Chinkai 珍海 (Zhēnhǎi; 1092–1152), Japanese Sanron 三論 monk of the late-Insei period and one of the principal Tōdaiji 東大寺 Sanron systematizers of the twelfth century. Kyoto-born; trained first at Tōdaiji’s Sōsho-in 草所院 / Senjū-in 千手院 (Senshū-in 泉湫院 / 禪那院) sub-complex, then at Daigo-ji 醍醐寺 and Kanshū-ji 勸修寺 in Shingon mikkyō 密教, while also practising Pure Land 浄土 devotion. Held the academic title yi-kō 已講 (post-lecturer rank) within the Tōdaiji Sanron faculty and signed his works “Chánnàyuàn Yuèqián yǐjiǎng 禪那院越前已講 珍海” — “Chinkai, yi-kō of Echizen-bō, Zen’na-in”.
A secondary vocation as Buddhist painter brought him the reputation, recorded in the Bukkyō daijiten tradition, of “leading painter of his time” (tenka daiichi no eshi 天下第一の繪師); none of the surviving Heian Buddhist paintings can be securely attributed to his hand, but the tradition itself attests his prominence.
Chinkai’s three major surviving Sanron works are all sub-commentaries on 吉藏 Jízàng’s twin masterworks, the Sānlùn xuányì 三論玄義 (T1852 = KR6m0026) and the Dàchéng xuánlùn 大乘玄論 (T1853 = KR6m0031). They represent a topic-organized rather than commentary-organized engagement with Sanron doctrine — effectively a Sanron-school theological dictionary indexed by Jízàng’s own rubrics.
DILA Buddhist Person Authority A000858; Wikidata Q11573311. Born 1092 (per DILA computed dates); died 仁平 2 = 1152, age 61 (per Bukkyō daijiten 3889).
Works:
- KR6m0027 Sānlùn xuánshū wényì yào 三論玄疏文義要 (T70n2299), 10 fasc.
- KR6m0032 Dàchéng xuán wèndá 大乘玄問答 (T70n2303), 12 fasc.
- KR6m0033 Yīchéng yì sījì 一乘義私記 (T70n2304), 1 fasc.
- KR6t0001 Sānlùn míngjiào chāo 三論名教抄 (T70n2306), 15 fasc. — topical dictionary of Sanron doctrine, the mature summa.
Also extant outside KR6m: Bāshí yì zhāng yánxí chāo 八識義章研習抄 (T70n2305, 3 fasc., on Yogācāra eight-consciousness doctrine).