Works of Hakuin Zenji. London: Allen and Unwin, 1963.
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Introduction to Hakuin, including earlier renditions of material in Yampolsky 1971 and Waddell 1999.
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Stevens, John. Three Zen Masters: Ikkyū, Hakuin, Ryōkan. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1993.
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An accessible popular account of Hakuin Ekaku (pp. 59–101) with translations and colorful anecdotes.
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Waddell, Norman, trans. The Essential Teachings of Zen Master Hakuin. Boston: Shambhala, 1994.
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A selection of talks given in 1740 by Hakuin Ekaku, including sometimes scathing criticism of what he viewed as inauthentic and ineffective Zen teachings.
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Waddell, Norman, trans. Wild Ivy: The Spiritual Autobiography of Zen Master Hakuin. Boston: Shambhala, 1999.
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Hakuin Ekaku’s provocative spiritual autobiography, with Waddell’s extensive, helpful introduction, depicting Hakuin’s own rigorous practice and intense teaching. Includes writings on Zen sickness, postsatori practice, and Hakuin’s “Idle Talk on a Night Boat.”
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Yampolsky, Philip B. The Zen Master Hakuin. New York: Columbia University Press, 1971.
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Introduction to Hakuin Ekaku featuring helpful letters to students, including to nenbutsu and Nichiren practitioners.
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Yoshizawa, Katsuhiro, with Norman Waddell. The Religious Art of Zen Master Hakuin. Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint, 2009.
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A fine collection of copies of Hakuin Ekaku’s wonderful art with extensive and illuminating commentaries.
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Tokugawa Sōtō

Ishikawa 2000 describes esoteric koan practices in early Tokugawa Sōtō. Haskel 2001 describes Tōsui Unkei (d. 1683), a fully trained Sōtō teacher who abandoned religious establishments for an itinerant lifestyle. Haskel 2001 includes a substantial introduction to the general Tokugawa Zen context, a translation of Menzan Zuihō’s work celebrating Tōsui, and supplementary material on Tōsui’s life. Riggs 2002 is an important, detailed study of Menzan Zuihō (b. 1683–d. 1769), who revived and transformed Sōtō Zen and established much of its modern form, including approaches to zazen, monastic rules, dharma transmission, ordination, and Dōgen studies. Watson 1977 includes many good translations of poetry by the still-celebrated Sōtō monk-poet Ryōkan Taigu (b. 1758–d. 1831). Abé and Haskel 1996 is a detailed, very informative study of the life and work of Ryōkan with commentary and translations. Williams 2009 details the Tokugawa government’s efforts to regulate Buddhist establishments and focuses on the impact on Sōtō. The “purple robe incident” in 1627 involved the Tokugawa government’s removal of prestigious purple robes (awarded by the emperor, representing spiritual attainment) from leading teachers, especially Rinzai, and the exile of teachers who objected. Williams 2005 is an excellent, informative study of Tokugawa Sōtō, focusing on healing and funerary practices. Williams 2008 describes the developing role of funerary and memorial rituals in Tokugawa period Sōtō Zen.

Abé, Ryūichi, and Peter Haskel, trans. Great Fool: Zen Master Ryōkan; Poems, Letters, and Other Writings. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1996.
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A thorough survey with useful essays and many translations of Ryōkan Taigu, who was not only a poet but a recluse and calligrapher known for foolishness and play with children. Also an adept meditator and Buddhist scholar, Ryōkan abandoned formal religious establishments, living in a hut near his home village.
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Haskel, Peter, trans. Letting Go: The Story of Zen Master Tōsui. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2001.
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Tōsui Unkei was a Sōtō teacher who abandoned formal religious establishments like the later Ryōkan Taigu. Tōsui lived his remaining more than thirty years as an itinerant beggar, laborer, and seller of the straw sandals he made while informally imparting Zen spirit. Includes Menzan Zuihō’s biography lauding Tōsui and a substantial introduction.
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Ishikawa, Rikizan. “Transmission of Kirigami (Secret Initiation Documents): A Sōtō Practice in Medieval Japan.” In The Kōan: Texts and Contexts in Zen Buddhism. Edited by Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright, 233–243. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
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Ishikawa explores how Tokugawa Sōtō followed koan practices using esoteric kirigami documents to maintain particular lineages’ teachings.
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Riggs, David E. “The Rekindling of a Tradition: Menzan Zuihō and the Reform of Japanese Sōtō Zen in the Tokugawa Era.” PhD diss., University of California, Los Angeles, 2002
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A comprehensive, invaluable survey with translations of Menzan Zuihō, a monumental figure who transformed the Sōtō tradition, creating modern Sōtō approaches to zazen, monastic rules, dharma transmission, ordination, and Dōgen studies.
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Watson, Burton, trans. Ryōkan: Zen Monk-Poet of Japan. New York: Columbia University Press, 1977.
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Good translations of a range of poetry by Ryōkan Taigu, the renowned Sōtō monk and poet, by a highly respected translator of many East Asian classics.
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Williams, Duncan. The Other Side of Zen: A Social History of Sōtō Zen Buddhism in Tokugawa Japan. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005.
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An informative social history of popular Sōtō practices during the Tokugawa period. Williams discusses the institutionalization of Sōtō (and all Buddhism) for Tokugawa government purposes, the development and dominance of funerary Zen, intriguing healing cults promoted within Sōtō, and the romanticization of the founder Dōgen.
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Williams, Duncan. “Funerary Zen: Sōtō Zen Death Management in Tokugawa Japan.” In Death and the Afterlife in Japanese Buddhism. Edited by Jacqueline Stone and Mariko Namba Walter, 207–246. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2008.
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Study of the establishment and standardization of Tokugawa Sōtō funerary and memorial rituals, featuring priestly intervention on behalf of the spiritual condition of the deceased. These practices comforted those soon to die and grieving survivors but also benefited both the status and the wealth of Sōtō temples.
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Williams, Duncan. “The Purple Robe Incident and the Formation of the Early Modern Sōtō Zen Institution.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 36.1 (2009): 27–43.
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A detailed study of the Tokugawa regime’s efforts to establish oversight of all Buddhist temples and clergy, focusing on their regulations of Sōtō. The article details regulations of the Sōtō school procedures consequent to the “purple robe incident” and some Sōtō efforts to evade these.