Chōgen (monk)

[2][3][4] This may be supplemented by diaries such as the Jewelled Leaves (玉葉) of Fujiwara no Kanezane; temple records; documents including Solicitation for Funds by Chōgen in Genkyū 2; and inscriptions including one on stone dating to 1202 from Kawachi Province recording his repair of irrigation channels first constructed by Gyōki Bosatsu.

[7] Born most likely in Kyoto in 1121, Chōgen was initiated into religious life at the Shingon centre of Daigo-ji at age thirteen.

Later in his teens he undertook ascetic practices in Shikoku and at Mount Ōmine, followed in his early twenties by time at Koyasan.

After assorted pious deeds, including chanting the nembutsu a million times and the donation of statues and sutras to a number of temples, involvement in public works in the manner of Gyōki and Kūya, and possible trips to China, in 1181 Chōgen was appointed to raise funds for the reconstruction of Tōdai-ji.

He also continued his civic works, repairing bridges, driving robbers from the mountains, and easing the distress of man and beast.