RELIGIOUS FIGURE

Dōgen

1200 - 1253

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Dōgen Zenji (道元禅師; Japanese pronunciation: [doꜜː.ɡeɴ, -ŋeɴ], 26 January 1200 – 22 September 1253) was a Japanese Zen Buddhist monk, writer, poet, philosopher, and founder of the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan. He is also known as Dōgen Kigen (道元希玄), Eihei Dōgen (永平道元), Kōso Jōyō Daishi (高祖承陽大師), and Busshō Dentō Kokushi (仏性伝東国師). Originally ordained as a monk in the Tendai School in Kyoto, he was ultimately dissatisfied with its teaching and traveled to China to seek out what he believed to be a more authentic Buddhism. He remained there for four years, finally training under Tiāntóng Rújìng, an eminent teacher of the Cáodòng lineage of Chinese Chan. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Dōgen is the 596th most popular religious figure (down from 578th in 2019), the 65th most popular biography from Japan (up from 77th in 2019) and the 3rd most popular Japanese Religious Figure.

Dōgen is most famous for his philosophical work "The Shōbōgenzō" and his establishment of the Soto school of Zen Buddhism.

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Among RELIGIOUS FIGURES

Among religious figures, Dōgen ranks 596 out of 3,187. Before him are Maria al-Qibtiyya, 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf, Saint Maurice, Sabbas the Sanctified, Luigi Lucheni, and Christina of Bolsena. After him are Jephthah, Devadatta, Penitent thief, Laban, Ansgar, and Beatrice Portinari.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1200, Dōgen ranks 4. Before him are Pope Urban III, Pope Celestine IV, and Pope Alexander IV. After him are Qutuz, Ghiyas ud din Balban, Gebre Mesqel Lalibela, Zhang Sanfeng, Isabella, Countess of Gloucester, Villard de Honnecourt, Muhammad al-Nasir, and Nicholas Kanabos. Among people deceased in 1253, Dōgen ranks 2. Before him is Clare of Assisi. After him are Wenceslaus I of Bohemia, Theobald I of Navarre, Violant of Hungary, Otto II, Duke of Bavaria, Theodore Komnenos Doukas, Robert Grosseteste, Amadeus IV, Count of Savoy, Henry I of Cyprus, Vykintas, and Agnes of Assisi.

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In Japan

Among people born in Japan, Dōgen ranks 65 out of 6,245. Before him are Natsume Sōseki (1867), Tokugawa Yoshinobu (1837), Kane Tanaka (1903), Paulo Miki (1564), Mako (1933), and Koxinga (1624). After him are Yoshihide Suga (1948), Antonio Inoki (1943), Isamu Akasaki (1929), Shin'ichirō Tomonaga (1906), Tadao Ando (1941), and Soichiro Honda (1906).

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Among RELIGIOUS FIGURES In Japan

Among religious figures born in Japan, Dōgen ranks 3. Before him are Kane Tanaka (1903), and Paulo Miki (1564). After him are Nichiren (1222), Empress Meishō (1624), Benkei (1155), Abe no Seimei (921), Sen no Rikyū (1522), Mikao Usui (1865), Yamamoto Tsunetomo (1659), Ikkyū (1394), and Eisai (1141).

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