Bun’an 豐安 (c. 764–840) — Early-Heian Japanese Vinaya (Ritsu 律) patriarch and Tōshōdai-ji 唐招提寺 monk. Dharma-grandson of Jianzhen 鑑真 (Ganjin, 688–763), the Tang Vinaya master who established the Vinaya school in Japan, and the principal Vinaya scholar of his generation. Held the rank of Daisōzu 小僧都 (Lesser Senior Monk-Administrator) and the Dentōdaihōshi 傳燈大法師 (Light-of-Transmission Great-Dharma-Master) court honour.
In Tenchō 7 = 830, he composed Jièlǜ chuánlái jì 戒律傳來記 (KR6t0044, T74n2347) by imperial commission, in three fascicles — of which only the upper fascicle survives. The work is the principal medieval Japanese Vinaya transmission history and a foundational document for the early-Heian Ritsu school. Bun’an’s quote “for protecting the country and guarding the people, the precepts are foremost” (鎭護國家戒律爲首) became a slogan of medieval Japanese Buddhist-state ideology.
The work was lost from the late medieval period and rediscovered in 1904 by Chikai 智海 of Tōshōdai-ji Ōryōbō at Gojō Town in Uchi District (Nara).
DILA Buddhist Person Authority A001888; Wikidata Q11633382.
Works:
- KR6t0044 Jièlǜ chuánlái jì 戒律傳來記 (T74n2347), 1 surviving fasc. (originally 3), composed Tenchō 7 (= 830) by imperial commission.