Keian Genju

For the Japanese era, see Keian (1648-1652).

was a Rinzai school Buddhist priest and Confucian scholar in late Muromachi period Japan, who is noted for forming the Satsunan school of Japanese Neo-Confucianism. who studied classics under Ishō at Nanzen-ji.

Biography Keian was born in Akamagaseki, Nagato Province (present day Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi). When he was nine years old, he became a monk and went to study at Kyoto's Nanzen-ji. Afterwards, he went to Manju-ji Temple in Bungo Province for further study and was invited by Ōuchi Yoshitaka to become the chief priest of Eifuku-ji in Nagato Province, his hometown. Keian accompanied the 1466 mission to the Ming court in China. In Beijing, he was favored by the Chenghua Emperor. He studied in Suzhou and other places, where he developed an interest in Neo-Confucianism. Keian delayed his return to Japan until 1475.,

In 1481, Keian published his translation of Zhu Xi's Collective Commentaries on the Great Learning, the first such translation of that work into Japanese. This made him famous as the founder of the Satsunan school of Neo-Confucianism. He later went on to become chief priest of Kennin-ji and Nanzen-ji in Kyoto. At the age of 76, he retired to Toki-an (the location of his grave) in Satsuma and died at the age of 82. Currently, the whole area is maintained as Keian Park.

The grave is about 4.8 kilometers north of JR Kyushu Kagoshima-Chūō Station.