Gen’ei 玄叡 (d. 840) — Early-Heian Japanese Sanron 三論 (Mādhyamika) scholar-monk of Gangō-ji 元興寺 in Nara, and the principal early-ninth-century systematiser of the Japanese Sanron tradition descended from 吉藏 (Jízàng, 549–623) via Eikan 慧灌 and the early Asuka Sanron transmission. He held the high ranks Risshi 律師 (in Tenchō 1 / 824) and later Shōsōzu 少僧都 (“Junior Sōzu”). Precise birthdate is unknown.
His sole surviving canonical work — and one of the most important documents of early-Heian Japanese Sanron — is the Dàchéng Sānlùn dàyì chāo 大乘三論大義鈔 (KR6o0081, T70n2296), a four-fascicle systematic synthesis of Sanron doctrine. The work is structured as a topical exposition rather than a lemmatic commentary; it gathers and adjudicates the contested points of Sanron doctrine on the basis of Jízàng’s twin masterworks (Sānlùn xuányì and Dàchéng xuánlùn) and the broader Sino-Japanese Sanron literature.
Gen’ei was a contemporary of 空海 (Kūkai, 774–835) and worked at Gangō-ji during the period of Kūkai’s ascendency. His Daigi shō is the principal surviving Heian work to maintain the autonomous Sanron tradition against the rising Kegon, Hossō, Tendai, and Shingon dominance, and it is consequently of fundamental importance for the history of Japanese Mādhyamika.
DILA Buddhist Person Authority A000299; Wikidata Q11572267.
Source: DILA A000299; Wikidata Q11572267; standard Japanese Sanron-school biographical sources.