Ryōan Keigo (了庵桂悟, 1425–1514) was a Japanese Zen Buddhist monk and diplomat in the Muromachi period.
[1] He was the chief envoy of a 1511–1513 mission sent by the Ashikaga shogunate to the court of the Zhengde Emperor in Beijing.
In 1486, the Rinzai monk Keigo was the 171st abbot of the Tofuku-ji monastery when the honorific title "Ryōan" was conferred by Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado.
[1] The economic benefit of the Sinocentric tribute system was profitable trade.
Only those with this formal proof of Imperial permission represented by the document were officially allowed to travel and trade within the boundaries of China; and only those diplomatic missions presenting authentic tallies were received as legitimate ambassadors.