Ōbaku

Zen

Ōbaku

Branch of Linji

The Ōbaku school (黄檗宗) is the third major school of Japanese Zen, founded in 1661 by the Chinese Chan master Ingen Ryūki (Yinyuan Longqi, 1592–1673), who brought late-Ming Chinese Linji Chan to Japan. Named after Huangbo (Ōbaku) Mountain—the monastery of the great Tang dynasty master Huangbo Xiyun—the school established its headquarters at Manpuku-ji in Uji, near Kyoto. The Ōbaku school is distinctive for preserving Chinese liturgical forms, including the recitation of the nembutsu (nianfo) alongside Zen meditation, reflecting the syncretic Chan-Pure Land practice that had become standard in late-Ming China. The school also introduced Ming dynasty architectural styles, calligraphy, painting, and the sencha tea ceremony to Japan, profoundly influencing Japanese culture. Tetsugen Dōkō, Ingen's prominent disciple, is celebrated for his monumental project of carving the entire Chinese Buddhist canon (Ōbaku edition of the Tripitaka) in woodblock, a feat of devotion that took over a decade.