Daichi Sokei

Daichi Sokei (大智祖継, 1290–1366) was a fourteenth-century Japanese Sōtō priest in the Meihō-ha sub-lineage. He was ordained at age seven by Kangan Giin at Daiji-ji (Higo), practiced for seven years under Keizan Jōkin, then travelled to Yuan-dynasty China (1314–1324) where he studied with Gulin Qingmao among others, before returning to receive formal Dharma transmission from Meihō Sotetsu — the second of Keizan's six "abbot heirs" — making the canonical robe lineage Dōgen → Ejō → Gikai → Keizan → Meihō → Daichi^[1].

He founded Kida-ji (Kaga), Hōgizan Shōgo-ji (Higo / Ryūmon Village, under Kikuchi-clan patronage), Kōfuku-ji (Higo), and Entsū-ji (Hizen, 1353). His Higo-province Meihō-ha line proved short-lived after also losing its lay-patron support — a common pattern with the Meihō branch that did not survive into the modern Sōtō network the way Gasan's branch did^[1].