Dōgen 道元 (Dàoyuán in Sino reading)
Founder of the Japanese Sōtō 曹洞 school of Zen — one of the most important figures in the history of Japanese Buddhism. Japanese reading: Dōgen Kigen 道元希玄. Posthumous imperial titles: Shōyō Daishi 承陽大師 (“Great Master of the Inheriting-Sun”) and Busshō Dentō Kokushi 佛性傳東國師 (“National Master of Transmitting-the-Buddha-Nature-to-the-East”). Lifedates 1200–1253 (age 53).
Born in Kyoto to the aristocratic Murakami Genji lineage; lost both parents in early youth. Ordained at age 13 at Enryaku-ji 延暦寺 on Mount Hiei (the Tendai 天台 school headquarters). Subsequently studied under Myōzen 明全 (1184–1225) at Kennin-ji 建仁寺 in Kyoto (a Rinzai-tradition monastery founded by Eisai 榮西).
Chinese pilgrimage (1223–1227): Travelled to Sòng China with Myōzen in 1223. After initial searches, trained under Rújìng 如淨 (1163–1228, Tiāntóng Rújìng) at Tiāntóngsì 天童寺 (Míngzhōu). Received dharma-transmission in 1227 after his famous “body-and-mind dropped off” (shēn xīn tuō luò 身心脫落) awakening-experience.
Japanese career (1227–1253): Returned to Japan 1227. Founded Kōshō-ji 興聖寺 in Fushimi 伏見 (1233); relocated to Echizen 越前 (modern Fukui) in 1243, founding the great Eihei-ji 永平寺 in 1244 — the principal monastery of the Japanese Sōtō school to the present day. Died 1253 at age 53.
Major literary-doctrinal work: the Shōbōgenzō 正法眼藏 (“Treasury of the True Dharma Eye”), composed in Japanese (unusual for his era) across roughly 1231–1253. Consisting of 95 individual fascicles in most standard editions, the Shōbōgenzō is Dōgen’s masterwork — a philosophical-religious corpus of extraordinary depth and originality, central to the Sōtō tradition to the present day.
The Kanripo-canonical presence:
- KR6q0241 Zuò chán zhēn 坐禪箴 (Japanese Zazen-shin, classically dated 1242) — one of the core Shōbōgenzō fascicles, preserved here as a standalone text.
Dōgen’s Chán-Buddhist lineage: Cáodòng → Rújìng → Dōgen → Japanese Sōtō school.
Standard English-language biography: Heine, Steven. 2006. Did Dogen Go to China?. Oxford University Press. Translations: Tanahashi, Kazuaki. 2010. Treasury of the True Dharma Eye.