Jochu Tengin

Jochū Tengin (如仲天誾, 1363–1437) was a Sōtō master of the early Muromachi period, receiving Dharma transmission from Baizan Monpon (梅山聞本) and transmitting it to Shingan Doku (真厳道空, 1374–1449). He taught through the reunification of the divided courts in 1392 and the cultural consolidation of the Ashikaga shogunate's Higashiyama aesthetic, a period that saw Rinzai temples receiving the lion's share of shogunal patronage while Sōtō maintained its rural base^[1].

Jochū's lineage branch — running from Baizan Monpon down through Shingan Doku, Senso Esai, Iyoku Choyu, and Mugai Keigon — represents one of the enduring sub-threads of the post-Keizan Sōtō provincial network. That this thread survived the Ōnin War and the Sengoku period to eventually converge with the Daijō-ji line and reach Gesshū Sōko is testament to the resilience of the personal-transmission system, which could continue even when temples burned and shogunal favour lay elsewhere^[1].