Shōshu 聖守 — Late Kamakura-period Japanese Buddhist monk of Tōdaiji Shingon-in 東大寺眞言院, with triple specialisation in Shingon Esoteric ritual (密), the Vinaya (律), and the Sanron school (三論). The colophon of his sole canonical work, Sān-lùn xīng-yuán 三論興緣 (KR6t0002, T70n2307A), signs him as “Shōshu, sixty-two years of age, śramaṇa of Tōdaiji Shingon-in, [holder of] Esoteric Vinaya plus Sanron” (東大寺眞言院密律兼三論沙門聖守春秋六十二). A transcription colophon dated Kenji 建治 2 (= 1276) follows this signature, indicating that the work was complete by that date and that the author was then about sixty-two — implying a birth date around 1214.
DILA Buddhist Person Authority A001480; Wikidata Q11610972. No biographical detail beyond the work’s colophons is preserved. He should not be confused with the homonymous Shōshu of Kamakura Saidaiji (1219–1291), who was Eison’s 叡尊 senior disciple — though the dates are close, the institutional location (Tōdaiji vs. Saidaiji) and doctrinal specialisation (Shingon-Sanron vs. Ritsu) distinguish them.
Works:
- KR6t0002 Sānlùn xīngyuán 三論興緣 (T70n2307A), 1 fasc. — single-fascicle Sanron-school origin and lineage narrative organised in eight gates, completed by 1276.