Nippo Soshun (日峰宗舜)

Nippo Soshun (1368 - March 10, 1448) was a priest of the Rinzai Sect from the period of the Northern and Southern Courts (Japan) to the middle of the Muromachi period. His original family name was Fujiwara. He was born in Kyoto. His shigo (a posthumous name) was Zengen Daizai Zenji.

After becoming a priest and entering the Buddhist priesthood at Tenryu-ji Temple at age 15, he traveled across the country and practiced Zen meditation under Muin Soin of Kaisei-ji Temple in Settsu Province. After Muin died, he went to Owari Province in 1415 and founded Zuisen-ji Temple in Inuyama. In 1429, Myoshin-ji Temple, a temple that was ruined back then, invited him as a priest, and he devoted himself to reviving the temple by building Yogenin Temple. He assumed the position of chief priest of Daitoku-ji Temple by an Imperial order in 1447, and died at Yogenin of Myoshin-ji Temple in 1448.

[Original Japanese]