Sesson Yūbai

Sesson Yūbai
Title	Roshi
Personal
Born	1290 Japan
Died	January 14, 1348
Religion	Zen Buddhism
School	Rinzai
Occupation	priest poet

Sesson Yūbai (雪村 友梅, 1290 - January 14, 1348) was a Japanese Zen Buddhist monk of the Rinzai sect. This priest and poet who is considered "the first important poet of the Five Mountains.

In China

Yūbai started studying Linji Ch'an under Chinese master Ishan Ining in Japan and later moved to China where he studied with many other teachers. He lived in China for over twenty years (1307–1329). He was imprisoned in Chang'an during the period in which Zen Buddhists were persecuted. Many of the poems were created during or about this period survive; and they form the basis of his reputation. In Bingatshū, the collection of 242 poems includes this one:

I do not like praises and honours

Nor did I fear disdain

I just stayed away.

My mind, clear water,

My body bound and tied

For three years in Chang'an.

I sing what I feel in songs

In straight words, undecorated.

In Japan

With the patronage of the Akamatsu clan, Yūbai was able to become the founder of a number of provincial Buddhist temple-monasteries in Japan, including Hōun-ji and Hōrin-ji in Harima, Hyōgo. Some of these temples were ranked among the provincial jissatsu by Muromachi shogunate, which encouraged its vasssls shugo to found monetaries in the provinces.

Prominent among Yūbai's followers were Akamatsu Norimura (1277–1350) and his son Akamatsu Norisuke (1314–1371).

See also

• Buddhism in Japan
• List of Rinzai Buddhists
• Japanese Literature of the Five Mountains

References

• ; OCLC 165440083
• ; OCLC 246429887