right|300px|thumb|[[Seated Jie Daishi, a portrait sculpture of Ryōgen, owned by Kongōrin-ji temple in Aishō, Shiga. Designated an Important Cultural Property.]]

right|300px|thumb|Ryōgen is known generally by the names of Ganzan Daishi (left) or Tsuno Daishi (right). The figure of Tsuno Daishi (Horned Great Master) is said to be a portrait of him subjugating [[vengeful ghosts]]

was the 18th chief abbot of Enryaku-ji in the 10th century.

He is considered a restorer of the Tendai school of Mahayana Buddhism, and credited for reviving Enryaku-ji. His supposed role as a precursor of the sōhei or "warrior monks" is questionable and seems to be a later invention.

Life

Ryōgen was born in the Omi Province in 912, and he began his practice at Mount Hiei in 923, becoming chief abbot in 966.

References

Further reading

  • Groner, Paul. 2002. Ryōgen and Mount Hiei: Japanese Tendai in the Tenth Century. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.
  • Turnbull, Stephen (2003). Japanese Warrior Monks AD 949-1603. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.
  • Yamada Etai (1959): Ganzan daishi. Tokyo: Daiichi Shobō.