Zenju 善珠 (724–797), also read Zenshu, was the principal Japanese Hossō 法相 (Yogācāra) scholar of the late-Nara and early-Heian periods, and is conventionally regarded as the founder of the Akishino-dera 秋篠寺 (located northwest of Heijōkyō, modern Nara). He served as the leading Yuima-e 維摩會 lecturer of his generation and bore the senior rank sōjō 僧正. He is the principal early Japanese systematizer of the Cí’ēn-school doctrinal apparatus that Genbō 玄昉 had transmitted from China.
His preserved canonical works span Yogācāra, Hetuvidyā 因明, and the Bodhicitta literature:
- KR6n0027 Jōyuishikiron jukki josha 成唯識論述記序釋 (T2260, 1 fasc.) — the principal East-Asian commentary on Kuījī’s preface to KR6n0026 Chéng wéishí lùn shùjì (T1830);
- KR6n0031 Yuishiki gitō zōmyō-ki 唯識義燈增明記 (T2261, 4 fasc.) — a sub-commentary on Huìzhāo’s KR6n0030 Chéng wéishí lùn liǎoyì dēng (T1832);
- T2270 In’myōron-sho myōtōshō 因明論疏明燈鈔 (12 fasc.) — the principal East-Asian sub-commentary on Kuījī’s Hetuvidyā commentary T1840, and one of the most influential Buddhist-logic works produced in Japan.
- KR6t0013 Fǎyuàn yìjìng 法苑義鏡 (T71n2317), 6 fasc. — sub-commentary on Kuījī’s KR6n0029 Dàchéng fǎyuàn yìlín zhāng; foundational early-Japanese Hossō summa.
- KR6t0017 Wéishí fēn-liàng jué 唯識分量決 (T71n2321), 1 fasc. — focused treatise on the four divisions of consciousness and the pramāṇa/inference doctrine; transmitted via an autograph copy of Hōki 3 (= 772) by Ichiō 壹應 of Kōfuku-ji.
His Yogācāra commentaries are distinguished by encyclopedic breadth: in commenting on Kuījī’s preface, for example, he glosses passing references to the Yi-jing and the Lǎozi with detailed expositions of the classical-Chinese textual tradition, witnessing the breadth of Confucian and Daoist literacy maintained within Nara-era Hossō.
DILA Buddhist Person Authority A001337; Wikidata Q11418958. Standard treatment in Yūki Reimon 結城令聞, Yuishikigaku tenseki-shi 唯識学典籍志.